Will Macklin Celebrini's Early Damage Damage His Calder Case?

When information broke of the San Jose Sharks shelving NHL rookie Macklin Celebrini on the injured reserve, there was equal components amazement and disappointment.

On the one hand, after only a single sport with the Sharks and enjoying by a hip damage, Celebrini revived the spirits of the Sharks trustworthy with a two-point NHL debut. That included a highlight-reel-worthy aim and an equally spectacular no-look help on Tyler Toffoli’s tally.

He surpassed all expectations in his first crack on the huge leagues and created an enormous early lead within the Calder Trophy race.

However then again, after only one sport with the Sharks, Celebrini is already lacking video games because of an damage he sustained in a pre-season sport in opposition to Utah. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and sanjosehockeynow.com’s Sheng Peng reported on Saturday that it’s a hip injury.

“I am unable to put a timeline on it, to be sincere with you,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky told reporters. “I believe week-to-week is true round the place we’re considering. We’ll simply see the way it progresses by his rehab right here the following couple days.”

Celebrini’s presence shall be sorely missed by the offense-starved Sharks, who have been shut out 2-0 of their second sport by the lowly Anaheim Geese. That mentioned, there’s an NHL award up for grabs that Celebrini has probability of successful, however issues may change if the rookie misses an excessive amount of time.

With one of the vital extremely anticipated rookie crops in current reminiscence this season, will Celebrini’s early grip on the Calder Trophy slip away?

If we have a look at current historical past, the reply is mostly ‘no.’

Related: NHL Calder Trophy Tracker: Michkov, Celebrini Highlight Exciting Rookies In 2024-25

Simply final yr, Connor Bedard solely performed 68 video games after struggling a fractured jaw. Nonetheless, Bedard simply beat out Calder finalists Luke Hughes and Brock Faber along with his 61-point marketing campaign.

It is unfair to match anybody to Connor McDavid, however the fellow first-overall decide had his season massively shortened to simply 45 video games in 2015-16. All he did was rating 48 factors en path to a second-place end in Calder voting behind 24-year-old Artemi Panarin. Had there not been a rookie within the discipline so superior in age, 19-year-old McDavid simply had the Calder within the bag.

The competitors is necessary to consider. For Bedard and McDavid, the next-best finishers have been Brock Faber and Shayne Gostisbehere. They have been high quality gamers to various levels, some nonetheless growing however clearly in decrease tiers than the primary two.

It is tough to match the standard of competitors on this yr’s Calder race with out the advantage of hindsight, however the impression of this yr’s batch is that there are some very promising NHL rookies who might be franchise cornerstones.

Headlining the group to begin the season was the Philadelphia Flyers’ Matvei Michkov, who many see because the true Calder favourite over Celebrini because of an obvious NHL readiness after enjoying within the KHL. He notched his first NHL level on an help in Saturday’s sport in opposition to the Calgary Flames.

Then there’s the Montreal Canadiens’ Lane Hutson, who has already excited followers along with his imaginative and prescient, skating and playmaking means. That is translated into 4 assists in his first three video games, main all rookies in factors. It is uncommon to see an offensive D-man of Hutson’s caliber within the Calder race.

Out west, there’s Logan Stankoven, an underrated and undersized ahead with three factors in his first two video games. He is probably the most NHL-experienced Calder candidate, having performed 43 regular-season and playoff video games with the Dallas Stars final yr.

The Devils’ Seamus Casey has additionally emerged as a dark-horse candidate with two targets from the blueline early on. He is receiving some power-play minutes behind New Jersey’s high unit whereas Luke Hughes is injured.

Related: NHL Writers Poll: Predicting The Stanley Cup Champion And Major Award Winners In 2024-25

If Michkov picks up some steam, this yr’s class may form as much as be an offensive juggernaut in comparison with different years.

If that is the case, Celebrini in all probability cannot afford to play in fewer than 70 video games. Celebrini is out for a minimum of one week, however week-to-week makes a return anybody’s guess. If he misses as many as three weeks, he’ll miss 9 video games for the Sharks, assuming he is again within the lineup on Nov. 2 in opposition to the Vancouver Canucks, his hometown crew.

In all chance, Celebrini’s again within the lineup lengthy earlier than then, and none of this issues. But when the weeks stretch out and different NHL rookies catch hearth, Celebrini’s case for the Calder could begin to lag.

Editor’s notice: this text was amended to take away Kirill Kaprizov, who gained the Calder Trophy throughout the shortened 2020-21 season.

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