| Calder Memorial Trophy | |
| Sport: | Ice hockey |
| Givenfor: | Rookie of the Year in the National Hockey League |
| First: | 1936–37 NHL season |
| Mostrecent: | Connor Bedard Chicago Blackhawks |
The Calder Memorial Trophy is an annual award given "to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League (NHL)." It is named after Frank Calder, the first president of the NHL. Serving as the NHL's Rookie of the Year award, this version of the trophy has been awarded since its creation for the 1936–37 NHL season. The voting is conducted by members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association at the conclusion of each regular season to determine the winner.
When the award was established in 1937, there were no requirements beyond that the winner be in his first year of competition in the NHL, and the winner was decided by League President Frank Calder himself.[1]
Currently, the eligibility requirements are that a player cannot have played more than 25 regular season games in any single preceding season, nor in six or more games in each of any two preceding regular seasons, in any major professional league.[2] The last requirement was implemented in 1979 to block Wayne Gretzky (who had played a single season in the World Hockey Association the year before) from winning the award.[3] After the Calder win of 31-year-old Sergei Makarov in 1991 (following the influx of Eastern Bloc players after the fall of the Soviet Union), the rules were further amended to require that winners be 26 years of age or younger.[4]
Further, the limitation is for regular season games only, exempting games played in the playoffs. This has led to aberrations such as Ken Dryden winning the Calder in 1972, despite leading the Montreal Canadiens to a Stanley Cup victory the season before, and winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP.
The Calder Memorial Trophy is named in honour of Frank Calder, the former president of the National Hockey League (NHL) from its inception in 1917 to his death in 1943. Although Rookie of the Year honors were handed out beginning in 1932–33, the Calder Trophy was first presented at the conclusion of the 1936–37 NHL season.[5] Calder himself purchased a trophy each year to award to the winner.[6]
After Calder's death in 1943 a permanent trophy was cast, and it was renamed the Calder Memorial Trophy.[7]
The trophy has been won the most times by rookies from the Toronto Maple Leafs, who have won it on ten occasions, with the most recent being Auston Matthews in 2017. The second-most is the Chicago Blackhawks with nine wins.
Since the 1948 season, the voting is conducted at the end of the regular season by members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association, and each individual voter ranks their top five candidates on a 10–7–5–3–1 points system.[8] Three finalists are named and the trophy is awarded at the NHL Awards ceremony after the playoffs.
| LW | Left wing | |
|---|---|---|
| D | Defence | |
| RW | Right wing | |
| G | Goaltender |