I think most Oilers fans had already accepted that Connor McDavid would not be winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL's top rookie. Not many agreed but we'd made our peace with it, as much as Oilers fans ever make peace with anything. I doubt though that many expected him to finish not just behind the winner Artemi Panarin but behind Shayne Gostisbehere as well. I don't know about you but that surprises the hell out of me.
Is McDavid the best player in the year's rookie class? Of course he is. But when it comes to this award I guess that games played matter just a little bit more. Or maybe not since Gostibehere only played 64. Or maybe 60 games played is the magic number. I don't know, it all seems more than a little crazy to me.
This is how the votes were cast:
1. Artemi Panarin, CHI 1258 (88-41-16-3-2)
2. Shayne Gostisbehere, PHI 955 (33-53-42-12-8)
3. Connor McDavid, EDM 858 (25-45-48-15-8)
4. Jack Eichel, BUF 449 (2-9-25-72-25)
5. Dylan Larkin, DET 170 (1-0-8-23-51)
6. Max Domi, ARI 92 (0-2-2-12-32)
7. John Gibson, ANA 62 (0-0-5-9-10)
8. Colton Parayko, STL 52 (1-0-4-4-10)
9. Sam Reinhart, BUF 2 (0-0-0-0-2)
10. Anthony Duclair, ARI 1 (0-0-0-0-1), Jaccob Slavin, CAR 1 (0-0-0-0-1)