Quote:
Originally Posted by Pwnz0rs
It shouldn't just be a points competition. It should be and i believe it is supposed to be the most valuable rookie. Now this is all hypothetical... But say you have two rookies.. One who puts up 50 points playing with the best players on his team. Now you also have a rookie who puts up 40 points but plays the PK all the time with barely any PP time on the 3rd or 4th line.
How can you honestly say that the 50 point player is more deserving than the 40 point player. It should be very close with a slight edge to the 40 point player. Points aren't everything.
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I agree, however, sadly it always comes down or seems to come down to production.
Look at Skinner (63 points), Myers (48 - keeping in mind he is a Dman), Mason (33 wins, 10 SO), Kane (72), Malkin (85), and AO (106) post-lockout. Pre-lockout it wasn't like that for every year (such as Raycroft and Jackman, but then most of the other players were forwards or goalies with really good numbers). Most of the time it will come down to who has better numbers regardless of the team they play on or how they are used on that time (such as limited minutes).
RN-H and Smith have the most rookie points followed by Adams and Read (but Read is also much older). Couturier is ranked 40th on NHL.com for rookies with TOI/G at 13:04. I don't think the rank matters, but when other players, including Read, are getting more playing time Couturier's chances of point production is reduced especially with limited PP time playing on the 4th line. The only stat Couturier does lead in is +/- which is a terrible stat to base the Calder on.
I'm not saying he can't win it (or Read), I'm saying that the voting does not always look at the player who is more important to their team because they play on the PK or final minutes, they vote for the player who has better numbers which is usually the result of getting ice time and production on special teams.
Even if his production is never as high as the other rookies, more playing time will still help his chances to be selected and overall development. That is what it comes down to, getting more playing time and not 13 minutes a game which is spent mostly on the 4th line and PK.