# Calder Memorial Trophy

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.

## Eligibility

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.
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. 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. 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.
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.

## History

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. Calder himself purchased a trophy each year to award to the winner.
After Calder's death in 1943 a permanent trophy was cast, and it was renamed the Calder Memorial Trophy.
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. Three finalists are named and the trophy is awarded at the NHL Awards ceremony after the playoffs.

## Winners

Positions key :
| C | Centre |
| LW | Left wing |
| D | Defence |
| RW | Right wing |
| G | Goaltender |
Calder Memorial Trophy winners :
| Season | Winner | Team | Position | Age |
| 1932–33 | Carl Voss | Detroit Red Wings | C | 25 |
| 1933–34 | Russ Blinco | Montreal Maroons | C | 25 |
| 1934–35 | Sweeney Schriner | New York Americans | LW | 22 |
| 1935–36 | Mike Karakas | Chicago Black Hawks | G | 23 |
| 1936–37 | Syl Apps | Toronto Maple Leafs | C | 21 |
| 1937–38 | Cully Dahlstrom | Chicago Black Hawks | C | 24 |
| 1938–39 | Frank Brimsek | Boston Bruins | G | 24 |
| 1939–40 | Kilby MacDonald | New York Rangers | LW | 25 |
| 1940–41 | Johnny Quilty | Montreal Canadiens | C | 19 |
| 1941–42 | Grant Warwick | New York Rangers | RW | 19 |
| 1942–43 | Gaye Stewart | Toronto Maple Leafs | RW | 19 |
| 1943–44 | Gus Bodnar | Toronto Maple Leafs | C | 20 |
| 1944–45 | Frank McCool | Toronto Maple Leafs | G | 25 |
| 1945–46 | Edgar Laprade | New York Rangers | C | 25 |
| 1946–47 | Howie Meeker | Toronto Maple Leafs | RW | 21 |
| 1947–48 | Jim McFadden | Detroit Red Wings | C | 27 |
| 1948–49 | Pentti Lund | New York Rangers | RW | 22 |
| 1949–50 | Jack Gelineau | Boston Bruins | G | 24 |
| 1950–51 | Terry Sawchuk | Detroit Red Wings | G | 20 |
| 1951–52 | Bernie Geoffrion | Montreal Canadiens | RW | 20 |
| 1952–53 | Gump Worsley | New York Rangers | G | 23 |
| 1953–54 | Camille Henry | New York Rangers | C | 20 |
| 1954–55 | Ed Litzenberger | Chicago Black Hawks | RW | 22 |
| 1955–56 | Glenn Hall | Detroit Red Wings | G | 23 |
| 1956–57 | Larry Regan | Boston Bruins | RW | 26 |
| 1957–58 | Frank Mahovlich | Toronto Maple Leafs | LW | 19 |
| 1958–59 | Ralph Backstrom | Montreal Canadiens | C | 20 |
| 1959–60 | Bill Hay | Chicago Black Hawks | C | 23 |
| 1960–61 | Dave Keon | Toronto Maple Leafs | C | 20 |
| 1961–62 | Bobby Rousseau | Montreal Canadiens | RW | 21 |
| 1962–63 | Kent Douglas | Toronto Maple Leafs | D | 26 |
| 1963–64 | Jacques Laperriere | Montreal Canadiens | D | 21 |
| 1964–65 | Roger Crozier | Detroit Red Wings | G | 22 |
| 1965–66 | Brit Selby | Toronto Maple Leafs | LW | 20 |
| 1966–67 | Bobby Orr | Boston Bruins | D | 18 |
| 1967–68 | Derek Sanderson | Boston Bruins | C | 21 |
| 1968–69 | Danny Grant | Minnesota North Stars | RW | 23 |
| 1969–70 | Tony Esposito | Chicago Black Hawks | G | 26 |
| 1970–71 | Gilbert Perreault | Buffalo Sabres | C | 19 |
| 1971–72 | Ken Dryden | Montreal Canadiens | G | 24 |
| 1972–73 | Steve Vickers | New York Rangers | LW | 21 |
| 1973–74 | Denis Potvin | New York Islanders | D | 19 |
| 1974–75 | Eric Vail | Atlanta Flames | LW | 20 |
| 1975–76 | Bryan Trottier | New York Islanders | C | 19 |
| 1976–77 | Willi Plett | Atlanta Flames | RW | 21 |
| 1977–78 | Mike Bossy | New York Islanders | RW | 20 |
| 1978–79 | Bobby Smith | Minnesota North Stars | C | 20 |
| 1979–80 | Ray Bourque | Boston Bruins | D | 19 |
| 1980–81 | Peter Stastny | Quebec Nordiques | C | 24 |
| 1981–82 | Dale Hawerchuk | Winnipeg Jets | C | 18 |
| 1982–83 | Steve Larmer | Chicago Black Hawks | RW | 21 |
| 1983–84 | Tom Barrasso | Buffalo Sabres | G | 18 |
| 1984–85 | Mario Lemieux | Pittsburgh Penguins | C | 19 |
| 1985–86 | Gary Suter | Calgary Flames | D | 21 |
| 1986–87 | Luc Robitaille | Los Angeles Kings | LW | 20 |
| 1987–88 | Joe Nieuwendyk | Calgary Flames | C | 21 |
| 1988–89 | Brian Leetch | New York Rangers | D | 20 |
| 1989–90 | Sergei Makarov | Calgary Flames | RW | 31 |
| 1990–91 | Ed Belfour | Chicago Blackhawks | G | 25 |
| 1991–92 | Pavel Bure | Vancouver Canucks | RW | 20 |
| 1992–93 | Teemu Selanne | Winnipeg Jets | RW | 22 |
| 1993–94 | Martin Brodeur | New Jersey Devils | G | 21 |
| 1994–95 | Peter Forsberg | Quebec Nordiques | C | 21 |
| 1995–96 | Daniel Alfredsson | Ottawa Senators | RW | 22 |
| 1996–97 | Bryan Berard | New York Islanders | D | 19 |
| 1997–98 | Sergei Samsonov | Boston Bruins | LW | 19 |
| 1998–99 | Chris Drury | Colorado Avalanche | C | 22 |
| 1999–2000 | Scott Gomez | New Jersey Devils | C | 19 |
| 2000–01 | Evgeni Nabokov | San Jose Sharks | G | 25 |
| 2001–02 | Dany Heatley | Atlanta Thrashers | RW | 20 |
| 2002–03 | Barret Jackman | St. Louis Blues | D | 21 |
| 2003–04 | Andrew Raycroft | Boston Bruins | G | 23 |
| 2004–05 | — | — | — | — |
| 2005–06 | Alexander Ovechkin | Washington Capitals | LW | 20 |
| 2006–07 | Evgeni Malkin | Pittsburgh Penguins | C | 20 |
| 2007–08 | Patrick Kane | Chicago Blackhawks | RW | 19 |
| 2008–09 | Steve Mason | Columbus Blue Jackets | G | 21 |
| 2009–10 | Tyler Myers | Buffalo Sabres | D | 20 |
| 2010–11 | Jeff Skinner | Carolina Hurricanes | C | 19 |
| 2011–12 | Gabriel Landeskog | Colorado Avalanche | LW | 19 |
| 2012–13 | Jonathan Huberdeau | Florida Panthers | LW | 19 |
| 2013–14 | Nathan MacKinnon | Colorado Avalanche | C | 18 |
| 2014–15 | Aaron Ekblad | Florida Panthers | D | 19 |
| 2015–16 | Artemi Panarin | Chicago Blackhawks | LW | 24 |
| 2016–17 | Auston Matthews | Toronto Maple Leafs | C | 19 |
| 2017–18 | Mathew Barzal | New York Islanders | C | 21 |
| 2018–19 | Elias Pettersson | Vancouver Canucks | C | 20 |
| 2019–20 | Cale Makar | Colorado Avalanche | D | 21 |
| 2020–21 | Kirill Kaprizov | Minnesota Wild | LW | 24 |
| 2021–22 | Moritz Seider | Detroit Red Wings | D | 21 |
| 2022–23 | Matty Beniers | Seattle Kraken | C | 20 |
| 2023–24 | Connor Bedard | Chicago Blackhawks | C | 18 |
* ↑ Player's age at the time of award win
* ↑ No winner because of the 2004–05 NHL lockout
* Howie Meeker, winner in 1947
* Terry Sawchuk, winner in 1951
* Eric Vail, winner in 1975
* Mario Lemieux, winner in 1985
* Pavel Bure, winner in 1992
* Daniel Alfredsson, winner in 1996
* Alexander Ovechkin, winner in 2006
* Gabriel Landeskog, winner in 2012
* Auston Matthews, winner in 2017
* Moritz Seider, winner in 2022
* Matty Beniers, winner in 2023
* Connor Bedard, winner in 2024