Trying to figure out the Calder Trophy winner in early October is like trying to handicap the Best Picture winner in April: There are simply too many variables in play for there to be anything close to a "sure thing." Ask Sidney Crosby about that.
So far, three rookies have the buzz early: Gabriel Landeskog of the Colorado Avalanche, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins of the Edmonton Oilers and Brayden Schenn of the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Hockey News digs Landeskog, with David Rundblad of the Ottawa Senators second. EJ Hradek of NHL.com thinks Nugent-Hopkins is the favorite.
Bodog? According to the opening odds for the NHL Awards for this season, it's Brayden Schenn ahead of the field:
Who will win the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL's Rookie of the Year?
Brayden Schenn (PHI) 3/1
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (EDM) 7/2
Gabriel Landeskog (COL) 11/2
Nino Niederreiter (NYI) 7/1
Adam Larsson (NJ) 8/1
Tim Erixon (NYR) 10/1
Erik Gudbranson (FLA) 10/1
Jared Cowen (OTT) 10/1
Ryan Johansen (CBJ) 15/1
Alexei Yemelin (MTL) 15/1
Field (Any Other Player) 3/1
Here's the thing: At this point, there's no guarantee Schenn will even make the cut when the rosters are finalized this week. From Sam Carchidi of Broad Street Bull:
General manager Paul Holmgren said he probably won't finalize his decision until Wednesday at 3 p.m., when rosters must be submitted to the NHL.
Schenn, who missed the last two preseason games because of a shoulder injury, has a $3.1 million salary-cap hit. If he starts the season with the AHL Phantoms, the Flyers will have cap space to include a player like defenseman Matt Walker ($1.7 million cap hit) on their roster.
That doesn't mean Schenn couldn't still return to the NHL during the season if he starts down in the AHL. But it's interesting to see a player who'll likely play outside the top six forwards (at least to start) being positioned as a Calder favorite.
Coming up, the odds for the rest of the NHL Awards ...
Who will win the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL's Most Valuable Player?
Alexander Ovechkin (WAS) 4/1
Steven Stamkos (TB) 11/2
Sidney Crosby (PIT) 13/2
Daniel Sedin (VAN) 12/1
Henrik Sedin (VAN) 14/1
Pavel Datsyuk (DET) 14/1
Anze Kopitar (LAK) 18/1
Jonathan Toews (CHI) 18/1
Corey Perry (ANA) 25/1
Martin St. Louis (TB) 25/1
Evgeni Malkin (PIT) 30/1
Jarome Iginla (CAL) 30/1
Brad Richards (NYR) 30/1
Joe Thornton (SJ) 40/1
Any Other Forward 11/5
Any Goaltender 11/2
Any Defenseman 30/1
Who will win the Vezina Trophy for being the NHL's top Goaltender?
Ryan Miller (BUF) 5/1
Tim Thomas (BOS) 7/1
Roberto Luongo (VAN) 15/2
Henrik Lundqvist (NYR) 8/1
Carey Price (MTL) 9/1
Marc-Andre Fleury (PIT) 10/1
Pekka Rinne (NAS) 10/1
Martin Brodeur (NJ) 10/1
Ilya Bryzgalov (PHI) 12/1
Miikka Kiprusoff (CAL) 14/1
Jaroslav Halak (STL) 16/1
Cam Ward (CAR) 16/1
Antti Niemi (SJ) 16/1
Tomas Vokoun (WAS) 18/1
Jonathan Quick (LAK) 20/1
Jonas Hiller (ANA) 25/1
Jimmy Howard (DET) 33/1
Corey Crawford (CHI) 40/1
James Reimer (TOR) 40/1
Semyon Varlamov (COL) 40/1
Craig Anderson (OTT) 50/1
Field (Any Other Player) 30/1
Who will win the James Norris Trophy as the NHL's best defenseman?
Shea Weber (NAS) 4/1
Zdeno Chara (BOS) 9/2
Nicklas Lidstrom (DET) 13/2
Mike Green (WAS) 7/1
Drew Doughty (LAK) 10/1
Duncan Keith (CHI) 10/1
Kris Letang (PIT) 12/1
Keith Yandle (PHO) 12/1
Christian Ehrhoff (BUF) 15/1
Dan Boyle (SJ) 15/1
P.K. Subban (MTL) 20/1
Lubomir Visnovsky (ANA) 20/1
Dustin Byfuglien (WIN) 22/1
Dion Phaneuf (TOR) 25/1
Andrei Markov (MTL) 25/1
Chris Pronger (PHI) 30/1
Mark Streit (NYI) 35/1
Tobias Enstrom (WIN) 35/1
Field (Any Other Player) 9/1
Who will win the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's points leader?
Alexander Ovechkin (WSH) 7/2
Steven Stamkos (TB) 7/2
Daniel Sedin (VAN) 11/2
Martin St. Louis (TB) 17/2
Henrik Sedin (VAN) 14/1
Pavel Datsyuk (DET) 16/1
Corey Perry (ANA) 18/1
Ryan Getzlaf (ANA) 18/1
Sidney Crosby (PIT) 18/1
Anze Kopitar (LAK) 25/1
Evgeni Malkin (PIT) 30/1
Nicklas Backstrom (WAS) 30/1
Henrik Zetterberg (DET) 30/1
Jonathan Toews (CHI) 30/1
Joe Thornton (SJ) 35/1
John Tavares (NYI) 40/1
Patrick Kane (CHI) 40/1
Jarome Iginla (CAL) 40/1
Bobby Ryan (ANA) 40/1
Zach Parise (NJ) 40/1
Matt Duchene (COL) 45/1
Brad Richards (NYR) 45/1
Eric Staal (CAR) 45/1
Rick Nash (CBJ) 45/1
David Krejci (BOS) 55/1
Derek Roy (BUF) 55/1
Jeff Carter (CBJ) 85/1
Ilya Kovalchuk (NJ) 85/1
Dany Heatley (MIN) 100/1
Jaromir Jagr (PHI) 100/1
Field (Any Other Player) 25/1
Who will win the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy as the NHL's Top Goal Scorer leader?
Steven Stamkos (TB) 7/2
Alexander Ovechkin (WAS) 4/1
Corey Perry (ANA) 9/2
Evgeni Malkin (PIT) 6/1
Sidney Crosby (PIT) 13/2
Jeff Carter (CBJ) 10/1
Rick Nash (CBJ) 15/1
Daniel Sedin (VAN) 15/1
Zach Parise (NJ) 18/1
Ilya Kovalchuk (NJ) 20/1
Bobby Ryan (ANA) 25/1
Jonathan Toews (CHI) 25/1
Jarome Iginla (CAL) 25/1
Patrick Marleau (SJ) 30/1
Henrik Zetterberg (DET) 30/1
John Tavares (NYI) 35/1
Jeff Skinner (CAR) 35/1
Field (Any Other Player) 12/1