Vienna has just one regular season game to play. Berlin – the league’s slow tortoise – has 6 games left. So it’s time to start thinking about season trophies that will be voted on during the playoffs.
How about the Rookie of the Year Trophy? There is a formula Websim uses to determine which five or six players will make the ballot, but without going through the calculations, it appears the race will come down to a handful of defensemen.
Five of the top six rookie scorers this season are defensemen. Bratislava’s Victor Olofson is the lone forward among them. He plays 13 minutes a game and is second among all rookie scorers (12 of his 17 goals are PP tallies) – but he might not even make Websim’s ballot. Pavel Zacha of Geneva probably won’t win the trophy either, but have a look at his turnover ratio: 55 takeaways and only 28 giveaways in 8 minutes of ice time per game.
These defensemen are the guys with a decent chance at getting votes:
Cale Makar, Munich
Plays 23 minutes per game for the Red Bulls and leads all rookies in scoring with 46 points and in goals with 18. He also has more blocked shots than any other rookie. Oddsmakers in Las Vegas make him the favorite to leave the ceremony carrying the trophy.
Adam Fox, Gothenburg
If Fox played as many minutes as Makar does in Munich, he might be the oddsmaker’s pick. Fox plays 5 fewer minutes per game and is tied with Makar for the most assists by a rookie (28). With veteran defense partner Jamie McBain to mentor him in Sweden, Fox has played well enough to be a +12 this season, which is tops among all rookies.
Thomas Chabot, Moscow
Russian fans like Chabot’s clean, smart play. Playing on the second pairing, Chabot is second among Maniac blueliners in assists with 27 and in hits with 184. He is also the only one of the six with a positive turnover ratio. Plus, he stays out of the penalty box. Chabot might sneak in a few votes for the trophy.
John Marino, Lisbon
Marino has done well on the bottom pair for Lisbon, a team which has made a remarkable rebound from its shabby performance in Season 11. He is fourth in rookie scoring and is a +5, playing 2 fewer minutes per game than Fox and 7 fewer than Makar. It would have been interesting to see his stats if he was able to get more minutes in Portugal.
Marcus Pettersson, Milan
Like Marino, Pettersson didn’t get prime ice time as a rookie in Italy, but he has more takeaways than giveaways and has a 0 plus-minus rating with 3 games remaining. He has a heavy shot. His 9 goals places him 3rd among rookie defensemen in goals this season.
