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2013 NHL Awards: Who Will Win the Calder Trophy?

By Dirk Hoag@Forechecker Jun 3, 2013, 11:30am EDT

The members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association vote annually on which NHL rookie stood out from the rest, and this year we have three wingers whose careers are really taking off (yes I know that was awful we are mimicking an awards show here)...

Brendan Gallagher

#11 / Right Wing / Montreal Canadiens

Height: 5-9

Weight: 178

Born: May 06, 1992

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG		SOG	PCT
2012 - Brendan Gallagher	44	15	13	28	+10	33	3	0	3		117	12.8

Gallagher tied for the Habs' team lead in goal-scoring, and helped lead a rapid turnaround in Montreal this season.

Jonathan Huberdeau

#11 / Left Wing / Florida Panthers

Height: 6-1

Weight: 177

Born: Jun 04, 1993

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG		SOG	PCT
2012 - Jonathan Huberdeau	48	14	17	31	-15	18	2	0	1		112	12.5

The #3 overall draft pick from 2011 is living up to his billing as an offensive leader.

Brandon Saad

#20 / Left Wing / Chicago Blackhawks

Height: 6-1

Weight: 202

Born: Oct 27, 1992

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG		SOG	PCT
2012 - Brandon Saad	46	10	17	27	+17	12	0	1	2		98	10.2

Saad has stepped into a role on Chicago's top line and hasn't looked out of place, finishing fourth on that team in scoring.

OTF Staff Ballots

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	Rationale
Dirk	Jonathan Huberdeau	Nail Yakupov	Jonas Brodin	Brendan Gallagher	Brandon Saad	Huberdeau was one of the very few bright spots in Florida this season.
Caroline	Jonathan Huberdeau	Brendan Gallager	Jonas Brodin	Nail Yakupov	Brandon Saad	When you're that productive on team like Florida, you deserve credit. (Also, I was going to add Dougie Hamilton, but then I remembered Yak.)
Jonathan	Jonathan Huberdeau	Brandon Saad	Brendan Gallager	Jonas Brodin	Nail Yakupov	JH takes the cake, but I have to give some love to the former Saginaw Spirit. He struggled during the lockout and rebounded impressively, taking full advantage of his strong teammates.
Chris	Jonathan Huberdeau	Jonas Brodin	Nail Yakupov	Brendan Gallager	Brandon Saad	Can it be anyone else?
George	Brandon Saad	Nail Yakupov	Jonathan Huberdeau	Brendan Gallagher	Jonas Brodin	Not just a benefactor of playing his rookie season with the NHL's best squad, Saad was the most complete rookie of all. He played top minutes with Jonathan Toews, and used his size to create havoc and space for his linemates when he wasn't contributing on the score sheet.
Jason	Jonathan Huberdeau	Brandon Saad	Nail Yakupov	Jonas Brodin	Brendan Gallagher	The impact on a terrible team like Florida is easier to see than on a great team like Chicago. That's the difference for me.