2024-25 NHL Calder Trophy Award Odds and Predictions

It’s NHL award season, folks. The big awards won’t be officially announced for a bit and we still have to pave a path to the Stanley Cup Finals, but it’s always fun (and sometimes profitable) to gauge who the likely winners are.

One big award that everyone is talking about is the Calder Trophy. Lane Hutson presently has by far the best odds to win the NHL Rookie of the Year award, but is he a guaranteed lock? There rarely are true guarantees in sports betting, so it could be worth it to take a look at who has a legit chance to pull off the upset.

There may ultimately be more value in betting on something like which teams will win each NHL Conference, but let’s dive in and see if there’s value to uncover.

What Is The Calder Trophy?

Basically the NHL Rookie of the Year award, the Calder Trophy praises the best player in their first year of competition in the NHL each season.

NHL Calder Trophy Odds

Check out the latest NHL Calder Trophy odds, courtesy of the top sports betting sites:

Player	Opening Odds	April Odds
Lane Hutson	+1000	-1200
Macklin Celebrini	+500	+750
Matvei Michkov	+450	+7500
Dustin Wolf	+1200	+10000

Much like the Norris Trophy odds, the 2024-25 NHL Calder Trophy odds point to one likely winner. That’d be none other than Lane Hutson, who didn’t crush it from a goal scoring perspective (6), but did dish out 60 assists (9th in the NHL) and had a respectable 66 points.

Can someone upset him despite his staggering -1200 price? Macklin Celebrini stands in as the only logical contender, and even he may face an uphill battle to complete the task.

It’s tough to navigate NHL odds when betting markets are like this. Sure, you still have some deserving candidates and their prices are alluring, but how likely are they to stage the upset?

The best handicappers online would probably agree; when someone is priced at a staggering -1200, you either need to find another angle (perhaps a prop), or the bet may be better off avoided entirely.

While true, it pays to inspect every NHL wager – even the ones that feel like foregone conclusions. Let’s do just that, combing through the Calder Trophy odds and coming to a winner prediction.

Calder Trophy Contenders

The following NHL players are contenders to win this year’s Calder Trophy Award:

Lane Hutson (-1200)

It’s pretty wild how far Lane Hutson has come this year. He opened the 2024-25 NHL season with middling +1000 odds to win this award, and he’s done a total 180. 

He is now the obvious favorite and it feels incredibly unlikely that anyone else could upset him at this point. That said, his overall numbers are not staggering. They’re good for a rookie and especially compared to his competition, but in general they won’t blow you away.

For starters, he had just six goals in 82 games. That pales in comparison to the record of 76 by a first-year player. Hats off to you, Teemu Selanne.

That may not entirely be fair, while it’s worth noting that Hutson definitely had a huge impact for his Montreal Canadiens. He made enough of an impact to help his squad stay competitive in the Atlantic Division – so much so that they snuck into the NHL playoffs.

While Hutson has not proven to be an elite goal scorer, he has already turned heads with his playmaking. That alone could seal the deal for him when it comes to the race for the 2024-25 Calder Trophy.

Macklin Celebrini (+750)

If Lane Hutson doesn’t win the NHL ROY award, it’s probably because of Macklin Celebrini. The San Jose Sharks center was much more prolific as a goal scorer (25) in his rookie season, and he was still active with his passing and vision (38 assists).

Offensively, he was obviously much more balanced than Hutson, and he was way ahead of him in terms of simply putting the puck into the net. Of course, his play didn’t really elevate the Sharks, who won just 20 games and finished dead last in the Pacific Division.

That isn’t exactly Celebrini’s fault, as he did what he could on offense in his first season. The big questions here are how much you value team success for a rookie, and whether you prefer balance over superior production in one category.

Celebrini wins in the goal department, while Hutson was the far better playmaker. However, team success could be the tiebreaker here. If so, it’s not really a close call at all.

Matvei Michkov (+7500)

Next up we have Matvei Michkov, who has to be in consideration if we’re seriously giving Celebrini a shot at the upset. His odds are even more appealing, and while they suggest he’s far less likely to win, his numbers really don’t.

Matvei Michkov was very good as a rookie, as he put up even more goals than Celebrini (26), and was about as good in the assist department (37). His case is much the same as Celebrini’s, though, as he didn’t dominate in one area like Hutson did, while his Philadelphia Flyers were not very good, finishing in the Metropolitan Division cellar.

Once again, we need to decide how we prioritize stats and whether team success matters. I vote that it does, seeing as anyone can slap the stick around and score goals – especially when they have literally nothing to lose.

That isn’t to take anything away from Michkov. He had a really strong first year in the NHL, and he deserves to at least be in this conversation.

Dustin Wolf (+10000)

Lastly, we have Dustin Wolf, who flips the script a bit as a goaltender. The 20-year old California native was insanely good as a rookie, notching 29 wins and posting a sweet 91% save percentage.

Wolf also scored three shutouts for his Calgary Flames, and allowed just 2.64 goals per game (16th). He’s a tough one to sell, though, as he is not a literal rookie. He played one game back in 2022-23, and saw action in 17 games last season.

That could be a bit of a hiccup in the process, but in terms of playing his first full season in the NHL, he passed with flying colors and was one of the better goalies in the entire league. It can’t hurt his case that he played a hand in his Calgary Flames almost sneaking into the NHL playoffs out of the Pacific Division, either.

In a vacuum, I think Dustin Wolf is a really interesting Calder Trophy sleeper pick. He had really nice defensive stats for a guy in his first full season, his team success was solid, and his season was easily more impressive than anyone else on this shortlist.

Calder Trophy Predictions

There are a lot of ways this thing could go if you break it down and really look at each candidate’s case. 

On one hand, Lane Hutson has the most balanced and impactful rookie season from an offensive player. On the other hand, you can’t really do anything with his odds and the other candidates do have mild cases. 

If you’re looking for home run NHL picks to roll with, this betting market doesn’t offer one. Hutson is the likely winner, but it’s almost by default, as the competition isn’t all that intense.

The two offensive players who bested him in the goal scoring department have rather empty stats when you think about it. Then there’s Dustin Wolf, who would be a smash bet if he was a legit rookie.

Of course, Hutson isn’t a true rookie, either. He only appeared in two games last year, but unlike Michkov and Celebrini, this is not his legit first NHL campaign.

All of this means very little, though. To me, Hutson had the best combination of impactful stats and team success. If you were going to bet against him, Wolf would be the ultimate leverage bet due to price and the amazing season he had.

I don’t think you should actually bet on Hutson at -1200. I’d either throw a small amount of money at Wolf, avoid the bet entirely, or see if any online sportsbooks are offering different props or alternative lines for this market.

That said, Lane Hutson is the likely winner of the Calder Trophy this year.

Bet: Lane Hutson (-1200)

Calder Trophy Winners

The following is a list of the most recent Calder Trophy Award winners: