The Rookie Race

In these dog days of summer, it's becoming increasingly difficult to find things to write about when it comes to hockey. Thankfully, the folks at HockeysFuture.com has done a great feature article on Calder Trophy candidates for 2009, which outlines some of the hotter prospects for the rookie of the year award.

When it comes to the Calder Trophy, it does have a tendency to go to players with a great scoring touch, either up front or from the blueline. Okay, let's not forget the goalies as well... we have had three goalies win the trophy in the last 15 years. All of these players who are even qualified to win the Calder by the end of the year all typically have good returns for your pool team as well, which brings us to the idea of pointing out some of the Sherpa's favourites from this list.

Historically, the Sherpa likes to make the gamble with youth on his pool team, since he's likely to either hit a homerun with a late round genius pick or bust with a higher earlier round flop. It's all about the gambling!

There isn't likely much doubt who the favourite going into the season is. Number one overall pick this summer, Steven Stamkos, has to be the favourite going in, as his spot with the Lightning has all but been decided for him. The future star will have a lot of help drumming up points with teammates like Lecavalier, Prospal, St. Louis and more, which does make his presence all the more exciting. As I forecasted in his signing article, he could very well hit the 70-point mark this season, which could be considered a second, third or fourth round pick in your draft, depending on how many people you have drafting.

As talented kids go, my runner-up for the Calder would have to be Kyle Turris in Phoenix. Turris, 19, has some great vision and playmaking ability, which will serve him well with some of the young guns on the team. Unfortunately for Turris, his help will primarily be with a lot of the young guns on the team, unlike Stamkos, who has a lot of scoring veterans on his side. This shouldn't deter Turris too much though, as he should be considered a more natural playmaker than Stamkos, so he could be the Backstrom of this year's rookie class.

Getting nine games under his belt at the end of last year cemented a spot for Kyle Okposo on the island. His size and grit made an immediate impact for the lowly Islanders, who will be keen to rely on his talents right away in the coming season. In his first nine games, Okposo finished with 5 points (2G, 3A) and he raised a lot more in eyebrows as well. If you've got a small thing in your heart for the Islanders, you already have Okposo placed in your priority list for the draft. He could very easily be a 50-point player for Long Island, so prioritize him accordingly.

If size was going to be an issue, you would want to avoid Flyers forward, Claude Giroux, like the plague. Thankfully, the new NHL is all about speed and skill... so, roll out the red carpet for young Giroux. The young scoring machine from Quebec should have the Flyers brass giddy with excitement, as he'll be a great fit with the likes of Briere, Richards and Carter and he should fit like a glove. He scored 112 points with Gatineau in the QMJHL last season in 63 games and represented Canada as well during the Canada/Russia SuperSeries. If he can crack the team in camp, look for who he'll be playing with before you write him in on your list.

Rounding out my favourite five prospects for the coming season is Shawn Matthias, forward for the Florida Panthers. In four games for the Cats, Matthias scored a pair of goals, one of which came on the Florida power play. He's a big kid with lots of potential, which will look good on the team in Miami. If he can make the jump to the big club, he should be able to bring some new scoring depth to a team that had lost quite a bit of it over the summer. He's certainly no replacement for Jokinen quite yet, but he does bare the qualities of being a future captain of an NHL side. If he can be a full time player, he could very well be in the 40-point range for the year.

What likely could be considered a shocking omission would be the unmentioned Jonathan Bernier in Los Angeles, who has been overshadowed by teammate Erik Ersberg. As top prospects go, Bernier will come to the Kings camp with a lot more hype than Ersberg, although Ersberg did perform admirably for the Kings in their times of goaltending desperation. The goaltending situation in Los Angeles should be somewhat of a concern for those poolies who want to get the leg up on their competition, because if you're in a deep pool, someone in your pool will have to take Los Angeles goaltending, either starting and/or backing up.