This year’s NHL rookie race is heating up. With all of the hype surrounding last year’s Entry Draft and the debate about whether John Tavares or Victor Hedman would be taken first (it was Tavares by the Islanders; Hedman went second to Tampa Bay), it was the third-overall pick, Colorado’s Matt Duchene who is keeping the goal judge busy. His 21 goals and 24 assists both lead all rookies, and he’s 10 ahead of second-place Tavares on the points list.

The top three in the scoring race right now are Duchene, Tavares and Niclas Bergfors, who was one of the victims sent to Atlanta in the Ilya Kovalchuk deal a few weeks back. Bergfors was picked up in the 2005 Draft by New Jersey and has seen limited playing time. Now in his first full NHL season, his 19 goals and 24 points are sending a message to the league. Tavares on the other hand seems to be stalling. While amassing 17 goals and 35 points are impressive, his minus-19 rating is not. Sure, he’s playing for one of the worst teams in the league, but if he wants to be even more successful, he’s going to have to find a way to raise the play of those around him.

Goalies win the Calder trophy about once every five years, but they’ve also won three of the last eight. However, the only goalie who looks like he might be in contention this season is Detroit’s Jimmy Howard. In 47 games played, he’s compiled a 24-14-8 record and has a .924 save percentage and a 2.37 goals against average. Those numbers put him 13th, 6th and 8th in the league in each category, respectively. That’s among all goalies too, not just rookies.

The Calder Memorial Trophy race is one of the more exciting trophy hunts in the NHL, definitely more so than the Lady Byng or the Bill Masterson Trophy. Right now, Duchene is at the top of the list. If he can keep this pace, and help the Avalanche to any kind of postseason success, he’ll be a lock to pick up his first piece of hardware. This guy flew under the radar in the John Tavares sweepstakes last year, and he’s now showing both the Islanders and the Lightning what a sorry move that was.