I wouldn't be so sure about Panarin winning ROTY nor would I be enthusiastic. In case you forgot, a big part of the cap trouble in 2011 was Toews winning the Conn Smythe, with both he and Kane hitting major performance bonuses. Panarin, despite being 24, is on an ELC and thus would get a performance bonus for winning the Calder, which would mean dead cap space next year. Aside from that, the feeling that I'm getting is that voters are looking for any way to give it to Dylan Larkin of the Red Wings instead, who is putting up slightly lower numbers at age 19. People are heralding Larkin's superior +/-, as blatant a grasp at straws as there's ever been because everyone in 2016 knows +/- is a horseshit statistic, especially for forwards. In addition to already being 24 and playing with Kane, people are indeed mad that the Blackhawks could be so charmed as to get the rookie of the year, but then they're arguing against a charmed franchise by arguing for a Red Wing...?

Panarin will have to win the rookie scoring race decisively, like say 15+ points, to win the Calder. And don't rule out McDavid having a dynamite return from injury and voters wanting to give it to him for "overcoming adversity," again, straws. As it stands, he's up ten points on Larkin and Domi (do not forget about him, by the way) and 12 up on Eichel.

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.

From the Sabres thread last week:



Panarin is at 42, Domi 31, Larkin 30, so if this holds up, voters are gonna have to bite the bullet and give ROTY to a 24-year-old. Tough shit, Larkin.

Kane has greatly helped Panarin and vice versa. Kane toiled with shitty linemates from the time he got taken off Toews's line till now. Brad Richards was an improvement, but only over the likes of Michal Handzus. It is funny to watch people denigrate the Hawks for not having anyone as good as Crosby or Ovechkin: Seabrook is only good because of Keith, Keith is only good because of Toews and Kane, Toews and Kane are only good because of Hossa, and the goalie is only good because of everybody else. It's a wonder they won it all once, let alone thrice.

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.

Spanky got really mad at me for saying this, but I don't care, and I'll say it again: Jamie Benn winning the scoring race with eighty-seven points is an atrocity. Even a point total in the low 90s would have been tolerable, but 87?