The Chicago Blackhawks have a legitimate Calder Trophy candidate in Dominik Kubalik, and history proves that he can win the award.
As a former seventh-round pick of the Los Angeles Kings, the Chicago Blackhawks had to be thrilled when they acquired Dominik Kubalik in exchange for a fifth-round pick before the 2019-2020 season. The 24-year-old was just finishing up an impressive campaign in the National League, scoring 25 goals with 32 assists for 57 points in a 50-game sample size.
The left-winger was inserted on the third line to start and as he continued to pile up the goals, Jeremy Colliton moved him up to the top line alongside Jonathan Toews and Alex DeBrincat. He finished his first year in the NHL, leading all rookies with 30 goals while also accumulating 16 assists for 46 total points.
Perhaps the highlight of his season came in Tampa when he scored a hat trick in a 5-2 Blackhawks’ victory. That night, Kubalik scored his 27th, 28th, and 29th goals all in the third period in what would end up being one of the final regular-season games for the Blackhawks.
It would appear that his primary competition for the Calder Trophy – the NHL’s Rookie of the Year honors – are Vancouver’s Quinn Hughes and Colorado’s Cale Makar. Hughes tallied eight goals with 45 assists for 53 points in 68 games, while Makar scored 12 goals with 38 assists for 50 points in 57 games.
The pair of defensemen averaged at least 21 minutes on ice for their respective teams, but the interesting thing is that Kubalik’s production came with significantly less 14:22 average time on ice.
But looking at the previous winners, only 11 defensemen – out of a possible 86 winners – have won the award. And not since Aaron Ekblad during the 2014-2015 campaign – 12 goals with 27 assists for 39 points – has a defenseman been given the honors.
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That said, Hughes had a terrific season, and Kubalik will have a tough time receiving more votes from the Professional Hockey Writers Association, but he made his case. I’d be curious to see what Kubalik’s stats would have looked like had he played on the top line all year, which would have obviously given his time on ice a noticeable uptick as well.
Regardless if Kubalik wins the award, he will be a priority for the Blackhawks this offseason, as he is set to become a restricted free agent once the new league year begins, which will reportedly occur on November 1.
