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New Jersey Devils Irrelevance Will Cost Them In Calder Trophy Race

By Nick Villano

Ty Smith #24 of the New Jersey Devils is congratulated by teammates Egor Sharangovich #17 and Jack Hughes #86 after Smith scored his first career NHL goal in his first NHL game during the home opening game against the Boston Bruins at Prudential Center on January 14, 2021 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Ty Smith #24 of the New Jersey Devils is congratulated by teammates Egor Sharangovich #17 and Jack Hughes #86 after Smith scored his first career NHL goal in his first NHL game during the home opening game against the Boston Bruins at Prudential Center on January 14, 2021 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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The Calder Trophy is going to Kirill Kaprizov. There was some midseason talk about Jason Robertson on the Dallas Stars actually making this a close encounter, but it’s clear that the Minnesota Wild’s star winger was the best rookie in the league this season. Unless voters make up their own rules and disqualify Kaprizov for his years in the KHL, he should run away with the award.

At one point in the season, it looked like Ty Smith should be right in the discussion with Kaprizov. He was racking up assists and was heading the New Jersey Devils power play while also holding down the team’s top line. At the end of the season, he still had great stats (23 points in 48 games from the blueline).

Smith averaged more than 20 minutes of ice time per game. Only Damon Severson and P.K. Subban averaged more. The Devils were leaning on their 20-year-old rookie to help them win games. While those wins were few and far between, when the Devils did win it seemed like Smith was helping in some way.

Then, another Devils rookie started to rocket up the ranks. Yegor Sharangovich had an amazing first week in the NHL, scoring an overtime goal with just seconds left to beat the Boston Bruins in his second ever game. He went cold a little bit in the middle of the season, but he finished it on fire. He had 18 points in his final 19 games of the season. The Belarusian sniper was living up to his expectations immediately.

Obviously, Sharangovich has the type of story that could sway voters. He’s from a country that isn’t usually a hockey powerhouse. He was a monster in the KHL before the season. The former 5th-round pick was a longshot to ever make the NHL, but he did it just two seasons after getting drafted.

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The issue for the Devils is they just weren’t relevant for the final two months of the season. Voters weren’t even paying attention to this team, so they aren’t even a consideration for many voters. Instead, names like Igor Shesterkin, Alex Nedeljkovic, K’Andre Miller, Josh Norris, and Kevin Lankinen are all mentioned for players getting votes ahead of the Devils great rookies.

This isn’t even considering that if Sharangovich and Smith do get votes, they will be stealing votes from each other. Just about nobody is putting two Devils players on any ballot this season, so people are going to choose between the two if they choose them at all. That is going to take points away from them.

Don’t expect to hear either Smith or Sharangovich’s name next week when they announce the top three Calder Trophy candidates. While they both had very good rookie seasons, it was a stacked rookie class and the Devils were terrible. However, the real surprise is when the voting comes out. Both will likely be left out of the top five completely, and it’s all because they played for a team that just couldn’t get it done.

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