If you were hoping to bet on incoming New Jersey Devils rookie forward Arseniy Gritsyuk winning the Calder Trophy this year, now is about as good a time as any. That is, at least if you think the oddsmakers were way off on this one.
In the latest odds from FanDuel Sportsbook, the 24-year-old Gritsyuk had some of the lowest odds to win Rookie of the Year, clocking in at a rather shocking +16000 (implied odds of 0.62%). For those who aren't in the know on betting odds, that means a simple $1 bet would earn $160 if Gritsyuk wins Rookie of the Year.
Those are effectively the lowest odds of any player expected to actually play regularly in the NHL this year, as only 12 players are lower, and they all have odds of +30000, including Philadelphia Flyers draft pick Porter Martone, who's already committed to the NCAA's Michigan State University for the season.
Making matters worse is the fact that backup goalies like Jesper Wallstedt (Minnesota, +4200) and Leevi Merilainen (Ottawa, +6500) each have better odds than the Devils' Gritsyuk.
Fellow KHL newcomers Danila Yurov (+10000) and Maxim Shabanov (+3100) are well ahead, which is also quite strange. They're both talented players, to be clear, but the gap between them and Gritsyuk is not that large, if there is a gap at all.
Shabanov, 24, is a 5-foot-8, 160-pound center joining the lowly New York Islanders. Gritsyuk, a drafted prospect of the same age, is a much sturdier 6-foot, 200-pound winger joining the likes of Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier, and Timo Meier on the Devils.
Frankly, there are few ways in which one can justify the stark difference in the odds in earnest, but I digress.
Plus, this is not to argue that Gritsyuk should be atop the list here; players like Ivan Demidov, Zeev Buium, Michael Misa, Yaroslav Askarov, and even James Hagens all have very real shots at winning the Calder.
But, so does Gritsyuk. Maybe not as much as some of the aforementioned names, but the young Russian forward deserves much more respect than to be all the way down at +16000.