With the conclusion of the surprisingly positive 2013 Columbus Blue Jackets season, the Union Blue team saw no choice but to honor as many deserving Blue Jackets players as possible. So over the next few weeks we will be slowly unveiling our rankings for every single award given out by the NHL (minus the Art Ross, Rocket Richard, William Jennings, and saldly, the Conn Smythe). Each tUB contributor (AlisonL, Canadan, CBJProspects, DerDrache, and myself), will rank three players per award (with one obvious exception), and provide an explanation for each of our rankings. These ranks will then be combined to determine who the tUB team feels deserves each award. Up first, we have the Calder Memorial Trophy, given to the top rookie performer. The potential Calder winners were: Dalton Prout, Tim Erixon, Cody Goloubef, Nick Drazenovic, Sean Collins, Jonathan Audy-Marchessault, and Nick Holden. Drumroll please……….
WINNER: Dalton Prout
AlisonL (1): “No brainer here. One of the few to come up to the big club, perform consistently and earn a long term stay. Showed versatility with different defensive partners and led the team in +/- and was second in the league for rookie defensemen (11th overall). I think he’s earned a spot to stay with the CBJ.”
Canadan (1): “Easily the biggest impact, Prout’s reliable defense was a major asset to Columbus this year. His impressive +15 statistic lead Columbus by a solid margin.”
CBJProspects (1): “Dalton was the Jackets top rookie solidifying his role in the Jackets top 4 next season even with Ryan Murray fitting in somewhere. Dalton was a calming presence on the Jackets blueline.”
DerDrache (1): “Not only would I nominate him as the most outstanding rookie player this year, I think he may be the best surprise of this season for me. I’d had the opportunity to see him at previous years’ training camps and he always seemed to provide a solid show but I don’t think I ever left with any excitement about his game. He has emerged as a truly defensively responsible presence on the blue line and finished the season with a +15 (good for 2nd in the league among rookie D men) and an average TOI per game of 18:31. Those are the kind of minutes that are evident of a lot of confidence from a coach. That confidence is echoed by CBJ GM and President of Hockey Operations. In season ticket holder Q&A sessions, both Jarmo and JD have touted Prout as an example of a young player who has stepped up and even joked about him buying a place in Columbus.”
The Coach (1): “Now I’m not as high on Prouter as most seem to be, but he has emerged as a serviceable depth defenseman. I still see issues with his decision making and puck moving ability, but he sure can lay the smack down, and doesn’t try to do too much outside his comfort zone. A very pleasant surprise this year.”
Runner Up: Tim Erixon
AlisonL (2): “After a rocky start, Tim’s game calmed down and we grew to trust him on the ice. A few glaring mistakes still showed themselves in late games, but the post season revelation that he was dealing with a long term injury shed some light on *some* of his performance issues. It was also great to see Tim erase any of the doubt that came from his previous reputation of only wanting to play for certain teams.”
Canadan (2): “Still getting beat at the NHL speed but improvements and likely a valuable bottom four defenseman moving forward, I am happy with the season Erixon had. I expect him to improve after a hard working off-season.”
CBJProspects (2): “Erixon put together a solid semi-full season before injuries detailed his season. Hopefully Erixon will bring more offense next season.”
DerDrache (2): “Erixon was the wild card of sorts in the Nash trade. I’d say expectations for him were ambiguous at best. Thus far, he has proven to be a dynamic addition to the blue line that will make the likes of Cody Goloubef and Ryan Murray compete for a top 6 spot with the big club next year.”
The Coach (2): “Think Erixon will ultimately be the best player from this rookie class, once he gets better accustomed to the NHL game. He has had a few moments where he looked over his head, but with his skating and decision making, I see a bright future for him.”
Honorable Mention: Cody Goloubef
AlisonL (3): “Guy earns his first NHL goal while up with the big club and brings a swagger that I like to see add to the building personality of the CBJ.”
Canadan (3): “I don’t think any other player had much of an impact at the NHL level.”
DerDrache (3): “With all due respect to Cody Goloubef, the gap from #2 to #3 on my list is pretty significant. That said, Cody Goloubef performed admirably among sometimes chaotic/last minute call ups from Springfield. The ability for the CBJ to pull from their AHL affiliate for a defenseman who’s prepared to put in nearly 15 minutes per night is a testament to this team’s defensive depth. In his 11 games up with the Jackets he was even able to muster one game winning goal. Coaching and team leadership has got to feel good going into next season about Goloubef’s future contributions after a full camp and some additional seasoning in Springy.”
The Coach (3): “Goloubef was the only other player who played enough for me to really get a feel for how they can contribute at the NHL level. Like Prout, I can see Goloubef fitting in as a solid depth player who knows his role and executes it well.”
Honorable Mention: Sean Collins
CBJProspects (3): “I’ve started calling Collins the next “weighty”, playing the same style of game as Andrew Murray. Despite not scoring any points Collins didn’t look out of place in any of the 5 games he played in.”
So that’s what the tUB team thought of the Jackets top rookies, let us know your Calder ballot in the comments! Stay tuned later over the next few weeks for the remainder of the 2013 tUB Awards.
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