What’s so impressive about this season’s rookie class?

The 2025-2026 season is just a few weeks old, and it’s quickly become clear that while there may be a clear early favorite in the race for the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie, there’s no shortage of worthy contenders that voters will be able to choose from.

Recent first overall pick and New York Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer has proven to be an immediate top-pairing contributor, but players like Detroit’s Emmett Finnie, Montreal’s Ivan Demidov, San Jose’s Michael Misa, Minnesota’s Zeev Buium, Anaheim’s Beckett Sennecke and Carolina’s Alexander Nikishin are just a few of the many rookies who look like stars in the making.

On Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Irfaan Gaffar was joined by co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton to discuss the way that the newest wave of young stars, powered by their combination of confidence and talent, has wasted no time in making their presence felt around the league.

Irfaan Gaffar: What has impressed you most about some of these kids that we’re seeing make the jump but stay in the NHL?

Carter Hutton: I think just the confidence in kids nowadays jumping up and getting to the league. It’s funny circling back on the old generation… you almost walked on eggshells a little bit. You didn’t want to rock the boat, but these younger guys have so much confidence. They come in and their skill follows with it… Michael Misa’s been a great example of that and he’s played so well so far… and then there’s Ivan Demidov, what he’s been able to do in Montreal. When you turn on a Montreal Canadiens game, does it not feel like the speed just gets cranked right up? It’s so fun to watch.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…