The finalists for the NHL's Calder Trophy for "the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition" have been announced, and while it's disappointing that Tobias Enstrom didn't finishing the top three it was to be expected. The finalists- Patrick Kane, Nicklas Backstrom and Jonathan Toews-  finished first, second and third in rookie scoring and all three are forwards. In another year Enstrom might have finished in the top three and gotten consideration for being an outstanding rookie playing a more difficult position, but Kane, Backstrom and Toews all had incredible years and points will always overshadow defensive prowess.  Enstrom led rookie defensemen in points but was eighth overall in rookie scoring. It probably didn't help that only eight of his 38 points were scored after the All-Star break.

None of that should take away from Enstrom's incredible season though. In the end he was our best defenseman and led all Thrashers and all NHL rookies in time-on-ice en route to setting a new record for points by a Thrasher defenseman. In the end the winner of the Calder Trophy this year will be a former first-round pick and will be a player who was taken in the top four of his draft class. Meanwhile we'll keep cheering our slightly undersized eighth-round gem who will be an NHL All-Star long before his career is over.