Defenseman Lane Hutson of the Montreal Canadiens is the latest young star to win a Calder Trophy as the rookie of the year. He became the seventh Canadiens player ever to win the award, and the first to win it since goaltender Ken Dryden in 1972.
With that, more history could be coming to Montreal involving the Calder Trophy. According to sportsbook BetMGM, Canadiens right winger Ivan Demidov is the favorite to win the Calder at 2.75 odds (+175). Closest to Demidov is Minnesota Wild D-man Zeev Buium at 14.00 (+1300).
The odds suggest that the Canadiens could see their players win back-to-back Calder Trophies, something that hasn’t been accomplished in quite some time.
The last time a team owned two consecutive Calder Trophy titles was the 1967 and 1968 Boston Bruins. In 1967, legendary defenseman Bobby Orr won the Calder, followed by center Derek Sanderson in 1968.
The Bruins duo went on to win two Stanley Cups together. In fact, Sanderson and Orr combined on the famous 1970 Cup-clinching overtime-winner against the St. Louis Blues, which saw Orr catch air time after scoring past goaltender Glen Hall.
To this day, Orr is one of the best defensemen of all time, with his name gracing the Hockey Hall of Fame since he was inducted in 1979. As for Sanderson, he went on to play almost 600 career regular-season games, mostly for Boston.
It’s way too early, and a long shot, to say that Hutson and Demidov will turn out to be like that old Bruins pair.
However, Hutson has shown signs of brilliance on the blueline as a real offensive threat from the back end, like Orr was. With 66 points in 82 games, he led all rookies in scoring last season and tied Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedam with the sixth-most points among all blueliners.
As for Demidov, he made his NHL debut with the Habs late last season, playing the final two games of the 2024-25 regular season. He recorded a goal and an assist in his first game against the Chicago Blackhawks, while going point-less in the following outing against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Later in the post-season, Montreal took on the Washington Capitals in the first round, and Demidov recorded two assists in five games.
The 19-year-old has shown bright spots in his play that could hint at him being a star in this league. Ultimately, the chances that Montreal will claim back-to-back Calder Trophies are high.
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