Burnaby superstar Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is among three rookie hockey players in the running for the NHL's Calder Memorial Trophy.
The first-year Edmonton Oilers centre was named along with Colorado Avalanche winger Gabriel Landeskog and New Jersey Devils centre Adam Henrique as finalists for the annual NHL's rookie of the year.
Despite playing in only 62 league games because of two separate shoulder injuries, the first overall draft pick by the Oilers finished the season with 52 points, including 18 goals, three multi-goal games and a record-tying five assists in a game against Chicago in November. Nugent-Hopkins' five helpers was just the fourth-ever such effort by an 18-year-old NHLer.
Landeskog tied Nugent-Hopkins for the rookie scoring lead with 22 goals and 52 points. He also led the Avs with a plus-20 rating and topped all first-year forwards averaging 18:36 minutes of ice time per game.
Henrique caught a break in his second season due to injury, playing on the Devils' top line with Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk. He finished first among rookies with 35 assists and third with 51 points. Henrique also tied for the league lead with four shorthanded goals.
