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Calder Trophy watch for 2024-25: Top rookies to know now

Top contenders for the Calder Trophy include Logan Stankoven, Matvei Michkov, Macklin Celebrini, Cutter Gauthier and Will Smith. ESPN

Is Macklin Celebrini about to follow Connor Bedard in becoming the latest No. 1 pick to win the Calder Trophy? Or could a winner come from a dynamic field that features Cutter Gauthier, Matvei Michkov, Logan Stankoven and Will Smith?

We won't know the answers to those questions until next June ... but why wait? Being the top pick in 2023 -- plus the fact he'd been talked about for years -- made Bedard an early Calder front-runner, only for Brock Faber to emerge as a serious challenger who at one time appeared as if he could win.

So what about this season? Who are the favorites and why? Who are the less-hyped players to keep an eye on who could potentially emerge as serious Calder challengers? Here's our way-too-early look.