[Cali Panthers Fan]

There's some pretty funny posts in this thread trying to disparage Ekblad's performance this year in hopes that Gaudreau will win the Calder. I'm a huge Gaudreau fan, and he had an exceptional year, but nobody had a bigger impact on his team's success than Ekblad.

Played in all but one game this year. Started on the 2nd pairing and then moved up to the top pairing with Campbell. The Campbell pairing was supposed to shelter him, but after about game 20 Ekblad was sheltering Campbell. 12 goals, 27 assists, and 39 points on a team that didn't score much all year, ranking him 4th in team scoring behind Huberdeau, Jokinen, and Bjugstad, and AHEAD of good young players like Barkov, Pirri, Hayes, and even seasoned veterans like Boyes and Campbell. If Ekblad had played on last year's Panthers, he would have been their scoring leader. Oh, and he also led the team in plus/minus with a +12, with only 2 other players in the double digit plus side of things. For reference, the Panthers had a -17 goal differential which was 23rd in the league, so one can only imagine what it would be without Ekblad. But all that being said, he was the biggest difference maker on the team in every situation, and was the biggest factor in their jump of 9 spots in the standings. That Florida team was abysmal a year ago, especially defensively, and they turned into one of the best in the league in that regard with Ekblad, Luongo, and Gallant coaching.

For any defenseman, that's a great year, but for an 18 year old raw rookie with no pro experience, that's f***ing incredible. We all love Gaudreau's high end skill, but Ekblad is an absolute franchise changer, as we're seeing already. I wouldn't really be upset with any of the nominees winning, but let's not be silly and say that Ekblad shouldn't even be part of this mix.