Kaprizov of Wild wins Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year

Kirill Kaprizov of the Minnesota Wild won the Calder Trophy voted as NHL rookie of the year on Tuesday.

The 24-year-old forward is the first Wild player to win the award. He fell one vote short of being a unanimous selection.
Kaprizov led rookies in goals (27), points (51), power-play goals (eight) and shots on goal (157) in 55 games. He was second in even-strength points (38) and power-play points (13), and tied for third in plus/minus rating (plus-10). He led the Wild in goals, points, points per game (0.93) and overtime goals (two), and scored three game-winning goals.
"I've enjoyed everything about the game," Kaprizov said. "I enjoyed the atmosphere in the locker room. I enjoyed playing on the ice with my teammates. I enjoyed the playoff atmosphere and the different rinks we played in. The organization was amazing. I really enjoyed everything from my play on ice to the team game. Everything this season kind of came together and it was truly special."
Kaprizov averaged 18:18 of ice time per game, had a shooting percentage of 17.2 percent, and had the most goals, assists and points by a rookie in Wild history.
"Big thank you to the team," Kaprizov said. "Without them, none of this would be possible. From all of my teammates to all of the coaching staff to the organization to the administrative team, everyone has helped me tremendously both on and off the ice. I'd also like to thank my family. They've always held me up in tough moments and the good moments and have supported me as well as all of my close friends constantly calling me and just letting me know everything's going to be all right and just helping me throughout the season when things were a little bit tough."

Minnesota (35-16-5) was third in the Honda West Division and reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs,
"I think just dealing with him he's a lot like [what] we're trying to build here with the franchise," Wild coach Dean Evason said recently. "It's great to get recognized, but his ultimate goal is to win and win a Stanley Cup. He says all the right things and does all the right things. I'm not surprised that he's extremely humble with that."
Dallas Stars forward Jason Robertson was second and Carolina Hurricanes goalie Alex Nedeljkovic was third as the other finalists for the award, which was voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association before the postseason began.
Nedeljkovic was 15-5-3 with a 1.90 GAA and .932 save percentage and tied for the rookie lead in shutouts (three).
Robertson led rookies in assists (28) and even-strength points (39), and was tied for first in plus/minus (plus-13) in 51 games.
NHL.com independent correspondent Jessi Pierce contributed to this report
2021 Calder Trophy voting
Points (1st-5th)
1. Kirill Kaprizov, MIN 997 (99-1-0-0-0)
2. Jason Robertson, DAL 689 (1-94-3-2-0)
3. Alex Nedeljkovic, CAR 386 (0-4-62-14-6)
4. Josh Norris, OTT 183 (0-0-13-29-31)
5. Igor Shesterkin, NYR 165 (0-0-13-29-13)
6. Vitek Vanecek, WSH 49 (0-0-3-8-10)
7. Ty Smith, NJD 25 (0-0-1-3-11)
8. Nils Hoglander, VAN 24 (0-0-1-4-7)
9. Tim Stützle, OTT 18 (0-0-2-2-2)
10. Yegor Sharangovich, NJD 17 (0-1-0-1-7)
11. Pius Suter, CHI 12 (0-0-1-2-1)
12. K'Andre Miller, NYR 8 (0-0-0-2-2)
13. Kevin Lankinen, CHI 7 (0-0-0-2-1)
14. Eeli Tolvanen, NSH 6 (0-0-1-0-1)
15. Kaapo Kahkonen, MIN 4 (0-0-0-1-1)
15. Ilya Sorokin, NYI 4 (0-0-0-1-1)
15. Artem Zub, OTT 3 (0-0-0-0-3)
18. Mikey Anderson, LAK 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
18. Brandon Hagel, CHI 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
18. Zach Whitecloud, VGK 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
Points allocation: 10-7-5-3-1 (1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th)