2024-25 NHL Calder Trophy Odds and Predictions

A new NHL season is almost upon us, which means fresh blood is preparing to hit the ice. A lot of young hockey players won’t be ready to play, but a few will be in the running for a prestigious honor.

The 2024-25 NHL Calder Trophy odds are live at most online sports betting sites, which means you can strike early and take advantage of some solid value.

Do you back the current favorite? Or do you think long-term and try to nail a sleeper bet? The choice is yours, but I’ll help you place your bet by looking at the latest odds and offering my prediction.

2024-25 NHL Calder Trophy Odds

BetUS is one sportsbook that has NHL odds live for this award. Check out the current pricing.

Your favorite to win the NHL rookie of the year award is Matvei Michkov, but he does have some company up top.

He has two guys behind him priced at +500 at BetUS, while six hockey players in all have odds of +700 or better. There’s two others at +2500 or better, too.

It’s likely that bettors should focus on the best priced options, but you still need to know if you can trust the betting favorite and which contenders are actually viable.

Let’s find out as I explore Michkov’s value and see who else has a shot at winning the Calder Trophy this season.

Why is Matvei Michkov the 2024-25 Calder Trophy Favorite?

He wasn’t the #1 overall pick in this year’s NHL Draft, but it’s still pretty arguable this is Michkov’s award to lose.

Production will ultimately decide that, but Michkov brings solid experience to the table after playing 91 games in the KHL. The 7th overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers, Michkov is just 19 years old, but he’s older than that when you consider the competition he’s already faced.

The new Flyers star racked up 19 goals and 22 assists last year, and Philly will need his offensive output. Philadelphia finished just 38-33-11 in 2023, missing the playoffs for the fourth year in a row.

I don’t know if the Flyers can make the jump back to the playoffs immediately, but landing Michkov gives them a shot. Regardless, the youngster figures to play quite a bit early on and is a logical favorite to win the Calder Trophy in 2024.

Top Calder Trophy Contenders for 2024-25

Michkov is a good bet to win this award, but there are a few more viable contenders.

Macklin Celebrini +500

Is this real life? The first pick in this year’s NHL Draft actually has the second best Calder Trophy betting odds? That’s pretty wild, if you ask me.

He wasn’t the #1 goal scorer in college, but he was pretty darn close. He ultimately finished second in goals scored (see?) with 32 in 2023, while he was top three in points and 12th in assists.

This kid is the total package and you’re getting him at a discount. San Jose was atrocious last year and badly needed his offensive production. If he can deliver like his talent suggests, he’ll be scoring a lot of goals and keeping himself in the running to win NHL rookie of the year.

Cutter Gauthier +650

The other legit Calder Trophy contender is without a doubt Cutter Gauthier. Nobody scored more goals in college hockey last year (38!).

He even paced all of NCAA hockey with a 2.089 College Hockey Individual Point Value per team game and made an insane 10 game-winning goals.

Gauthier is obviously a talented scorer, but he also registered a solid 27 assists on the year.

Across the board, Gauthier is exactly the type of player you’d like to have a shot to win NHL rookie of the year. He was technically drafted in 2022, but this will be his first full season playing professional hockey.

He doesn’t lack experience, though. He played for the US National Developmental Team for two years, and won a gold medal in international play in 2024. 

Gauthier offers intriguing value given his talent and production, while latching on with the Anaheim Ducks (just 204 goals in 2023) could give him an immediate opportunity to take over on offense.

Best Value Bet to Win the 2024-25 Calder Trophy

My favorite sleeper pick to win the Calder Trophy is Artyom Levshunov. There are several players with +10000 odds, and he’s the best option if you want to take that deep of a dive.

It’s pretty wild that the second overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft has a price like this, but the fact that he is a Defensemen probably plays into it.

He was also drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks, and they were awful (23-53-6) a year ago. It is quite likely that won’t suddenly change, either.

The Michigan State product should look to boost a Blackhawks defense that allowed 290 goals last year. He did exhibit some offensive ability on Team Belarus (25 goals), but it remains to be seen if he can actually do enough to give himself a shot at this award.

Is he a likely winner? Nope. But he does offer supreme value and was the number two overall pick for a reason. That, and we’ve seen Defensemen win this award in the past.

Cale Makar won with the Colorado Avalanche fairly recently, and Mortiz Seider won with the Detroit Red Wings in 2021-22. In fact, there have been three Defensemen to win the Calder Trophy over the last decade.

Not the best ratio, but all things considered, Levshunov isn’t the worst try. 

2024-25 Calder Trophy Winner Prediction

Levshunov is a heck of a value when you look at his total resume. Top betting favorite Matvei Michkov is absolutely in play, too. I can’t rule out some of the other top contenders, either, but the more I look at this, Celebrini is a slam dunk pick.

Despite being the top pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, he enters the season with the second best Calder Trophy odds, which is a tad surprising. He’s really not far behind, though, and there’s a very real argument that he’s the rightful betting favorite.

Celebrini goes to the San Jose Sharks, who badly need him after scoring just 181 goals and winning just 19 games in 2023. The jolt he will end up giving them is going to be enough to carry him to the top of this betting market.

Past Calder Trophy Winners