Can John Gibson Win The Calder Trophy?

Gibson’s Heroics Have People Buzzing

After Wednesday night’s action concludes, the NHL will take it’s midseason break that will culminate with the upcoming All-Star weekend in Nashville. The best players in the game will be on hand to enjoy the festivities that the Nashville Predators enjoy throughout the length of the regular season. The Anaheim Ducks will have 2 representatives in Nashville in forward Corey Perry and goaltender John Gibson. Perry’s 8th consecutive All-Star selection should come as no surprise, however the same cannot be said for the rookie net minder Gibson, who has been turning plenty of heads with his fantastic performance to date.

So far this season, the Pittsburgh native has been nothing less than stellar. Originally coming in to start for the injured Frederik Andersen, Gibson took full control of the number 1 goalie spot by standing on his head. In 18 games started, Gibson has posted an 11-7 record with .923 SV% and a league leading 1.91 GAA. Those are eye-popping stats, especially for a 22 year old rookie goaltender playing a rigorous Western Conference schedule. It’s also important to consider how bad the Ducks offense had been for most of the early part of the season. For these reasons, it’s entirely possible to see Gibson as a legitimate contender for the Calder Trophy as the leagues best rookie.

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Digging deeper into the stats, it’s quite obvious to see that Gibson was the main reason the Ducks have been able to stay afloat, no pun intended, and managed to stay within striking distance of a playoff spot. While his even strength SV% is a healthy .922, his penalty kill SV% is even higher at .926. Although the Anaheim Ducks have been abysmal on offense for the latter part of 2015, they’ve been able to hang their hats on defense, especially their penalty kill. Heading into this weekend’s All-Star break, the Ducks rank number 1 in the NHL in penalty kill percentage, and Gibson is a big reason why. As the old saying goes, your goaltender is always your best penalty killer and the best penalty killer on the best penalty killing team in Mr. Gibson.

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So why should Gibson get your Calder consideration? It’s a fair question given the amount of outstanding rookies that have broken into the league this year. From Chicago’s Artemi Panarin to Buffalo’s Jack Eichel, and even Arizona’s Max Domi, there has been no shortage of qualified candidates to be up for nomination to take home this year’s Calder Trophy. To answer plain and simple, Gibson is the reason the Ducks haven’t self-destructed after starting the season 7-10-4, which was the Duck’s record before Gibson saw his first action of 2015-2016. Since that late November night, the Ducks have managed to go 15-8-3. Gibson has yet to allow more than 3 goals in any of his starts this season, while also posting 3 shutouts. On a team that has struggled to score goals this season, Gibson has made save after save, not only keeping the Ducks in individual games, but also keeping them in the playoff race.

Although the Duck’s defensive unit should also get a lot of high praise, the fact should remain that if the Ducks are able to dig out of the early season hole that they dug themselves into, Gibson will be in line for serious award consideration. Another thing to consider about Gibson’s fabulous play is that he’s all but made Frederik Andersen a valuable trade piece for the Ducks, should they decide to bolster their offensive roster. I think the Anaheim front office sees Gibson as their number 1 going forward, but that’s not to say that Andersen is chopped liver. In fact, Andersen is a human being and is more than capable of handling number 1 goaltending duties, something that’s coveted by any NHL GM.

The Ducks return from the All-Star break next Tuesday, as they’ll play host to the division rival Sharks. The Sharks have been the best team in the Pacific for most of January, and have not lost a game in regulation is their last 10 contests. (8-0-2) The Ducks are currently just 2 points behind the Coyotes for 3rd in Pacific, a guaranteed playoff spot.