Cody Glass has enjoyed a promising start to his Vegas Golden Knights career, but could he be a dark horse for the Calder Trophy?
Let’s preface this article by stating that we aren’t jumping fully aboard the hype train and getting carried away, but we are intrigued by the above question following Glass’ first two games in the NHL for the Vegas Golden Knights.
After impressing throughout Training Camp and the preseason, Glass did endure a quiet game in the final exhibition contest and, at one point, it appeared as though he was looking at beginning 2019-20 in the AHL with the Chicago Wolves.
However, the door to the big leagues was forced open after both Alex Tuch and Cody Eakin went down with upper-body injuries in the preseason finale, which led to Glass being named on the opening night roster.
And the rookie phenom hasn’t looked back, recording his first-ever NHL goal on his NHL debut on a second line between Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone, with the trio wasting little time in meshing extremely well together.
Glass also impressed in Vegas’ 5-1 win against the Sharks on Friday, their second victory in three days against their bitter rivals to open the new season, and although the center was held without a point, that didn’t tell the whole story as he passed the eye test with flying colors.
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He produced a flurry of sublime dishes that led to high-danger chances in the offensive zone, and it is the 20-year-old’s ability to read the open ice, his elite vision and his high-end playmaking skills that really puts him on a different level.
Glass is also getting chances of his own to score and that is to be expected when centering a line featuring Pacioretty and Stone, who can both unlock a defense with a single, precise pass. Glass had a Corsi percentage of 56.25 against the Sharks on Friday and that line will continue to click with the more games they play together.
Not only is Glass averaging 14:17 minutes of total ice time through the first two games of the year, he has also been employed on the first power play unit which highlights both his undoubted quality and the trust that the coaching staff has in their young star.
There are kinks in Glass’ game that he needs to iron out – as is the case with all rookies – and the biggest blot on the copybook is the center’s performance in the faceoff circle. He has won eight and lost 18 of his 26 draws for a percentage of 30.8, including just 18 percent against San Jose on Friday.
However, improvement in the faceoff circle will come with reps in both practice and in games, and it is worth considering that Glass is coming up against grizzled veterans on draws, including Sharks forward Joe Thornton who has a wealth of experience in that department.
Glass will learn his craft and hone his skills the longer the season goes on and it appears, for now at least, that the two-way forward has cemented the second line center role as his own with Cody Eakin likely to slot in on the bottom line once he returns from injury.
But, the burning question is will Cody Glass be a dark horse for the Calder Trophy?
The Calder Memorial Trophy is of course awarded annually to the player selected as most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League.
Last year it was dished out to Vancouver Canucks phenom Elias Pettersson, who dominated his rookie year with 28 goals and 38 assists for 66 points in 71 games, including 22 power play points and 10 goals on the man advantage.
Now, the reason why we say Glass is a dark horse for the Calder Trophy is because he wasn’t considered a lock to crack the opening night roster for the Vegas Golden Knights, unlike some of his competitors for the award.
New Jersey Devils forward Jack Hughes and Kaapo Kakko of the New York Rangers – the No. 1 and No. 2 picks respectively in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft – along with Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar are considered early contenders for the Calder Trophy and rightly so given their significant talents.
Glass does have one more point than both Hughes and Kakko at this stage, however. Just saying.
In all seriousness, though, it isn’t a stretch to suggest that Glass could be in the running for Calder Trophy given his high-end talent and limitless potential, plus he is playing on a line with Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone, who will both generate an abundance of chances while taking advantage of Glass’ elite passing.
Also, when you consider that Glass is seeing time on the top power play unit then he is going to get plenty of opportunity to both score and create goals, racking up the points as a direct result of that.
From what we’ve seen throughout his junior career, his time in the AHL and his first two games in the NHL, Glass could easily record between 35-40 points this year if not slightly more given the quality of his linemates.
If Glass can reach the 35-point plateau at least then it would be hard to imagine the rookie phenom not getting at least a bucketload of votes for the Calder Trophy at the end of the year.
Of course, much of it depends on how productive the likes of Jack Hughes and Kaapo Kakko are but, if Cody Glass can keep up his end of the bargain then he could well be a dark horse to be crowned the best rookie in the NHL for 2019-20.