June 22, 2016
Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere helped turn the team’s season around, but that still wasn’t quite enough to win Rookie of the Year honors. At Wednesday night’s NHL Awards in Las Vegas, it was announced that Chicago winger Artemi Panarin won the Calder Trophy after scoring 30 goals and dishing out 47 assists.
In a pretty loaded rookie class, the Ghost Bear came in second. Here is how the voting shook out:
| Player | Points | 1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th |
| Artemi Panarin | 1258 | (88-41-16-3-2) |
| Shayne Gostisbehere | 955 | (33-53-42-12-8) |
| Connor McDavid | 858 | (25-45-48-15-8) |
| Jack Eichel | 449 | (2-9-25-72-25) |
| Dylan Larkin | 170 | (1-0-8-23-51) |
There were some complaints about Panarin’s age (he’ll be 25 in October) and experience level (he had already played five seasons in the KHL), but those probably don’t apply to Gostisbehere as much as some of the other rookies.
You could argue that the Flyer who had the greatest impact on the award was Brandon Manning, whose unintentional collision limited future Edmonton star Connor McDavid to only 45 games played.
When he was announced as one of three finalists for the award, Gostisbehere said he was humbled.
“Having the season I did last year, just to be associated with this award and the moment right now, it’s truly humbling,” Gostisbehere said. “I didn’t expect to be where I am right now. It’s a compliment to my teammates, the coaching staff, and the front office for believing in me all the way.”
So no hardware for Ghost, but it was still a very successful year for someone who spent the first month of the season in Allentown.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
