Alan Greenberg, FHN Sr. Writer
Every season there are a few rookies who overcome their nervousness and excel in their first Stanley Cup playoffs.
This postseason is no exception with 35 first-year players participating in the playoffs thus far.
Some have left lasting impressions.
Of the three Calder Trophy candidates, the Islanders’ Matthew Schaefer is the odds-on favorite to capture the award.
Unfortunately for the Islanders, the did not make the playoffs — so Schaefer will have to wait for his postseason debut to really show out.
The other two candidates, Montreal’s Ivan Demidov and Anaheim’s Beckett Sennecke, are making their presence felt.
Sennecke has goals in the past three games, four in the playoffs.
His 23 goals during the regular season tied him with Schaefer for the rookie lead. His first playoff goal was a tiebreaker in Anaheim’s 7-4 win in Game 3 against Edmonton in Round 1.
Sennecke is tied with Philadelphia’s Porter Martone for the playoff lead in rookie scoring.
Martone, Alex Bump and Denver Barkey all impressed and are bright spots in the Flyers’ future. All three scored their first ever playoff goals.
Demidov has playoff experience from last season but played only two regular season games and is still considered a rookie.
He has yet to score a goal in 10 playoff games this year although he has three assists, has looked strong, and is averaging more than 16 minutes of ice time per game.
Defenseman Ian Moore is another Anaheim rookie getting his first taste of the playoffs. After being benched for Games 2 and 3 against Vegas, he came back to score the winning goal in Game 4.
Tampa Bay’s Dominic James split the season between the Lightning and the AHL. He managed two goals and an assist in the seven-game set against Montreal.
He was a standout at Minnesota-Duluth and is a definite piece of the Lightning’s future.
The most outstanding performance by a rookie so far has been Canadien goalie Jakob Dobeš. He absolutely stoned Tampa Bay in their deciding game, stopping 28 of 29 shots while Montreal managed only nine shots against the Lightning.
For the playoffs to date he is sporting a 2.28 GAA and .912 save percentage.
Dobeš is technically a rookie although he had some regular season and playoff experience during the 2024-25 season. His backup in the playoffs, Jacob Fowler is also a rookie and has yet to see action because of Dobeš’ excellent play.
Another rookie goaltender making himself known is Minnesota’s Jesper Wallstedt.
Wallstedt was outstanding in Minnesota’s come-from-behind 4-2 series win against Dallas.
He started eight of the Wild’s nine games going into Monday’s Game 4 with a 2.61/.913.
On Monday, Wallstedt gave up three goals on 32 shots and the Avalanche took a 3-1 lead going back to Denver with a 5-2 win.
Against Colorado he had a rough start, giving up eight goals in the opening game loss. He was relieved by Filip Gustavsson for game two, another loss, but game back strong in 5-1 Game 3 victory.
Pittsburgh’s Arturs Silovs is still considered a rookie even though he played in games for Vancouver the prior three seasons, including 10 starts in last year’s playoffs.
Even though the Pens were eliminated by the Flyers, Silovs impressed in his three starts, going 1.52/.939.
ON DECK: FLORIDA PANTHERS OFFSEASON
- IIHF World Championship, Switzerland: May 15-31
- NHL Draft (9th in First Round, Seven Overall): June 26-27; KeyBank Center, Buffalo
- NHL Free Agency: Opens July 1
- Panthers Development Camp: Late June/Early July; IcePlex, Fort Lauderdale
- Panthers Rookie Camp/Tournament: Late August/Early Sept.; Site TBA
- Panthers Training Camp: Early/Mid September; Fort Lauderdale
- 2026-27 NHL Season Opens: Late September; Site, Opponent TBA