Welcome, for a ninth straight season, to The Athletic’s annual look at the NHL’s incoming rookie class.This year, Scott Wheeler and Harman Dayal are joined by Corey Pronman for our quarterly Calder Trophy ranking, beginning with this preseason look at the top 20 rookies (plus honorable mentions) heading into the 2026-27 NHL season.This list differs from Wheeler and Pronman’s own prospects rankings in that it’s only about predicting and projecting their rookie seasons, and not their careers. While the players’ profiles remain an obvious factor, external factors — potential linemates, power-play opportunities, roles, usage, etc. — are also uniquely relevant in handicapping the Calder Trophy race.This ranking is also designed as a bit of a tutor for fantasy hockey managers, ideally helping to fill in the gaps that Dom Luszczyszyn and Shayna Goldman’s fantasy projections find difficult to model for new players.Among the potential rookies we discussed but didn’t make our top 20 were defensemen Theo Lindstein, Luca Cagnoni and Ryan Ufko, forward Victor Eklund, and camp wild-cards like Nikita Klepov, Caleb Desnoyers and Trevor Connelly.Note: The NHL’s Calder Trophy criteria for rookie status says that “a player cannot have played more than 25 games in any single preceding season nor in six or more games in each of any two preceding seasons” and “must not have attained his 26th birthday by Sept. 15 of the season in which he is eligible.”The Sharks have the NHL’s best prospect pipelineCorey Pronman and Max Bultman1. Porter Martone — RW, 19, Philadelphia FlyersMartone’s tremendous showing in the NHL at the end of last season has to position him as the Calder favorite heading into this year. He didn’t just look like he belonged, he looked like an immediate impact player and potential needle-mover for the Flyers’ ceiling. If you presume Trevor Zegras and Travis Konecny are two of the forwards on the top power play, there are only two spots for Martone, Matvei Michkov, Tyson Foerster, Owen Tippett and Christian Dvorak, with the other three forming the nucleus of PP2. Smart money has to be on Martone being at the top of that pecking order for one of the available PP1 spots. And if he is, there shouldn’t be anything preventing him, with his combination of size, power, skill and playmaking, from having the kind of season needed to earn a Calder nomination (typically in the 50-point range) or potentially win it (typically the 60-plus point range) if he can stay healthy and get some puck luck. — Wheeler2. Ivar Stenberg — LW, 18, San Jose SharksStenberg is viewed as the more complete player for the NHL at this stage compared to Gavin McKenna, and has already proven himself against pro competition in the SHL and NHL competition in a top-line role for Sweden at men’s worlds. The X-factor in the point total he can reach will likely be determined by whether he gets to play with Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith, or whether that role goes instead to a veteran like Mason Marchment, or another youngster like Collin Graf or Igor Chernyshov (who’ve both already played with Celebrini a little). I’m less worried about him getting a PP1 job. Even if he starts on PP2, I don’t imagine it’s long until he’s playing on PP1 this season. — Wheeler3. Gavin McKenna — LW, 18, Toronto Maple LeafsMcKenna is the rookie best positioned in this year’s class to collect cookies. He’s going to play on a top-six line in Toronto from Game 1 with some combination of Auston Matthews, William Nylander and John Tavares. He’s going to play the flank on PP1 with those guys plus Matthew Knies and Darren Raddysh, and make some pretty plays and also some five-foot passes that lead to assists. From a pure on-puck skill standpoint, he stands alone in this class as well. There are two questions with McKenna though: Will he and his body hold up to the rigors of a physical 84-game schedule, and will he be a drag defensively to offset some of the offense he’s bound to produce? If he withstands those challenges, he’ll be well-positioned to win the thing. But there’s also a scenario where he has a rookie season reminiscent of Jack Hughes, who played at a 28-point pace. — Wheeler4. Cole Hutson — LHD, 20, Washington CapitalsIt’s harder for young defenseman to play in the NHL and thus harder for rookie D to play their way into the Calder mix if you’re not an outlier (Matthew Schaefer, Lane Hutson) or uncharacteristically polished at an early age (Brock Faber, Moritz Seider). After posting 10 points in his 14 NHL games late last year, though, Hutson showed he was already capable of producing at the NHL level. There are going to be some ups and downs for him over an 84-game season, but that production could carry him even if it regresses a little. John Carlson’s departure also opens up opportunities to play in key offensive-zone settings, both on the power play and at five-on-five, which is crucial. Playing his way onto PP1 over Jakob Chychrun (or a Chychrun injury) will probably be needed for him to truly stay in the mix, though. — Wheeler5. Roman Kantserov — LW/RW, 21, Chicago BlackhawksKantserov is the reigning KHL goal king and was one of the top players outside the NHL last season. While Anton Frondell is the bigger name and showed he could produce in the NHL last year, Kantserov will likely play with Bedard on the top line at five-on-five on top of sharing a spot with Frondell on PP1. With his speed, skill, shot and sneaky strength, he’s positioned to make an immediate impact offensively. — Wheeler