Bob McKenzie:

"I actually was kind of disappointed Stalberg scored like he did in the pre-season. I liked Stalberg as a Calder candidate BEFORE training camp. I have watched him play in each of the last three seasons at Vermont. In the 30-plus college games I saw last year -- for what that is worth -- he along with Matt Gilroy at BU were the best college players I saw.

The reason I think he has a chance to be a Calder candidate is that he's 6-foot-3, 210 pounds, has elite level speed for a big man and goes to the net to score goals...and he's physically mature and older than a lot of the NHL rookies by three or four years.

Do I believe Stalberg will be a better career player than Tavares or Duchene or Kane or...take your pick of the natural NHL freshmen this season? No. But do I think he has a huge advantage being older and more mature THIS season? Yup. For the same reason, I think 25-year-old Ville Leino in Detroit could be a Calder candidate as well.

People will jump all over the pick, as is their right, because Stalberg plays in Toronto and he shot out the lights in the pre-season and people will say he's a by-product of hype and a pre-season hot streak. Well, there was no hype for him last season when I watched him a few times in Vermont and I came away saying, "Wow, that Stalberg is going to be a helluva player."

And he is. Who knows who will win the Calder -- I suspect Hedman playing 27 minutes a night for Tampa might do the trick, too -- but I've been sold on Stalberg big time dating back to last year. He is, in my opinion, going to be a solid top six forward who puts up some decent numbers.

Could be wrong...we'll see."