3 Rookies to Watch in 2026-27: The Calder Trophy Favorites

The 2026-27 NHL season is shaping up to have one of the deepest rookie classes in recent memory, and three names sit clearly above the rest heading into opening night. Here's a look at the top Calder Trophy contenders — and why collectors are already paying close attention to their rookie cards.

1. Porter Martone, RW, Philadelphia Flyers

Martone enters the season as the consensus favorite for the Calder Trophy. Drafted 6th overall by Philadelphia in 2025, the 6-foot-3, 214-pound winger tore up Michigan State as a freshman, finishing with 50 points in 35 games and earning both College Hockey News and USCHO Rookie of the Year honors. He made his NHL debut on March 31, 2026, scored his first career goal in overtime days later, and became the first teenager since 2019 to score a goal in his Stanley Cup Playoff debut. In his first 12 NHL games spanning the regular season and playoffs, Martone posted 13 points and quickly became a focal point of Philadelphia's power play.

Rookie Card Value

Martone's official NHL rookie cards will start hitting the market in 2026-27 Upper Deck products, led by the Young Guns insert — hockey's most widely chased annual rookie card program — along with the higher-end Future Watch autographed cards in SP Authentic, which are typically numbered to 999. Given that Martone is already the front-runner for the Calder, early-season Young Guns copies are likely to carry a premium from the moment they're pulled. For collectors thinking long-term, the case for buying in now is straightforward: card prices for a hyped rookie are usually at their lowest before he's actually proven himself over a full season. If Martone's rookie-year pace holds and he develops into a perennial All-Star, a Young Guns or Future Watch card bought at 2026-27 retail could look very different a decade from now. The flip side is real, too — not every hyped rookie becomes a franchise cornerstone, so this is a bet on both talent and health holding up over years, not months.

2. Gavin McKenna, F, Toronto Maple Leafs

The consensus No. 1 prospect in this class, McKenna was the first overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft after a record-setting freshman season at Penn State, where he posted 51 points in 35 games. He added 14 points in seven games at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship, and Toronto has a clear opening for him in its top six. Analysts have pegged McKenna's odds of becoming a bona fide NHL star higher than almost anyone in this draft class.

Rookie Card Value

McKenna is a genuinely unique case in the hobby: Upper Deck signed him to an exclusive autograph card deal back in June 2026, months before his NHL debut, and pre-rookie cards from his junior and international career are already trading for real money — some CHL and Team Canada Juniors cards have sold in the four-figure range well before he's played a single NHL shift. That tells you how much speculative demand already exists. His actual NHL rookie cards, including the Young Guns and Future Watch, are expected in Upper Deck Series 2 and SP Authentic during the 2026-27 season. Because expectations are already this high, McKenna's cards carry more built-in price risk than most rookies — there's less room for pleasant surprise and more room for a letdown if his rookie season doesn't match the hype. Still, if you believe in his ceiling, getting positioned before his first full Young Guns release (rather than chasing the price after a hot start) is the classic early-collector play.

3. Ivar Stenberg, F, San Jose Sharks

Drafted 2nd overall in 2026, Stenberg spent his draft year playing men's professional hockey in Sweden's SHL, posting 33 points in 43 games as an 18-year-old — a genuinely rare level of production against grown professionals. With William Eklund's departure opening a spot on San Jose's left wing next to Macklin Celebrini, Stenberg has a real chance to step directly into a top-line role as a rookie, though it's still an open question whether he starts the year in San Jose or gets more seasoning in the AHL.

Rookie Card Value

Stenberg's rookie cards will follow the same Upper Deck rollout as his classmates — Young Guns as the flagship, with higher-end Future Watch and SP Authentic autograph versions for collectors chasing scarcity. Because Stenberg has a slightly lower public profile than McKenna or Martone right now, his rookie cards may currently be more affordable relative to his actual talent level and draft pedigree — which is exactly the kind of gap early collectors look for. The case for buying and holding here is that if Stenberg's SHL production against men translates to instant NHL impact (history is genuinely favorable for high picks who dominate a pro league before age 19), the card market tends to catch up to that reality fast, and often after the affordable window has closed.