It’s almost unbelievable in hindsight, but Matthew Schaefer wasn’t the top contender for the Calder Trophy on the opening night of last season. Surprising as it may seem now, Schaefer didn’t even rank as the second choice.

Ivan Demidov, who eventually finished a distant runner-up in the race to No. 48, was the clear preseason favorite, with odds set at +185 on Opening Night. Following closely were Zeev Buium, Michael Misa, and Jimmy Snuggerud, each with odds ranging between +800 and 12/1. Schaefer was listed at 13/1. It seems almost absurd now, but it highlights just how unpredictable this market can be.

A similar scenario unfolded in the 2024-25 season. Anticipation was high for that rookie class, headlined by the likes of Matvei Michkov and Macklin Celebrini. Yet, it was Lane Hutson, another talented debutante, who stole the spotlight and clinched the coveted award.

This year’s NHL rookie lineup might not boast the historical prestige of its predecessors, but it still features standout prospects: Gavin McKenna and Porter Martone lead the charge.

Selected first overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs, McKenna is expected to secure a prominent spot on the roster straight out of training camp, likely assuming a top-six role. Meanwhile, Martone has already earned a devoted following in Philadelphia after an impressive playoff run, where he notched five points over the course of 10 games last spring.

The two are co-favorites to win the 2026-27 Calder Trophy at +300, just ahead of Sharks’ rookie winger Ivar Stenberg (+600), 2025 No. 3 overall pick Anton Frondell (+900), and Cole Hutson (+900) of the Capitals.

All five figure to be handed big roles this season, which is a critical part of handicapping this market, but there are a lot of other players who tick that box, too. And their prices are a lot more appealing:

2026-27 Calder Trophy picks

Konsta Helenius, Buffalo Sabres (18/1, bet365)

It flew under the radar because so much was going right for the Sabres last year, but Konsta Helenius was the goods in his brief spin with the big club.

He tallied four points in nine games during the regular season, and then added a pair of goals in four playoff contests. The former No. 14 overall pick passed the eye test, too, as he was a ball of energy in Buffalo’s middle six.

Helenius was also a beast in the AHL, registering 63 points in 63 games, and was one of the best players for Finland at the World Championships, scoring the golden goal and notching six points.

Helenius is almost certain to get a prime role with the Sabres next season, and he’s already proven he can compete at the varsity level.

Viggo Björck, Winnipeg Jets (40/1, bet365)

By all accounts, the Jets are going to give Viggo Björck every opportunity to break camp as their No. 2 center.

Winnipeg needs a shot in the arm, and fair or not, Björck is going to be the one asked to provide it.

Björck, who was picked No. 8 overall at the 2026 NHL Draft, was tabbed as an NHL-ready prospect, and the Jets are in a position to let the Swede learn on the fly. He fills a need for them down the middle, and the franchise desperately wants to give its small-but-rabid fanbase a reason to be excited.

If the Jets do let Björck roll out of the gates, he’ll be in a plum position to put up big numbers.

Betting on the NHL?

Albert Smits, New York Rangers (100/1, bet365)

Constantly highlighted as the most NHL-ready defenseman of the 2026 NHL Draft, Albert Smits should be given a real chance to break camp with the Rangers in September.

The big Latvian has already played two stints in Finland’s top league, as well as one in Germany’s, so he’s got plenty of experience playing against much older players. He was also a force to be reckoned with for Latvia at the 2026 Olympics, playing nearly 19 minutes a night against some outstanding competition.

Why Trust New York Post Betting

Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.

An American transgender asylum seeker has returned to the U.S. after a challenging stint in a perilous Islamic refugee center in the Netherlands. However, her feelings about her home country remain less than positive.

Jane-Michelle Arc, 48, fled to Ter Apel, the largest refugee camp in the Netherlands, following Donald Trump’s re-election in 2024. Concerned for her safety as a transgender woman in the U.S., Arc sought refuge in Europe.

Through her time in the overcrowded and often violent camp—known for frequent stabbings and attacks—Arc realized a desire to return to her roots in California, despite the harsh environment she experienced.

Now back on American soil, Arc’s dissatisfaction with her homeland has resurfaced.

“The situation I have in the U.S. as a trans person is not good, right? But here, I will be hurt or killed,” Arc shared with local news outlet Pow News.

‘It is too dangerous to walk to the grocery store because of the people that live in the camp, and I’m one of them, I live here. You see these guys in yellow vests, they actually wear them because there are so many stabbings.’ 

Ter Apel has been deemed dangerous by the Red Cross, who said aid volunteers feel ‘unsafe’ at the site, adding that violence ‘cannot be controlled.’ 

Last month, Arc returned to the US, but the software engineer’s transition back to the States hasn’t been the easiest. 

From the healthcare system to the expensive grocery prices, she’s finding life difficult along the Pacific Coast after a year away. 

‘First time shopping in the US, and In-N-Out too. America is really, really loud and overwhelming. And everything is so expensive,’ she wrote on Threads shortly after returning.

‘The Dutch complain about groceries being expensive, but good grief, San Francisco is a whole different experience.’ 

On Wednesday, she wrote: ‘I have my gripes with the Dutch healthcare system. And I know what I like about the American healthcare system. The ways in which the US system are bad are very, very bad. The ways in which the Dutch system are bad are “bad,” but not the way the US is. 

‘I feel like healthcare is something humanity decided to just make worse on purpose because it seems like we know what we want and need from healthcare as a species.’  

A few weeks ago, she celebrated being back in the US for a week by acknowledging how much more ‘comfortable’ the States are. 

Despite the ease of living more safely, she complained that the ‘transphobia is quite overt.’ 

‘Which is the way it was before I left,’ she wrote. ‘America isn’t supposed to be like this. I wish society gave a s**t.’ 

She also complained about the ongoing debate about transgender athletes in sports, as she is a triathlon athlete herself who has written about competing and winning women’s events. 

‘I’m a trans athlete and I don’t give a s**t who I compete against, I’m there to win,’ she wrote. ‘If that’s men, fine. Women, fine.’  

During Arc’s early days at Ter Apel in April 2025, she candidly wrote on Substack about missing California, saying: ‘I feel California in my bones. So deeply.

‘I need California in a way I struggle to describe because it is so deep and elemental and romantic and passionate and good and true it just stops meaning anything because it means everything. And I left, man, I left California.’ 

She wrote about not having toiletries inside the asylum center and wearing filthy clothing. 

From her bedside on her first night, she wrote about not being afraid in the center. 

‘I am not afraid someone is going to threaten to kill me while screaming slurs at me outside this door. I am not afraid I will be arrested and killed in a men’s jail for peeing in a public restroom. I am not afraid that one group of people is using me as a pawn in a greater ideological war against another group of people,’ she wrote. 

‘I can’t describe the feeling of that stuff not being on my shoulders. It’s been there now for a long time.’ 

In a later post, Arc, who also posts online under the name Max Toegang, wrote: ‘This place is f**king dire, and it has problems. But hate and aggression aren’t the problems.’ 

She also detailed how the center told her to ‘be careful who I hang out with and where I go’ after she got ‘sideways looks from Muslims.’ 

It is unclear when Arc started to feel physically unsafe at the center.  

For years, it has sheltered people fleeing war and persecution, including Eritreans, Somalis and Syrians, who say it remains too dangerous to return home despite the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

Now, a new wave has begun arriving: transgender Americans who say they fled the US fearing for their safety after Donald Trump returned to the White House.

Since May 20, the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) has limited access, allowing only vulnerable asylum seekers, such as women and children, inside.

Others must wait outside until space opens up, and the Red Cross reported the violence in front is due to a ‘small group of men who are generally not among the people seeking assistance.’

The area will become a safety-risk zone, allowing authorities to conduct preventive searches, Dutch Asylum and Migration Minister Van den Brink announced per NL Times.

‘It’s scary, it’s legitimately scary, I decided that my mental health is degrading so substantially being here, that I just need to get out,’ Arc said at the time. 

Arc transitioned from male to female in 2012, and changed the gender on her ID in 2013.

But after Trump’s re-election, she feared losing protections in jobs, housing and healthcare. When her passport renewal threatened to erase her legal identity, she chose to leave the US.

She previously told The Guardian that fleeing the country is ‘the dumbest thing’ she has ever done.

‘I did it because I was afraid for my life. I didn’t do this in secret. I talked to everybody I knew. I said: “I am planning to do this wildly stupid thing.”

‘Everybody said: “I don’t love this for you, but there is no other option,”‘ she said.

The Daily Mail has reached out to Arc for comment.