from Damien Cox of the Toronto Star,

Only three defencemen have won the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year in the past 20 years, and all three shared a certain profile.

Aaron Ekblad was six-foot-four, 215 pounds when he won five years ago. Tyler Myers was six-foot-eight, 220 pounds when he won in 2010. Seven years before that, St. Louis defenceman Barret Jackman was the winner. Jackman wasn’t a giant at six-feet, 200 pounds, but he was a physical, stay-at-home type who never scored more than four goals in an NHL season....

Two small, puck-moving defencemen, both products of the U.S. college system, are in a fierce battle for this year’s Calder. Neither Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks nor Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche reach the six-foot mark, and neither tips the scales at 200 pounds. You wouldn’t be wrong if you described either as skinny.

Both are swift-skating blue-liners, absolute wizards with the puck, and both would have trouble moving a medium-sized NHL forward from the crease area.

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