Just a few months ago, Cole Caufield was the stone-cold favorite to win the Calder Trophy.

Fast forward and the 20-year-old winger has netted just once through 21 games and seems more likely to have another stint in the AHL than to finish inside the top 10 in Calder voting.

Let's take a look at the current board and break down how the race is shaping up.

Favorites

Lucas Raymond was one of my dark horses prior to the season. He has lived up to the hype and then some, piling up 10 goals and 14 assists through 28 games while skating on the top line for the surprisingly competent Detroit Red Wings. One of the most impressive things about Raymond has been his efficiency at five-on-five. He's averaging more points per minute in that game state than the likes of Evgeny Kuznetsov, Andrei Svechnikov, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak, among many others.

It hasn't taken long for Trevor Zegras to develop into a human highlight reel at the NHL level. The flashy Anaheim Ducks pivot has picked up 22 points over 28 games and has served as the primary play-driver and facilitator on one of the league's more underrated lines with Rickard Rakell and Sonny Milano. He'll be in the mix until the end.

Moritz Seider is going to be a franchise defenseman. You can argue he already is for the Red Wings. He's on pace for 55 points this season and yet his play without the puck might be more impressive than his offensive ability. He has logged more than 22 minutes per night - often against top competition - and has shown the ability to slow down elite players with his fantastic positioning, stickwork, and anticipation. Seider is certainly carrying the heaviest workload in this rookie class, and it sure looks like he can handle it.

Wild card

Dawson Mercer, like the New Jersey Devils as a whole, has slowed a bit as of late. However, he remains within striking distance of entering the race. Mercer sits two goals back of the team lead and owns a plus-7 goal differential at five-on-five while playing for a team that is minus-4 on the year. Put another way, the Devils are -11 when Mercer isn't on the ice. If New Jersey's power play can get going and help Mercer prop up his offensive output a little bit, he could get back into the mix.

Long shot

Anton Lundell plays for the powerhouse Florida Panthers so he's not asked to do as much as the aforementioned rookies. Even so, he deserves plenty of credit for what he has accomplished thus far. At five-on-five, the Panthers have controlled 52.50% of the shot attempts with Lundell on the ice. They've fared even better when looking at goals (58.33%). He has helped Florida maintain an edge when its depth lines are on the ice and is already the team's ace on the penalty kill. Lundell has played 65 minutes shorthanded; Jonathan Huberdeau (55) is the only other forward on the roster who has logged more than 40 minutes. Lundell likely needs Aleksander Barkov or Sam Bennett to miss considerable time in order to really push - he won't put up enough points otherwise - but his two-way prowess could place him in the conversation.

Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.

Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.