An annual award "to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League." The winner is selected in a poll of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association at the end of the regular season. The winner receives $10,000 and the runners-up $6,000 and $4,000.

From 1936-37 until his death in 1943, Frank Calder, NHL President, bought a trophy each year to be given permanently to the outstanding rookie. After Calder's death, the NHL presented the Calder Memorial Trophy in his memory and the trophy is to be kept in perpetuity.

To be eligible for the award, a player cannot have played more than 25 games in any single preceding season nor in six or more games in each of any two preceding seasons in any major professional league. Beginning in 1990-91, to be eligible for this award a player must not have attained his twenty-sixth birthday by September 15th of the season in which he is eligible.