BKarchitect
Registered User
It's often easy to look at boxscores and scoring lists to pick out the rookies who are performing well. Clayton Keller is utterly dynamic in his scoring and plays a huge role (2nd in TOI/G) on his team already. Jesper Bratt has been a phenom on both sides of the ice. Highly-touted prospects like Hischier, McAvoy, Boeser, Connor, Barzal and Sergachyov have all been as good as advertised. Will Butcher has a whopping 11 assists already.
But I wanted to highlight a few rookies where the points don't tell the whole story...feel free to add some names.
- The Devils' impressive youth movement may be led up front by Hischier and Bratt and Butcher may get the headlines for his assist totals but did you know that former 2nd round pick Steve Santini is second on the Devils blueline in TOI/G and actually leads the Devils in even-strength ice time? He is out on the ice in high-leverage even-strength and short-handed situations almost double the amount the Butcher sees the ice. Santini doesn't quite qualify as a rookie but this astounded me. That's not to minimize the impact Butcher has had with his pinpoint passing but he's 5th among Devils regular blueliners in ice time while Santini is putting in yeoman's work defensively and in a far less glamorous manner. Time to pause and appreciate a defensive defender's contributions?
- Adrian Kempe has been earning praise lately for his hot-streak and the former 1st rounder seems to be coming good on his promise. But while he's been opportunistic - he's still averaging only 3rd line ice-time and there's another rookie on the Kings' squad who has been the stapled to the top line for most of the season - Alex Iafallo. Iafallo is 3rd amongst Kings' forwards in TOI/G and tied for 2nd in even-strength ice time. The former NCAA standout is refined and plays an intelligent game, but there's a rub - while Kopitar and Brown are back burning up the scoring charts, their "third wheel" Iafallo has yet to score a goal. Is Iafallo another Zach Hyman...in either a good way or bad way? I don't know, but as long as Kopitar and Brown keep burning up the ice, doesn't seem like the chemistry of that line will be messed with.
- Tampa is known for producing gems that, for the casual fan, seem to come out of nowhere. Lower draft picks that they churn into stars. It's what Tampa does. Brayden Point is certainly taking that next step to stardom averaging over a point-per-game as a sophomore but let's turn our gaze to 5'-9", 25 year-old rookie Yanni Gourde. The versatile and diminutive Gourde spent time in the ECHL and AHL before being signed by Tampa. He was a standout in the AHL last season and showed well in an NHL audition - enough so that if you listened to the murmurs out of Tampa this summer, he was definitely a guy in line for a bigger role this year. All he's doing so far this season is averaging top 6 minutes (4th among all rookie forwards), playing regular roles on both the PP and PK and with 7 points and a +6 in 13 games, showing he is yet another gem off the Tampa production line.
What other rookies or sophomores are getting it done - in a way that has been completely under-the-radar in terms of a league-wide stage?
But I wanted to highlight a few rookies where the points don't tell the whole story...feel free to add some names.
- The Devils' impressive youth movement may be led up front by Hischier and Bratt and Butcher may get the headlines for his assist totals but did you know that former 2nd round pick Steve Santini is second on the Devils blueline in TOI/G and actually leads the Devils in even-strength ice time? He is out on the ice in high-leverage even-strength and short-handed situations almost double the amount the Butcher sees the ice. Santini doesn't quite qualify as a rookie but this astounded me. That's not to minimize the impact Butcher has had with his pinpoint passing but he's 5th among Devils regular blueliners in ice time while Santini is putting in yeoman's work defensively and in a far less glamorous manner. Time to pause and appreciate a defensive defender's contributions?
- Adrian Kempe has been earning praise lately for his hot-streak and the former 1st rounder seems to be coming good on his promise. But while he's been opportunistic - he's still averaging only 3rd line ice-time and there's another rookie on the Kings' squad who has been the stapled to the top line for most of the season - Alex Iafallo. Iafallo is 3rd amongst Kings' forwards in TOI/G and tied for 2nd in even-strength ice time. The former NCAA standout is refined and plays an intelligent game, but there's a rub - while Kopitar and Brown are back burning up the scoring charts, their "third wheel" Iafallo has yet to score a goal. Is Iafallo another Zach Hyman...in either a good way or bad way? I don't know, but as long as Kopitar and Brown keep burning up the ice, doesn't seem like the chemistry of that line will be messed with.
- Tampa is known for producing gems that, for the casual fan, seem to come out of nowhere. Lower draft picks that they churn into stars. It's what Tampa does. Brayden Point is certainly taking that next step to stardom averaging over a point-per-game as a sophomore but let's turn our gaze to 5'-9", 25 year-old rookie Yanni Gourde. The versatile and diminutive Gourde spent time in the ECHL and AHL before being signed by Tampa. He was a standout in the AHL last season and showed well in an NHL audition - enough so that if you listened to the murmurs out of Tampa this summer, he was definitely a guy in line for a bigger role this year. All he's doing so far this season is averaging top 6 minutes (4th among all rookie forwards), playing regular roles on both the PP and PK and with 7 points and a +6 in 13 games, showing he is yet another gem off the Tampa production line.
What other rookies or sophomores are getting it done - in a way that has been completely under-the-radar in terms of a league-wide stage?
