tampa has to be henri ikonen is just lighting it up 5th round pick this year he is gonna move up drastically on our boards if continues to shine like has so far. 21 points like 9 games.
for detroit I would say mattias backman very smooth late blooming defensemen super smooth no real weaknesses or nylen janmark. In SEL both playing super well this year. Nylen lighting it up expect both in ahl next year and maybe str8 call ups to detroit after one year in ahl which just doesnt happen for detroit guys!!
Oct of last year said this so got a little lucky as others said love wilcox and peca too cant believe people dont know who they are though.
Another sleeper for tampa now is paquette and maybe people know him a bit cause came up like last four games and playoffs and did a good job. Got 44 points I think in AHL last year and that is more than expected.
If we were not so deep an talented with centers and young offensive guys think he could have earned a shot up to even third line player which is to me at least a surprise. Doubt a lot of people had believed he would even be an NHL guy.
He is really rounding out his game and see him as our future fourth line center worst case scenario if dont move him at some point. He has shown he can actually score more than was expected and has really improved in all areas whether is face offs, shooting, skating etc..
Very happy for the kid obviously he is working his tail off as 101st pick and shocking a lot since he went undrafted the year before when was first eligible.
We seem to keep having these stories in tampa though IE: Johnson not drafted or JT Brown same thing or palat overlooked first draft eligible year than became 7th rounder.
Feel good stories for sure.
