By Kristina Rutherford
Photo illustration by Richard Roberts
It can be a lot of fun talking to an NHL rookie. Take Jack Eichel, for example: His answer is ready for reporters before they even open their mouths. “They’re always asking: ‘What’s been the biggest adjustment?’” the 19-year-old says, laughing. Or St. Louis Blues defenceman Colton Parayko, who says he is on a nutritional plan that includes Haagen-Dazs. “Ice cream is my bedtime dessert,” he says. “They recommend it.”
For a first-year player, so much is new about the experience they’re going through, and everything’s exciting. How can it not be? Imagine waking up one day and being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to play hockey. Adults are wearing your sweater, you’re playing with and against childhood idols, millions of people are watching you, and the life you’ve been dreaming of is suddenly yours. And not only that, you’ve proven yourself elite almost immediately. This season, a larger than usual number of rookies have managed just that. The pool of top-end first-year talent is surprisingly deep. It was expected to be a two-teen contest for the Calder Trophy between Eichel and Connor McDavid, but a handful of other players—Artemi Panarin, Dylan Larkin and Max Domi, to name a few—have blown that race wide open.
These guys may share the limelight that comes with the Calder Conversation, but each of their rookie seasons is unique: A centre is trying to save the franchise in Buffalo, and a defenceman is exceeding everyone’s expectations in St. Louis. The son of a former pro is playing in the desert and a teenager made the team in Detroit. In the pages ahead, elite rookies offer their perspectives, so alike and yet so different.
You’ll see the similarities first. Take their words collectively and you could put together a how-to pamphlet for future rookies.
First Nothing beats goal No. 1, and it’s always “lucky.” “I just shot it and guessed,” Max Domi says, smiling. “It went in and I was in shock.”
Second You can’t quite believe you’re here, playing against guys you grew up watching. “It’s surreal,” Parayko says. He’s still thinking about the time the Blues played the Blackhawks and he was on the ice against Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Brent Seabrook in overtime. St. Louis won the game, too. “Yeah,” he laughs. “That was memorable.”
Third There are unwritten rules, and the most important is this: “You come in as a new guy, the youngest on the team, and you’re trying to be that quiet guy in the beginning. You don’t wanna come in and have a big mouth,” says Winnipeg Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers. “If you ask all the other rookies in the league, they would say the same as me.”
Fourth Acknowledging your skill? Don’t. Domi had 28 points through 38 games with the Arizona Coyotes, and this is his assessment of his play so far: “I don’t know if it’s going so well, to be honest.” Fine.
Fifth Making money for the first time means you’re going out for a lot of meals, seeing a lot of movies and you may be doing a bit of shopping—but you also have a financial adviser, because you’re not brain-dead. “You’re young and you’ve got all this money,” Eichel says. “It’s good to have somebody that can help you, show you how to save it.”
Sixth You’re getting a lot of advice, and “you have to listen,” Ehlers says. But it’s not easy to put into practice. New York Rangers centreman Oscar Lindberg has been told by just about every teammate to not over-think his play. “They say ‘just try to not think about it too much, the new system,’” he says. “Try and still play hockey.” Easier said than done? “Yeah,” Lindberg says, laughing.
Seventh You’re going to learn a lot of lessons, and some of the most valuable will come off the ice. “Beginning of the year, I got lots of groceries,” says Coyotes forward Anthony Duclair. “Then we went on a road trip. We came back, everything had expired. I’m not gonna make that mistake again.”
Eighth you never really know what to expect until you play in your first game. Parayko grew up cheering for the Edmonton Oilers, the same team he played against in his debut. “I knew it was gonna be fast,” he says. “It was what I expected. Almost. Kind of.”
And with that, here are your NHL rookie diaries.
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