The NHL is a young man’s league these days, where speed and skill rule and the salary cap puts pressure on teams to find affordable talent to complement their highly paid stars.
With training camps open now, we’re starting to get a glimpse of what the next class of rookies who haven’t hit an NHL ice surface yet look like against the world’s best competition. Rookie camps are behind us and the real competition is starting. By the end of this season, some of these names still will not have caught on to the NHL full-time, while others will break on to the scene and become known league-wide.
To be considered a rookie in the NHL, a player must not have played in more than 25 games in any preceding season, nor in six or more NHL games in each of any two preceding seasons. Any player who is 26 years old as of Sept. 15 is no longer considered a rookie, regardless of games played.
With that said, here are 18 rookies to keep an eye on next season.
Elias Pettersson, Vancouver
After the Canucks picked him fifth overall in the 2017 NHL Draft, Pettersson went on to have an historical season in the Swedish League, winning the regular season scoring title outright, and earning the league’s playoff MVP.
“He’s super skilled,” Canucks GM Jim Benning told Dan Murphy in April. “He’s great with the puck. Great release on his shot. He’s a smart player, reads the play, anticipates well. He’s slight right now, but he’s got good balance on his skates so I think he can come in and be a skilled player for us.”
Benning believes Petterson is NHL-ready and head coach Travis Green agrees. The question around Pettersson is how he’ll be used in Year 1. Although he’s a natural centre, the Canucks may end up using him as a winger to ease him into NHL action. Although when training camp opened Pettersson was being played down the middle
Rasmus Dahlin, Buffalo
Of course the No. 1-overall draft pick shows up on this list. An exciting talent charged with transforming the Sabres’ blue line over the next few years, Dahlin has to battle the odds to win it. Only two of the past 14 Calder Trophies were won by defencemen (Aaron Ekblad and Tyler Myers).
Dahlin didn’t disappoint at rookie camp last week — actually, he more than lived up to expectations. Dahlin should excel at both ends of the ice, driving play on offence and helping to start and even end rushes with Jack Eichel and his new linemate Jeff Skinner.
Anthony Cirelli, Tampa Bay
Although he played 18 NHL games last season, the 20-year-old will still be a rookie in 2018-19 because he finished seven games short of the threshold. Cirelli scored 11 points in those 18 games and added three in 17 playoff games. He may be on Tampa Bay’s third line, but that comes with the upside of being on one of the NHL’s highest-scoring teams. And there’s always a chance he works his way into the top six, taking his candidacy to a new level.
“Anthony Cirelli came in late,” former Lightning GM Steve Yzerman said in June. “We threw him in there with 20-something games to go in the regular season and he’s going head-to-head against Nick Backstrom, and (Evgeny) Kuznetsov and Jay Beagle — really, really good NHL centremen and holding his own. So we’re encouraged by that.”
Cirelli is among the many players who developed in the NHL under new Lightning GM Julien BriseBois.
All hustle. All heart. First career #StanleyCup Playoffs goal for Anthony Cirelli. #TBLvsBOS | #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/unYaNE1jQd
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) May 3, 2018
Valentin Zykov, Carolina
The 23-year-old has played 12 NHL games over two years, but maintains his rookie status for not playing six or more games in both years. In the 10 games he played last season, Zykov posted seven points — all of which came at even strength. Most of Zykov’s season was spent in the AHL, where he led the league with 33 goals in 63 games. He was better than a point-per-game player in each of the three seasons he spent in the WHL.
Andrei Svechnikov, Carolina
The No. 2-overall pick should stick in the NHL right away — after all, how much more is there to accomplish in junior for a player who scored 40 goals in 44 games? The 18-year-old missed a couple months to injury last season, but still separated himself from the other forwards in the running to be picked right after Dahlin. Svechnikov is an exciting, explosive and physically mature talent.
“Andrei is the type of elite talent that you can build a team around,” Hurricanes GM Don Waddell said. “He has a bright future in a Carolina Hurricanes uniform.”
Martin Necas, Carolina
The 12th-overall pick in 2017, Necas’ 17 points in 24 Czech League games this season led all under-19 players and his points-per-game mark was .29 higher than Martin Kaut, the 16th-overall pick of the 2018 draft by Colorado. Necas had five points in seven world championship games and tied Mittelstadt for the WJC scoring lead with 11 points.
“He doesn’t need to boost his stock with us. He has an exclamation point beside his name, as far as how good a player he is and we project him to be,” Hurricanes director of amateur scouting Tony MacDonald told the Raleigh News and Observer. “In the game played today in the NHL, speed is the most important element. He has it and he’s got the skill to go with it. It’s a matter of him getting more man strength, and when he gets to 190 pounds he will be a force to be reckoned with.”
Casey Mittelstadt, Buffalo
The 19-year-old’s place in the lineup became a little clearer with the trade of centre Ryan O’Reilly. Mittelstadt scored 30 points in 34 games for the University of Minnesota, led the WJC in scoring with 11 points and had a successful first taste of NHL action at the end of the 2017-18 season, posting five points in six games. Mittelstadt is set up to have a successful rookie season with the Sabres as their second-line centre.
“You’re always excited about Casey’s hockey sense and his skill level,” Sabres GM Jason Botterill told the Buffalo News. “Those are things that we’ve talked a lot about with our group here in Buffalo, improving our team speed and improving our team skill level.”
Filip Chytil, NY Rangers
The Rangers didn’t depart from their plan to focus on youth this summer and have available positions for a player like Chytil to earn and see minutes in the top six.
“It’s fair to say that if a guy proves he’s ready, we’ll make whatever roster moves are necessary to accommodate him,” Rangers GM Jeff Gorton told the New York Post. “We’re not going to hold anybody back because we have X number of veterans here under contract.”
But Chytil has to earn it. The 21st-overall pick in the 2017 draft came to North America last season and even cracked the Rangers lineup out of camp, though was quickly sent to the AHL where he had 31 points in 46 AHL games. In nine total NHL games he had three points, and then posted two in seven games for the Czechs at the world championship. He’s 6-foot-2, over 200 pounds and a skilled player who will be a top-six centre for the Rangers for a long time.
“It was a dream come true playing in the NHL at 18 years [old], it’s something special,” Chytil told the New York Post. “I enjoyed every minute, every shift. I think I’m more ready than before.”
Lias Andersson, NY Rangers
Competing with Chytil as a fellow rookie in Rangers camp is Andersson, the seventh-overall pick in 2017 who split last season between the Swedish League and the AHL. This terrific talent even got a taste of NHL action, scoring two points in seven games, and then had two points in 10 games for Sweden at the worlds.
Logan Brown, Ottawa
The Senators may be a disaster this season, but someone has to score. At 6-foot-6 and 220 pounds, Brown is looking to build off the brief NHL exposure he had at the start of last season when he initially made the Senators out of camp. Injury shortened his season and WJC tournament, but with 48 points in 32 OHL contests he’s ready for the next step up. The 20-year-old is good friends with two other Sens prospects, Colin White and Brady Tkachuk, all of whom are centrepieces of what fans hope is a brighter future.
Logan Brown's 18th of the season was a beauty Nearly had #19, too. pic.twitter.com/94Lh5o8KpF
— Sens Prospects (@SensProspects) February 17, 2018
Colin White, Ottawa
It’s not all bad in Ottawa — there are still some players to look forward to in the system. The 21st-overall pick in 2015 had six points in 21 NHL games last season and 27 in 47 AHL games, though he missed the start of the season with a broken wrist. White got more good exposure representing USA at the world championship, where he shared a dressing room with the likes of Johnny Gaudreau and Patrick Kane. White has already been given some top-line time, so if he gets good minutes he could be in a spot to put up enough points to make a Calder case.
“I think I’ve done some good things, but I think there’s definitely still some things to learn,” White said in February. “I think I’ve got to have more patience out there with the puck.
Brady Tkachuk, Ottawa
Now that we know he’s not returning to the NCAA, Tkachuk is one of the top candidates from Ottawa to make a Calder case by season’s end. He still could be sent to the OHL’s London Knights, but early signs are positive.
“(Tkachuk) knows what it takes, he knows what he had to do this summer and he put in the work so now it’s just to show everyone else that he can do it,” Senators player development coach Shean Donovan said last week.
Tkachuk scored 31 points in 40 games as a Boston University freshman last season.
Eeli Tolvanen, Nashville
The 30th-overall pick in 2017 arrived in North America at the tail end of the regular season to great fanfare following a hugely productive KHL season. With 36 points, Tolvanen had the second-best point total ever in that league for an under-20 player, finishing four points shy of Evgeny Kuznetsov’s record — and Tolvanen played 30 fewer games. He didn’t register a point in three NHL games, but since he’ll come into 2018-19 fresh and accustomed to his surroundings, he could take off. The only thing holding him back could be limited minutes on a deep team.
“The first couple of games were really tough for me,” Tolvanen said of his NHL start. “But that was huge to have those couple games out of the way and just to see the tempo and what the game is like back here. Now, I know I have to get stronger, bigger and faster, and I have to be ready when the training camp starts.”
Miro Heiskanen, Dallas
Had the Stars been willing to trade Miro Heiskanen, they’d probably have Erik Karlsson right about now. But there are many reasons why GM Jim Nill wants to hang on tight to his top prospect.
The third-overall pick in 2017, Heiskanen has all the tools: he can skate, pass, shoot, has good composure and is responsible on the defensive side of the puck, too. He had 23 points in 30 games in the Finnish League — a 0.77 points per game mark that was the best among all blueliners in the league.
“He was the best defenceman in the league and one of the best in Europe,” HIFK manager Tobias Salmelainen told The Hockey News. “He makes the game look easy. His IQ is off the charts and his skating is elite. He was our most important player.”
Kristian Vesalainen, Winnipeg
So Kyle Connor scored 31 goals as a rookie this past season, Patrik Laine hit 36 the season before and was a Calder finalist — could the Jets go three years in a row with a freshman hitting the 30-goal mark? Vesalainen is already a big body at 6-foot-4, 207 pounds and with 43 points in 49 Finnish League games he led all under-20 players in scoring (as an 18-year-old) and was the sixth-highest goal scorer overall with 22 tallies. Only three players in Finnish League history scored more points than Vesalainen before turning 19: Teemu Pulkkinen, Aleksander Barkov and Sebastian Aho.
“It’s not usual. He’s a special kid, I think,” HPK coach Antti Pennanen told the Winnipeg Free Press. “This is something that doesn’t happen.”
Henrik Borgstrom, Florida
Borgstrom was a human highlight reel coming out of the University of Denver, and nobody is shocked anymore that Florida used a first-round pick (23rd overall) in 2016 to get him. Normally a league where older players dominate, Borgstrom had 95 points in 77 NCAA games across two seasons and was tied as the fourth-highest point-getter in the nation last season, finishing as a Hobey Baker finalist. He’s still filling out his 6-foot-3 frame, but did manage one goal in his end-of-season four-game stint with the Panthers.
He has high offensive upside, but if he makes the Panthers out of camp, may be the centrepiece on a third line that has some pop.
“He’s learned being a centre, being low and slow and not blowing the zone,” Panthers director of player personnel Bryan McCabe told the Sun-Sentinel. “He’s a guy that wants the puck and can do a lot of special things with it. He’s not too far off. I think he’s got to get a little stronger, upper-body wise.”
Andreas Johnsson, Toronto
Already stacked with talent, someone has to fill the vacancy created by James van Riemsdyk’s departure and Johnsson could be it for Toronto. With 54 points in 54 games, the 23-year-old had the best points-per-game mark on the Marlies last season and was their big game-breaking talent, adding 24 points in 16 playoff games en route to being named post-season MVP. He had three points in nine games with the Maple Leafs and if he earns a plum spot next to either John Tavares or Auston Matthews, look out. Johnsson was a seventh-round pick in 2013.
“He’s a special, special kid,” Marlies head coach Sheldon Keefe told Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston. “He’s taken the long road to road to get here. He’s another example that it doesn’t matter when you’re drafted or even if you’re drafted, you just keep working and the cream rises to the top eventually.”
Filip Zadina, Detroit
When we look back on the 2018 draft in 10 years time, we might wonder how Zadina fell all the way to Detroit at No. 6. Once neck-and-neck with Svechnikov for the No. 2 spot, seeing Zadina fall to sixth overall was a surprising development, considering he was easily the QMJHL’s best rookie with 44 goals and 82 points in 57 games. The kid has a wicked shot and is hungry to make the teams that passed him over regret it.
“We tried to pick him apart – how creative is he? How good is his hockey sense?” Detroit’s director of amateur scouting Tyler Wright told MLive.com. “He wasn’t a one-trick pony that would just score, he’s got good hockey sense, he creates plays, he’s a good character kid, he competes, he kills penalties, he scores in various ways, he’s got a good release, just a very good overall offensive hockey player.”
Detroit traditionally lets their prospects develop for a couple years before promoting them to the NHL, but as they re-tool for the future it’s possible an exception is made for Zadina.
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