Just over a month into the 2022-23 NHL season, we’re really starting to see teams, trends, and players settle into place to give us potentially a more accurate read on what to expect from some of these lineups.
Rookies, too, are beginning to make their marks. While this year hasn’t yet featured a runaway star just yet, we’ve seen some strong performances from first-year players as the next wave of youth continues to roll in.
In this week’s edition of our NHL Power Rankings, we’re highlighting a rookie to watch on every squad.
1. Boston Bruins (14-2): Considering how well he played during his seven-game stint to start the season, it could only be a matter of time until we see Jakub Lauko — who registered a goal, an assist, and a pretty great post-game interview during that stretch — step back into the lineup after being sent down the AHL to make room for a healthy Craig Smith. The Bruins’ near-perfect start to the season makes this a tough one to crack, though.
2. New Jersey Devils (13-3): The Devils’ depth throughout the lineup is on fully display during this incredible win streak, with rookies like forward Fabian Zetterlund seamlessly stepping into the injured Ondrej Palat’s place on the top line while, Akira Schmid looks ready to share some of the spotlight in net after Mackenzie Blackwood went down.
3. Vegas Golden Knights (13-4): Goaltending was the biggest question heading into the season, and rookie Logan Thompson is the answer. The 25-year-old netminder, who started 17 games last season, has turned out to be more than just the placeholder we all labelled him as in the wake of Robin Lehner’s extended injury absence, but a starter in his own right. He’s currently ranked second among all NHL netminders thanks to his impressive 8-3 record, .922 save percentage, and two shutouts.
4. Carolina Hurricanes (10-5-1): Between his three-game stint last April and a pair of early-season starts so far this year, goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov — who earned some valuable playoff experience last spring — has yet to lose an NHL regular-season game. He earned his first career shutout Monday night against Chicago, but his best highlight so far came four days earlier against Edmonton:
5. Colorado Avalanche (8-5-1): Shane Bowers, drafted 28th overall by Ottawa in 2017 and sent to Colorado in the Matt Duchene trade, was the final first-rounder in his class — one that included Cale Makar taken fourth overall — to make his long-awaited NHL debut. He finally got there Nov. 10 against Nashville. Unfortunately, an awkward collision cut his debut short and sees him start his NHL career on injured reserve with an upper-body injury.
6. New York Islanders (11-6): A 21-game stint last season wasn’t enough to secure Robin Salo’s roster spot for 2022-23, nor was an early-season two-goal outburst. He’s already been to AHL Bridgeport and back this season, and may be in for more travel.
7. Toronto Maple Leafs (9-5-3): With all due respect to Erik Kallgren, who’s stepped up admirably (and with very little help, at times), his is the rookie story no one exactly hoped for this season, as it meant an extended absence for Matt Murray. The 26-year-old has given the club an opportunity to win in all seven of his starts this season.
8. Los Angeles Kings (11-7-1): Defenceman Brandt Clarke, L.A.’s eighth overall selection in 2021, played his ninth NHL game on Nov. 1. After a lengthy stint in the press box, the 19-year-old was assigned to AHL Ontario for a conditioning stint earlier this week. Will he be back?
9. Dallas Stars (9-5-2): Gone are any questions about whether forward Wyatt Johnston is ready to be a full-time NHLer (not that there were many). Could be because he’s capable of stuff like this:
10. Winnipeg Jets (9-4-1): Cole Perfetti, 10th overall pick in 2020, is doing a lot of things right in his rookie season with the Jets — just ask his coach.
“If you watch him, he’s working very hard without the puck. He’s far more aware of his responsibilities without the puck, but what that translates into is more offence,” Jets head coach Rick Bowness told Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe last week. “He’s getting the puck more. He’s not standing around waiting for the puck to come to him. There’s times that he’s going to get it and he’s done a much better job of that — of playing the game and not waiting for the game to come to him.”
11. Tampa Bay Lightning (9-6-1): Leave it to the Lightning to casually insert a 2017 sixth-rounder into their top four just to see him absolutely thrive. Nick Perbix’s season started strong and keeps getting better as he finds his offensive footing. After registering one assist in his first eight games, he’s got three goals and five points in his last five.
12. Florida Panthers (9-6-1): After goalie Spencer Knight and forward Anton Lundell helped propel the Panthers to the Presidents’ Trophy last year, the top-prospect pool is looking a little shallow. Florida has yet to introduce a rookie into its lineup.
13. Edmonton Oilers (9-8): Jack Campbell’s early-season struggles have thrust rookie backup Stuart Skinner into the spotlight. Skinner, who posted a 6-6 record in limited action last year, is currently 3-4 and has put himself in position to take the starter’s role with some key performances.
14. New York Rangers (8-6-3): Vitali Kravtsov is due for some good luck if he’s to show he’s ready to stick in the NHL after playing most of last year in Russia. Already sidelined on four separate occasions with four separate ailments this season, including minor injuries, dental issues, and most recently the stomach flu, the 22-year-old has appeared in just six of New York’s 17 games.
15. Seattle Kraken (8-5-3): The first-ever draft pick in Kraken history, Matty Beniers is playing (and looking) like a veteran, not a rookie, with five goals and nine points so far, good for second in rookie scoring. But all eyes remain fixed on Shane Wright’s game count (seven) and when (or where?!) he’ll suit up next.
16. Calgary Flames (7-6-2): Like most of his Flames teammates, backup Dan Vladar — still technically a rookie after a 23-game season in Calgary last year — is off to bit of a slow start. After winning his season debut against the Oilers he’s suffered three straight losses.
17. Minnesota Wild (7-7-2): Mason Shaw is one of the best stories going in Minnesota right now. He journeyed back from three ACL surgeries and this week he got the news every prospect dreams of.
18. Detroit Red Wings (7-5-4): Last year’s class, headlined by Calder winner Moritz Seider and a 57-point campaign for Lucas Raymond, is pretty tough to match but Detroit’s youth movement rolls on. An injury to rookie Elmer Soderblom cleared the way for Jonatan Berggren to get the call up, and he’s wasted no time making his mark. In three games, he’s got a goal and an assist.
19. Philadelphia Flyers (7-6-3): The Flyers have seen the most rookies — six skaters and a goalie — suit up this season, with a combined 60 games between them so far in 2022-23. Leading the way are forwards Noah Cates and Wade Allison with three goals each. Cates, who’s appeared in all 16 of Philadelphia’s games this year, leads his team in rookie scoring with six points thanks to a pair of two-point games in the past week.
20. Washington Capitals (7-9-2): Of the three rookies who have seen NHL ice with Washington this year, just one — Beck Malenstyn — has appeared in more than one game. The 24-year-old winger registered a goal and an assist in his five-game stint in October.
21. Pittsburgh Penguins (6-7-3): A lower-body injury has sidelined Pierre-Olivier Joseph a week, putting a pause on the depth defender’s season. Might it impact the trade rumours, too? The Penguins’ blue-line depth reportedly has his name being circulated as someone who could be moved.
22. St. Louis Blues (7-8): Top prospect Jake Neighbours scored in St. Louis’ season-opening win, but desperate times — i.e., an eight-game losing streak — called for … well, a lineup change in order to get him the playing time he needs. Blues fans will have to wait a little longer before Neighbours comes to stay.
23. Nashville Predators (7-8-1): Three years after being selected in the seventh round, 210th overall, in 2019, it took Juuso Parssinen all of five minutes to introduce himself to the NHL Saturday against the Rangers:
24. Montreal Canadiens (8-7-1): Montreal’s rookies have come in with bang. The trio of early fan favourite Arber Xhekaj, top pick Juraj Slafkovsky, and 2020 first-rounder Kaiden Guhle already has 67 penalty minutes between them.
25. Arizona Coyotes (6-8-1): Helping drive the success of Arizona’s surprisingly potent power play is rookie Matias Maccelli. Seven of his 10 points so far this season have come with the man advantage. Last weekend, the league leader in assists and points among rookies became the first freshman to hit double-digit points with a helper against the Devils — on the power play, of course.
26. Chicago Blackhawks (6-7-3): The rebuilding Blackhawks entered the season with a clear job opening in net, and rookie netminder Arvid Soderblom is making the most of the opportunity. The 23-year-old is 2-2-1 on the season, sharing Chicago’s crease with veterans Petr Mrazek and Alex Stalock, and has a 2.60 goals against average and .931 save percentage.
27. San Jose Sharks (6-9-3): The Sharks, who rank in the bottom third in goals per game, have yet to dress a rookie. Cue the calls for top prospect William Eklund?
28. Buffalo Sabres (7-10): Owen Power has arrived, and the 2021 first-overall pick has been as advertised. He’s already playing top-pair minutes alongside Rasmus Dahlin and leads all rookies league-wide in ice time.
29. Ottawa Senators (6-9-1): After scoring once in his first 17 games over the past two seasons, Shane Pinto has found his scoring touch to the tune of eight goals in 16 games this season for the league-lead among rookies.
All eyes have been on the blue line, though, where Jake Sanderson has been quick to make an impact. A two-assist night in Buffalo on Wednesday saw him join Pinto on the brink of a double-digit season with nine points.
30. Anaheim Ducks (5-10-1): This has been quite the year for 2021 third-overall pick Mason McTavish, who represented Canada at the Olympics in February, helped propel Hamilton to an OHL championship before earning Memorial Cup All-Star honours in June, and captained Canada to world junior gold in August. Now that he’s proven he’s ready to an everyday NHLer, his next task is to prove he can develop on the fly down the middle as a centreman.
31. Columbus Blue Jackets (5-9-1): With six rookies cracking the lineup so far this season — four of whom are defencemen — the youth surge is full-speed ahead, led this year by speedy centreman Kent Johnson. His high-skill game has quickly made him a fan favourite while his three goals and seven points in 12 games positions him well for a potential rookie scoring race, if he can remain in the lineup with consistency — something he has yet to do.
32. Vancouver Canucks (5-9-3): A 2020 sixth-round pick by the Avalanche, forward Nils Aman has been one of the few bright spots on a Canucks team that’s not doing much right. He and linemates Dakota Joshua and Will Lockwood have brought a jolt of energy at times it’s needed.
