It’s September and amazingly, that means a brand new NHL season is right around the corner. In fact, the Winnipeg Jets will officially open their first “new” training camp in the ‘Peg on Sept. 17.
The new-look Jets will be a very young team, at least at its core. On the current Jets’ NHL/AHL roster, the Jets have 23 players born after Jan. 1, 1986. That means the Jets will be young at both the NHL and AHL levels.
The team’s young star is probably Evander Kane, a 20-year-old who had a nice year in 2010-11 and is expected to have a huge year in 2011-12. In fact, the NHL is loaded with young stars who are simply going to get better.
As examples, Matt Duchene was outstanding in 2010-11; Brandon Dubinsky was hard-nosed and solid around the net throughout the season; and Claude Giroux was about as steady as a player could be.
The reason I mention Duchene, E. Kane, Dubinsky and Giroux (I could also mention Nicklas Backstrom, James Neal and Logan Couture), is because no one spent the past NHL season mentioning them much at all.
Let’s be brutally honest, hockey pundits (at least, the ones who aren’t going on relentlessly about the Toronto Maple Leafs), fans and fantasy players, spend most of their time focused on the game’s big names: Sidney Crosby, Steven Stamkos, Patrick Kane, Brad Richards, Jonathan Toews, Alex Ovechkin, Marty St. Louis, the Sedin Twins, Jarome Iginla, Dany Heatley etc., etc.
And while Crosby, 23, Stamkos, 20, Patrick Kane, 22, and Toews, 22, are among hockey’s great young players, they are simply the leaders of a new group poised to take over the game.
Rookie of the Year Jeff Skinner
These are the young guns, the players, born in 1986 or later, who play tough, gritty hockey every night, score some goals, make plays and generally show up on the scoresheet without getting a whole lot of recognition outside of their own markets. In fact, until he won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year this past spring, even Carolina’s Jeff Skinner was not a household name in most of his relatives’ households. Now, he’s as big a star as there is in the game and a player expected to do great things for many years to come.
With the start of training camp a little more than two weeks away, let’s take a minute to honor those players, the members of hockey’s new breed and the guys that fantasy players don’t spend a lot of time talking about, but couldn’t win a pool without.
And here’s a guarantee: By the start of the 2012-13 season, these will be the players that fantasy winners will all be selecting, every season, with their top draft picks.
For the sake of simplicity, we’ll leave Crosby, Stamkos, Patrick Kane, Toews and Skinner to the masses. They already know about those guys anyway. However, for those hockey mavens who are playing in keeper pools this season, here’s a look at the next batch of big stars about to take their rightful places on the NHL marquee.
The NHL’s 10 “Next Great Stars.”
Anaheim's Bobby Ryan
Bobby Ryan, Anaheim Ducks: He may have a spot on the marquee already. A 2010 U.S. Olympian, the 24-year-old Ryan was Anaheim’s first pick, second overall, in the 2005 NHL entry draft. This past year he had 34 goals and 37 assists (21st in points in the NHL) playing on a line with two great Canadian Olympians, Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, and he’s emerged as one of the best players in the game. Last year, he had 35 goals and 29 assists and in 2008-09, he had 31 goals in only 64 games. At 6-foot-2, 210-pounds, he’s strong, skilled and not afraid to scrap. He’s another big time power forward who will be a major goal-scorer for another decade. And if he stays healthy, he will soon be considered one of hockey’s great players.
Nicklas Backstrom, Washington Capitals: At 23, he’s one of those guys who has already arrived, but because he plays in the rather substantial shadow of Alex Ovechkin, he’s not as well known as he should be. From Gavle, Sweden, he was the fourth overall pick in 2006 and is clearly one of the game’s great players. This season, he had 18 goals and 47 assists and is 35th in scoring right behind Rick Nash, Mike Richards and Sidnet Crosby (albeit in 41 games). He plays on Ovie’s line most nights and occasionally he plays better than his more well-known colleague. Fast and with great hands, Backstrom had 101 points in 2009-10 and should finish with 80-90 this coming season.
Matt Duchene, Colorado Rockies: Duchene is only “obscure” because he plays in Denver and doesn’t get a lot of TV exposure in Canada. After all: Who was the No. 29 scorer in the National Hockey League last year? Yep, Matt Duchene. The third overall pick in the 2009 NHL entry draft has arrived on the scene and announced his presence with authority. As a rookie in 2009-10, Duchene had 24 goals and 31 assists. This past year, the 5-foot-11, 200-pounder from Haliburton, Ont., had 27 goals and 40 assists. Assuming that the NHL participates, when the 2014 Winter Olympics roll around, you have to figure 20-year-old Matt Duchene – who has played on Canada’s under-18 and World Junior Championship teams – will be a major player for Team Canada.
Claude Giroux, Philadelphia Flyers: What a nice 23-year-old player. He finished the 2010-11 season as the No. 13 scorer in the NHL and helped make Jeff carter and Mike Richards expendable in Philly. Just like Duchene, he’s a former World Junior Championship player for Canada (2007-08) and a former first round draft pick (22nd overall in 2006). In 2009-10, he had 16 goals and 31 assists in all 82 games. This past year, the durable Giroux scored 25 goals and had 51 assists and played in all 82 games.
L.A.'s Anze Kopitar
Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles Kings: He’s only 24, but he’s been in the NHL since 2006-07. The greatest player in the history of Slovenian hockey, Kopitar was the Kings’ first draft pick (11th overall) in 2005. This past year, he had 25 goals and 48 assists after finishing the 2009-10 season with 34 goals and 47 assists. He’s already had a solid career, but this 6-foot-3, 230-pound power-forward-with-skill is slowly, but surely becoming one of the game’s great players. He was 20th in scoring this past season (in only 75 games) when he tore up his ankle and had surgery. However, with plenty of time to heal and with the off-season improvement of the Kings, he should put up even bigger numbers next year.
Logan Couture, San Jose Sharks: Another former first-round pick (ninth overall in 2007), Couture is 22 and is also another former under-18 Team Canada member. This past season he scored 32 goals (14th overall) and dished out 24 assists The 6-foot-1, 195 pounder from Guelph is going to be one of the game’s next great players. He was a finalist for the 2011 Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year and he just signed a $5.75 million deal that will keep him out of the restricted free agent market next July.
Brandon Dubinsky, New York Rangers: Dubinsky, who has played in two World Championships for the United States, is a 25-year-old from Alaska who was a second-round pick in 2004. He is a fearless player who has never been a big scorer, but this past year he started to pit up some impressive numbers. He finished 73rd in scoring with 24 goals and 30 assists in 77 games. In 2008-09, he had 13 goals, 41 points and 112 penalty minutes and proved he is not afraid to scrap. As an example, last December against the Caps, Dubinsky had a goal and an assist and dropped Alex Ovechkin in a fight early in the game to complete his Gordie Howe hat trick. For a guy who had never scored more than 20 goals in a season (2009-10), he had a tremendous 2010-11 and was rewarded with a big new contract.
Winnipeg's Evander Kane
Evander Kane, Winnipeg Jets: The “other” Kane. Another former first round pick, Kane matched his 2009-10 offensive numbers in just 37 games this past season. This is a kid who has already played in the World Junior and the World Senior Championships for Team Canada and at 20, he’s starting to put up some impressive numbers. He had 19 goals and 24 assists last year in Atlanta and at 6-foot-2, 200-pounds, this youngster from Vancouver will soon be a high pick in every fantasy league. In fact, there are some pundits who think Kane is capable of reaching 30 goals and 60 points this season.
James Neal, Pittsburgh Penguins: A guy who played five games for the Manitoba Moose in 2008-09, Neal has exploded into one of the top power forwards in the game. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound leftwinger from Whitby, Ont., had 22 goals and 23 assists in 2010-11. A 24-year-old who was Dallas’s second pick (33rd overall) in 2005 – Matt Niskanen was the Stars’ first pick – Neal had 27 goals and 28 assists in 2010-11 and it obviously wasn’t a fluke.
Milan Lucic, Boston Bruins: The classic power-forward at 6-foot-4, 225 pounds, the big 23-year-old from Vancouver first earned a full-time job with the Bruins in 2006-07, but had never played what could be called a full season in the NHL until 2010-11. This past year he had 30 goals and 32 assists and led the Bruins to the Stanley Cup. He’s also a guy who will put up 80-100 minutes in penalties. He’s going to be a big-time player for a long time to come and if the Bruins expect to challenge for back-to-back Cups, it will be Milan Lucic leading the way.