With the 2018-19 NHL season just around the corner, let’s take a closer look at some young, up-and-coming players poised to breakout this year.
We’ve already looked at three players from the Western Conference, now here are three from the Eastern Conference.
Nolan Patrick – Philadelphia Flyers
While understandable, Patrick’s play was somewhat disappointing in the first half of his rookie campaign. He was slowly getting up to speed following an injury, adjusting to the pro game on the fly, and his production certainly reflected that.
As the year wore on, he became more comfortable and really took off. Patrick averaged 1.95 points per 60 at 5v5 over the final 33 games of the season. He piled up points at a 1st line clip during that stretch – one higher than the likes of Tyler Seguin, Patrick Kane, and Jakub Voracek, among many others.
Combine continued development with a fantastic cast of wingers surrounding him – he is expected to center Voracek and James van Riemsdyk on the 2nd line – and it’s hard not to be excited about what he can accomplish as a sophomore.
Artturi Lehkonen – Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens don’t have many players to be excited about these days, but I think Lehkonen is one who fits the bill.
He was quietly one of the best chance generators in the entire NHL last season. At 5v5, he averaged 10.55 scoring chances per 60 minutes. That ranked him 18th – sandwiched between Taylor Hall and Kevin Fiala – among 367 forwards to log at least 500 minutes in that game state. Not bad!
The high-danger chance numbers paint an even brighter picture of Lehkonen. He averaged 5.43 per 60 minutes, which was good for 9th in the NHL.
If he generated so many quality looks, why didn’t he score much? An unsustainably low shooting percentage was as big of a factor as any. He shot just 5.88% at 5v5. Had that number been ~10% like the season prior, he’d have potted ~6 more goals. In that case, we’d be talking about an 18-goal scorer in 66 games, which equates to ~22 over the course of a full season. This while ranking 9th among Montreal forwards in average 5v5 ice per game.
I expect he’ll see more opportunity this season on a Montreal team starving for offense. Couple that with some expected shooting regression and we could be looking at a 25 goal scorer.
Thomas Chabot – Ottawa Senators
Chabot quietly had a solid rookie campaign. He put up 25 points in 63 games (33 per 82) and was really efficient at 5v5 averaging 1.04 points/60. That tied him with Jake Muzzin, Jared Spurgeon, and Matt Niskanen for 32nd among 167 defenders to log at least 800 minutes.
Despite his ability to generate offense from the backend, Chabot didn’t get much ice last year. He ranked 5th among Sens defensemen logging 14:42 per game at 5v5.
Luckily for Chabot, three of the four players who were getting more ice – Erik Karlsson, Dion Phaneuf, and *gulp* Johnny Oduya – are no longer in the picture.
As such, Chabot is a lock to take on a much bigger workload this season at 5v5 *and* on the power play. His underlying numbers – and draft pedigree – suggest he’ll be able to make the most of it.
Note: numbers via Corsica and NaturalStatTrick.
Written by @ToddCordell
