While Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel are getting all of the headlines, there are a couple of young players that are quietly making their mark on the NHL.
Colton Parayko and Nikolaj Ehlers are two players that need to be scooped up in any Fantasy Hockey league if they have not been already.
Parayko (22) is a rookie defenseman for the St. Louis Blues, checking in at a huge 6 ft. 5 in. and 224 lbs. His 4 goals and 7 points rank 5th on the Blues as of the writing of this article.
overhead look of Parayko’s goal pic.twitter.com/U7DsX4ZPdm
— Stephanie (@myregularface) October 30, 2015
Parayko’s game has been electric, playing well beyond his years in a position that usually takes a long time for a player to develop. He has 2 power play points and 30 shots on goal, to go with a team-leading plus/minus rating of +8. Ehlers (19) is the better bet of the two players to maintain his success over the course of the season. He is tied for third on the team with 4 goals and 8 points in ten games. The Jets forward is among the league leaders in shots taken with 37, which is tops in Winnipeg. He has been a dynamic player while becoming an important part of the power play.
Ehler’s goal pic.twitter.com/9d03i5MWDZ — Stephanie (@myregularface) October 28, 2015
The Dane has received rave reviews from coaches and teammates. Watching him play there is little wonder why he is so well thought of. He has an incredible hockey IQ and plays like a seasoned veteran.
Holding Pattern
Jonathan Drouin has been touted as a possible breakout player this season. Everyone who has followed the progress of this young player knows the huge amount of potential that he has. The question has been whether he can put it all together or not.
When it was announced that Drouin would start the season on a line with Steven Stamkos, the amount of hype skyrocketed.
He is ranked third on the team with 6 points, while his game is still developing. One area of concern, if you want to call it that, is his shot total of only 9 in ten games. The longer that he plays with Stamkos, the more he will learn to take those shots and further develop his game.
His recent injury has caused him to miss a couple of games to this point, and there has been a bit of a drop in ownership in the fantasy world as a result.
Hold onto this kid, and reap the potential rewards as the season moves on.
Catch Him if You can
Max Domi is a known asset at this point, so I will not go into much detail about him. Despite the fact that he is in the thick of the rookie scoring race, Domi is still available in many season-long fantasy leagues. Snatch him up if you can.
Another player on the rise that is being scooped up is Red Wings rookie Dylan Larkin. He has 8 points on the season, but I will let the GIF below speak for itself.
Larkin goal, 4-1 Detroit pic.twitter.com/5ae0G4dLd5
— Stephanie (@myregularface) November 1, 2015
Until next time.