Connor McDavid is still searching for his first NHL point — let alone his first career goal — but several of his Calder Trophy competitors have already lit the lamp.
McDavid’s main rival, Jack Eichel, roofed a shot in his very first game and that seemed to set off a trend of rookies scoring top corner. Check out these highlight-reel snipes from the opening week — in no particular order, but led off by Eichel, who showed off a wicked release throughout the pre-season as well. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him go bar down on a regular basis and finish with around 35 goals to lead all freshmen. If Eichel’s over/under is 30, I’ll put my money on the over.
Beautiful sounds.
Jack Eichel's 1st goal. Our famous foghorn. Rick Jeanneret's call. New goal song.🚨 #NextChapterhttps://t.co/AiGTTKn9OE
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) October 9, 2015
Dylan Larkin, ladies and gentlemen. This kid is going to have a flair for the dramatic:
Max Domi put as much force behind this shot as his dad, Tie, put behind his uppercuts:
Jared McCann cracked Vancouver’s roster, at least in part, because of his NHL-calibre shot. Yup, that looks NHL-calibre to me:
Artemi Panarin might not have pinged the puck off the crossbar and in, but boy did he ever pick a corner on Henrik Lundqvist:
Oscar Lindberg has already scored four times to lead all rookies, so we can’t really leave him off this list. He has yet to go top-shelf, but he’s proving quick on the trigger as evidenced by his first goal:
Ditto for Dallas’s Mattias Janmark, his first also coming by way of the one-timer:
There, you’re all caught up on the rookie highlights for the time being. Now we can shift our attention back to the McDavid Watch.
Larry Fisher is a sports reporter for The Daily Courier in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. Follow him on Twitter: @LarryFisher_KDC.
Larry Fisher is a senior writer and head scout for The Hockey Writers, having been an at-large contributor for THW since August 2014. Fisher covers both the NHL and the WHL, specializing in prospects and NHL draft content, including his annual mock drafts that date back to 2012. Fisher has also been a beat writer for the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets since 2008, formerly working as a sports reporter/editor for The Daily Courier in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada from 2008-2019. Follow him on Twitter: @LarryFisher_KDC.
