The Others
When you hear the words young stars in the NHL you immediately think of all-star players such as Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin, Jonathan Towes and Carey Price.
The league is filled with a plethora of young talent. It would be easy to glorify the work of those all-star rookies who are already tearing up the NHL. In this case, the names of Patrick Kane, Nicklas Backstrom and Sam Gagner come to mind. Here’s a list of “The Others”. All the young stars that are flying under the radar this year.
1) Braydon Coburn (Defense) – Philadelphia Flyers
Drafted in the 1st round by Atlanta in the 2003 draft, Braydon Coburn development wasn’t spectacular. The towering 6 foot 5 defenseman only played 38 games with the Thrashers before he was sent to the Flyers for Alexei Zhitnik last season.
This season Coburn exploded with the youthful Flyers. Coburn worked his way into a top-4 defenseman. His stats are excellent as well with 8 goals and 26 assists for 34 pts and a plus/minus of 18.
The Flyers made a great move acquiring him last season.
2) Brandon Dubinsky (Center) – New York Rangers
The young 21-year-old center is playing in his first full season with the Rangers. He’s been flying high since the all-star break. In his last 14 games, Dubinsky has 13 points adding to his great first year totals.
3) Matt Niskanen (Defense) – Dallas Stars
Another defenseman makes the list as Matt Niskanen his having a great rookie year with the Dallas Stars. In his first season, Niskanen has a total of 23 pts, including 6 goals. Not bad for a first year defenseman.
He probably won’t win the Calder this year, but his great play in Dallas should definitely be recognized.
