On the Fly: 4 players that made us take notice this season
David Pastrnak
Wilkins: Who needs a rebuild when you have David Pastrnak?
After dipping his toe into the harbor last season with 15 goals in 51 games, the Boston Bruins winger has made a bigger splash in his third pro season, recording 31 goals and sitting just shy of a point-per-game pace.
Not bad for a player selected 25th overall. Among his fellow 2014 draftees, only Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl has outpaced Pastrnak, coming up with 118 points to his 115, but doing so in 18 more contests. Still, no player has tallied more often than Pastrnak, who has collected 55 goals since making his NHL debut in 2014-15.
This season, Pastrnak has found a home on the Bruins' second line alongside veteran center David Krejci. The 20-year-old sits second in team scoring and has emerged as a key cog in the next wave of talent in Beantown.
Rickard Rakell
Gold-Smith: The Anaheim Ducks knew they were getting good value when they signed Rakell to a six-year extension with a cap hit of $3.8 million last fall, but he's exceeding expectations this season.
Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf get most of the attention in Anaheim, but it's Rakell who leads the club with 30 goals, and he's done it in only 59 contests. His goals per game (0.51) is fifth-best in the NHL among qualified players, fractionally trailing the NHL's leading scorer Brad Marchand.
Rakell's production has increased every year since entering the league in the 2012-13 season, but few predicted he'd be on pace to net 36 goals in an abbreviated 2016-17 campaign.
The Ducks rank in the league's bottom third in scoring, so the fact that he's provided one-sixth of the team's 180 goals further underscores how important his offensive explosion has been.
Mikael Granlund
Hagerman: Maybe it's the new coach, maybe it's some newly found confidence, or maybe it's simple development, but Mikael Granlund is having a monstrous season.
Through just 69 games, the Minnesota Wild forward sits 11th in league scoring and has already smashed his previous career bests set last season. He's put up 11 more goals and 21 more points in 13 fewer games, and at his current pace should score four more goals and 12 more points before the year is out.
It doesn't end there. He's put up career highs in power-play goals and points, shorthanded goals and points, and his 15.6 shooting percentage is nearly twice as high as his previous best. In fact, his 65 points are already more than any Wild player has posted in a season since 2009-10, when Mikko Koivu paced the club with 71.
Factor in that Granlund also ranks third among the club's forwards in takeaways, fourth in shots, fourth in blocks, and second in shorthanded time on ice and it's clear that not only has he been lethal on the scoreboard, he's been the complete package for the Wild.
Jack Eichel
Cuthbert: Rejoining a non-contender after missing the first six weeks of the season due to injury, Jack Eichel's sophomore campaign would be readily glossed over if it weren't so impressive.
Eichel has not just outshone the vast majority of last season's monster rookie class in his second year - he's been one of the league's most productive players since he's returned from a high ankle sprain.
With 27 points in 22 games since the beginning of last month, Eichel has increased his overall count to 20 goals and 48 points in 50 games, a historic near-point-per-game rate for a 20-year-old.
He fashioned the second-longest point streak this season, marking the scoresheet in 11 consecutive games, and he's sandwiched in between James van Riemsdyk and Jeff Carter in terms of all-situations points rate, ranking 21st in the league.
(Photos courtesy: Action Images)