5 players in their mid-20s who could emerge as NHL stars
Matt Moulson’s first full NHL season came when he was 26. That year he was given a chance by the then-desperate New York Islanders, and he put up 48 points, including 30 goals. The next year he hit 53 points, then 69, before becoming a near point-per-game player during the lockout shortened 2013 season at age 29. Now the guy’s gonna bank five mill per until 2019.
Not everybody is a first-round pick who cracks the league at 19, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make it. It gets harder as you get older, but it’s doable.
The players below aren’t quite Moulson aged as they approach their breakthroughs, but they’ve all played in the AHL at some point over the past two seasons, and are all over 24. There’s also a good chance they find Moulson-level success.
Not all stars just up and make it big from day one. Here are five players about to get there, just as the prospect stoplight turns yellow, and threatens red.
Martin Jones
Birthdate: January 10, 1990 (24 years old)
Drafted: Not so much
It’s staggering how much Jones’ current situation resembles that of Cory Schneider a few years ago.
At 24, Schneider played his first full season in the NHL. At the same age, this is set to be Martin Jones’.
Schneider had just come off a dominant few seasons in the AHL which included posting years with save percentages of .916, .930 and .919. Jones has done the same, posting a .919, .919, and .928.
In his first year, Schneider was pegged to play a tiny portion of the games behind a star (Roberto Luongo), as Jones is behind Jonathan Quick. Schneider got in 25 games, while Jones is looking at 20.
In Schneider’s first full NHL season, he posted a .929 save percentage. In Jones’ first 21 games with the Kings, he’s posted a .936.
Cory Schneider clearly emerged as a starter, so given Luongo’s 12-year contract, someone had to go (or in that case, both). Well, Jones is behind Quick and his 10-year contract. How many months until he starts to push the Kings incumbent, and something has to change in L.A?
TJ Brodie
Birthdate: June 7, 1990 (24 years old)
Drafted: Fourth round, 114th overall
TJ Brodie might be the best defenseman in the NHL among those who draw the reaction "Sorry, who?" from your average hockey fan.
Without getting too into the advanced stats, the numbers are there to show that it isn’t just playing with Mark Giordano that’s made him look good. In fact, you could make the case that Giordano becoming a Norris Trophy candidate at 30 might have something more to do with his partner.
Brodie’s shown up as a good possession player for awhile, but now he’s off to the type of start which should garner him more public attention: five games, two goals and three assists for five points. To quote Dire Straits, the boy can play.
Mikkel Boedker
Birthdate: December 16, 1989 (24 years old)
Drafted: First round, 8th overall
It’s partially because he plays in Phoenix, and partially because he hasn’t had That Year yet, but Boedker is coming of a solid season for the Coyotes, the first in which he exceeded 30 points, climbing all the way to 51.
It’s clear he’s found his game.
This season Boedker is off to a torrid start (six points in three games), highlighted by a hat trick against the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night. That combined with his ability to bang the body (the guy threw over 100 hits last year while tallying up those points, if that matters to you), and a couple of solid two-way linemates in Antoine Vermette and Shane Doan gives him a real chance to show he’s more than mediocre.
Gustav Nyquist
Birthdate: September 1, 1989 (25 years old)
Drafted: Fourth round, 122nd overall
Nyquist had his coming out party last season at age 24. And while many were quick to point out that his shooting percentage was unsustainably high, his shots-per-game total saw him surrounded by names like Claude Giroux, Ryan Getzlaf, and Bobby Ryan. Combine that ability to get pucks on the cage with the ability to be an above average shooter, and you’re still looking at a great point producer establishing himself in his mid-20s.
He has three goals so far this year (get this man in an accuracy competition, it's unbelievable), and seems primed to take the torch from Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg as the top offensive threat in Detroit in the coming years. You just can’t skate and shoot that well and not put up points. Impossible.
Frederik Andersen
Birthdate: October 2, 1989 (25 years old)
Drafted: Third round, 87th overall
The Ducks’ Andersen is basically Martin Jones minus the road block, meaning he’s going to get the chance to prove it.
Just a year older than Jones, Andersen has similarly destroyed the competition at lower levels. His last two years in the American League (as recently as last year) show a .929 and .939 save percentage. His NHL save percentage to date (through 31 starts) is .924. This year he’s out of the gate with a 1.95 goal-against average and three wins (playing for Anaheim helps).
John Gibson is the guy they want to give the keys to in the Ducks’ crease (and by all means that looks like a great choice, Gibson has been amazing everywhere he’s been), but Andersen isn’t going to make it easy for them. If he gets the chance this season while Gibson waits in the wings, he could prove himself to be worthy of becoming a full-time starter somewhere else. He’s too good.