10 young NHL players who took a step forward this season and 10 who did not

Draisaitl was one of the two or three bright spots on an otherwise forgettable and disappointing Oilers team. After two really good years to begin his career, Draisaitl broke out in a huge way in 2018 and climbed to the top five of the NHL's goal and point leaderboards and became the first Oilers player since Wayne Gretzky in 1986 to score at least 50 goals in a season. In another year, on another team, it would have been an MVP-worthy season. 

The Lightning organization has been pumping out impact players for the past five years, and Point is its latest prize. He was one of three Lightning players to score at least 40 goals this season (joining Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos) making Tampa Bay the first team since the 1995-96 Pittsburgh Penguins to accomplish that feat. He also topped the 90-point mark and emerged as one of the top offensive players in the NHL. He is still only 22 years old and is on the fast track toward superstardom in the league. 

The Red Wings missed the playoffs for the third year in a row, but there is a lot of reason for optimism in the Motor City. The team finished incredibly strong, they have a cupboard full of draft picks and prospects to kick-start their rebuild, and Larkin, who remains one of their most important young franchise cornerstones, had a huge year. He finished with 32 goals in only 76 games and took a huge step toward becoming a top-line player. He is still only 22 years old, has plenty of room to continue to develop and should have his best days ahead of him. 

Meier continued his rapid development in Year 3 by doubling his point production from a year ago and finished as one of the most productive players on one of the league's best teams. His 30 goals and 66 assists placed him among the top four Sharks in both categories and made him one of the team's go-to offensive players. Young players like him (and Tomas Hertl) are the reason the Sharks' future looks bright even when veterans like Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski move on or really start to decline. 

During his first three years in the NHL Tkachuk has consistently improved in every area. Opposing players and fans will hate him for the way he plays, but they will soon have to start respecting him for his brilliance if they already do not. Tkachuk became a top-tier offensive player this season and helped drive the Flames to the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. He is the Western Conference Brad Marchand: a pest, but a truly great player. And he still does not turn 22 years old until December. 

The Hurricanes' first trip to the playoffs in nine seasons was highlighted by the breakout performance of Aho. It was during the 2018-19 season that he went from being a "good young player" to a legitimate first-line star. He had a truly dominant season that featured elite scoring and shutdown defense. 

Nearly every team that passed on Alex DeBrincat in the 2015 NHL draft should be filled with regret. Had he been a few inches taller, he probably would have been a top five pick, but because he carried the "undersized" label he fell all the way to the second round. The Blackhawks were the lucky recipients of his slide and have been rewarded with a franchise player. He is just the seventh different player since 2005 to score at least 40 goals in a season before his age 22 season, joining only Steven Stamkos, Alex Ovechkin, Connor McDavid, Patrick Laine, Connor McDavid and Evgeni Malkin.  

The 2018-19 season was a huge one for Guentzel. He signed a long-term contract extension to remain with the Penguins and had a massive breakout season with 40 goals and 76 total points playing on the team's top line. Guentzel has always flashed star potential, especially in the playoffs over the past two years, and saw huge improvements in every area this season, including his defensive play.

When the Canadiens traded Alex Galchenyuk for Domi, there was reason to believe it was another misstep by the front office, especially since Domi scored just 18 goals over the previous two seasons — combined. But Domi ended up becoming everything the Canadiens could have hoped he would be and everything they needed him to be. He finished with 28 goals and 72 total points and was the Canadiens' best and most consistent offensive player all season. Nobody else on the team finished with more than 58 points. 

Before this season Kapanen had just 10 total points (eight goals, two assists) in 58 NHL games. Not exactly a promising start. But in 78 games he scored 20 goals and 44 points in a breakthrough season for the Maple Leafs. Kapanen's development is a significant one for the Maple Leafs because he is the one key piece the team still has to show for the Phil Kessel trade and because they need as many young players as they can get to make an impact given the team's tight salary cap situation. 

This was supposed to be a breakout year for Burakovsky, but all he did was regress in every major area. He found himself as the subject of trade rumors for much of the season,and as a restricted free agent this summer it would not be a shock if the Capitals decided to move on. He is definitely talented and still has potential, but it has not gone as planned in Washington. 

Here's another high draft pick the Oilers look like they are going to squander. Puljujarvi was rushed to the NHL, never really put into a position to succeed, and it seems like it is only a matter of when, and not if, he gets traded for pennies. Hopefully he excels in his next stop because he is an extremely talented young player. 

At 24 Nichushkin is a little old to be considered on the "young" side of his NHL career, but because he spent a few years in the KHL he doesn't have a huge NHL resume. His return to the NHL resulted in a quiet year, as he failed to score a goal in his 55 games. In 223 career games in the NHL, he has just 23 goals — certainly not what the Stars had in mind when they selected him in the first round of the 2013 NHL draft or when they brought him back this season. 

It is starting to look like it is never going to happen for Pavel Zacha. Four years into his career, and the 22-year-old center has been the same player every single season for the Devils: always playing around 60 games, averaging about 10 goals and finishing with 25 total points. He might be a fine third- or fourth-liner but probably not what the Devils were hoping for when they picked him sixth overall in the 2015 draft. 

The Bruins have an outstanding farm system full of young talent that should be able to perfectly complement their stars at the top of the roster. Danton Heinen is one of those young players, but his 2018-19 campaign should probably be looked at as a little bit of a step backward, as his ice time and production all regressed since his promising rookie year.

The Avalanche are hoping Jost can join what is an already impressive young core with Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen, and he has shown signs of being able to do that. Even though he did not take a huge step forward in 2018-19, posting nearly identical numbers to what he did in his first year, it is important to remember he is still only 21 years old. He is on the right track, but he has not yet taken the big leap. 

The Wild have a lot of young players coming through their pipeline, but none of them has really emerged as an impact player yet. Eriksson Ek was the No. 20 overall pick in 2015 and has already played in 147 career games, tallying just 16 goals and 37 total points. He managed just seven goals in 57 games this season for the Wild. At 22 he is still young enough that he could develop into a top-line forward, but he is starting to become more of a suspect than a prospect. 

Paul Stastny's departure from Winnipeg in free agency seemed to open the door for Roslovic to take on an increased role for the Jets. While he was a regular in the lineup, he never quite emerged as an impact player, finishing with nine goals and 15 assists in 76 games. His goal and point per game production regressed from what he did in his first year in the NHL. 

After things never worked out for Sprong in Pittsburgh, he was traded to the Ducks mid-season and was able to get a fresh start. Unfortunately for him and the Ducks the fresh start did not really change the results, as it was more of the same. He would occasionally flash the potential that made him a top prospect in the Penguins organization but never consistently put everything together. It is worth wondering if it is ever going to happen for him.

The Sabres desperately needed a big season from Thompson. He was one of the key pieces in the Ryan O'Reilly trade that was supposed to improve their depth. The trade never really worked out in Year 1, and Thompson's lack of development was one of the biggest reasons why. In 65 games he finished with just seven goals and five assists, and over his final 23 games scored zero goals with just two assists.