Which lesser-known NHL player are you dying to see in person?
We know. The NFL season is already in the second half, the College Football Playoff rankings continue to dominate headlines, MLB awards season overlaps hot stove season, and the NBA hot takes are flying from every direction. Hell, even college basketball is all over the airwaves morning, noon and night with the destination tournaments. Oh, and there was that election that no one can stop talking too. All of these things may make it easy to overlook the first couple months of the NHL season. That's where we come in.
Happy Friday, and welcome to the Yardbarker NHL roundtable. This kicks off some of our early-season questions to help you, the casual hockey (and die-hard) fan, catch up on what you may have missed or ponder the state of affairs in the hockey landscape. Today, we sound the horn with a simple but important question:
Which surprising, under-the-radar player do you desperately want to see play in person?
Chelena Goldman: I can't put enough emphasis on how incredible it is to see players live on a regular basis, because as great as games are to watch on TV, some of that electricity doesn't translate over from the live game. Like, if you enjoyed watching Connor McDavid on TV his rookie year, you were still missing how dynamic he was to watch in person — how other players seemed to slow down around him as he broke up the ice.
With that in mind, I am so excited to see some of the young players who don't get the same publicity as McDavid and Auston Matthews. One of my big picks is Nikolaj Ehlers from Winnipeg, although I guess he isn't as under-the-radar nowadays since he has a multi-game points streak.
Laura Saba: Defenseman Zach Werenski of the Columbus Blue Jackets. He's probably not considered under-the-radar anymore, but he's been the story of Columbus' season so far.
Joe Boland: Mark Scheifele. Admittedly, I watch Winnipeg play about as much as I shave (rarely!), but the 23-year-old already has 22 points this season for the surprising Jets — tied for the league lead — with a decent chunk coming on the power play. I may have never heard of him before this fantasy hockey season, but I know him now, and I'm dying to watch him play.
Jason Clinkscales: There are quite a few, much of them buoyed by the uptick in goals scored so far this season. Yet, I don’t think anyone would have expected Florida Panthers center Jonathan Marchessault to be among the top scorers in the entire league. Heck, you could have picked several others on the Panthers ahead of him, but he’s stepped up in place of Jonathan Huberdeau incredibly well.
Marchessault isn’t completely under-the-radar right now so much as it was unexpected from a Panthers team that already boasts a lot of talented young players with much more name recognition entering 2016-17. I’d love to see if he could keep it up as the book continues to be written about him, especially in the Eastern Conference.
Sarah Sprague: Well, he's no longer under the radar going into this year, as he's been lighting it up for the Bruins, but I'm been itching to see David Pastrnak play in person with the strength he's putting into his shots.
Filthy.
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