Ten young players to watch in NHL 2016/17 season- part 1

These ten young hockey stars in raising are widely considered to be among the most attractive new acquisitions of the NHL 2016/17 season.

October 12th is the starting date of the regular season of the 100th edition of the National Hockey League (NHL). Thirty teams in four divisions enter the battle for ending up on the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs in the middle of April, which last year was won by the Pittsburgh Penguins. As online sportsbooks in the US claim, the new season is a new challenge for all the teams whose success will in part depend of how they will integrate in their squads the rookies and the young players who should bare the team’s future. In a series of two articles GamingZion gives you the profiles of the top ten young hockey players you should keep your eye on when watching the NHL this 2016/17 season.

Patrick Laine

The right wing of the Jets, Patrik Laine is perhaps the young hockey player about whom we read tons of pages during the summer. And rightly so. This 18 years old Finnish winger attracted the interest of the scouts with his spectacular performance on the World Junior Championship 2016, where with 13 points he helped Finland to win the golden medal. On the World Championship he also scored 12 points in 10 games proving that he can play equally well at an elite level too.

Experts claim that Laine, second overall selection in the 2016 NHL draft, is likely to become the biggest draft pick in the history of Winnipeg Jets since Teemu Selanne. He is equipped with all the qualities needed for becoming the new NHL star, being well famous for his powerful shot and offensive creativity. If the expectations are met then Laine will certainly move the Jets much higher in the division table. In the past season they were among the group of the lowest-scoring teams. A trait they are likely to lose this season.

Daniel Sprong

This nineteen years old Dutch hockey player joined the Penguins in the beginning of the last season. However, he could not immediately prove his high class potential. As sites dealing with internet betting in Canada note, Sprong would have fitted perfectly in the Penguins system under Sullivan. He is a speedy forward who likes to try his shoot at any given opportunity, possessing also a characteristic of an intelligent passer as well.

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Unfortunately he didn’t get much chance to play for Mike Sullivan in the NHL. Instead, Mike Johnston, was the person who gave him more chance, running a system which was much less conducive to offensive success than the typical Penquin’s style. What will be his role this season is something we are soon about to see.

Alexander Wennberg

The young center of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Alexander Wennberg, proved to be a good investment in his second year spent in NHL. After scoring only 20 points in 68 games in the season 2014/15, the 21 years old Swedish player netted 40 points in 69 matches, finishing fifth in the team according to the goal scored. And the general impression is that he has much more to offer this season!

What is a great characteristic of this skilled playmaker is that he can also skate equally well on both wings. According to hockey experts, skating behind centers such as Boone Jenner and Brandon Dubinsky, might make it difficult for Wennberg to move in the depth chart. But if he is paired with quality scoring line players, he might give far better performance.

David Pastrnak

The injuries didn’t allow this 20 years old Czech player from Havirov to show all that he knows in the Boston Bruins shirt so far. The right wing played 51 games, scored 15 goals and collected 11 assists for 26 points. However, despite the injuries, he finished tied for fifth among Bruins goal scorers in the 2015/16 season.

Many believe that Pasternak due to the amazing offensive potential he has, might be called to replace the departed right wing Loui Eriksson. If he gets this chance and under the condition that he remains healthy and in good shape, Pastrnak will definitely demonstrate “offensive miracles” in this NHL season.

Nikolaj Ehlers

As everyone around the Winnipeg Jets is talking about the new acquisition Patrik Laine we tend to forget that the Jets have another very prospect winger in their squat: the Danish left wing Nikolaj Ehlers. In the past season Ehlers played 72 games scoring 15 goals and having 23 assists for 38 points. This was sufficient for him to finish the season on the sixth place in the team according to the goals scored and on the ninth place among the league’s rookie scoring leaders. That he will improve this statistic in the upcoming season is something that all of you fans of bet on sports in Denmark should place a wager on.

He is considered to be one of the most creative young playmakers in the NHL with a capacity to become a great offensive star. Much of this however would depend of the development of his physical abilities since he definitely needs much more muscle mass in order to be effective against “bigger” defenses.