This hockey season cannot come fast enough, so why don’t we make ourselves a little more impatient by looking into which youngsters/underappreciated players are going to be breaking camp with the big club. While we’re at it, we’ll go through a little bit about why they may actually be put in a position to succeed past a nine game trial.

In this week’s Eastern Edge piece, Russ covered a similar topic. However, we miraculously managed to cover none of the same names, so if you need some more names after this article, go check out his piece here.

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Kevin Fiala (LW) –  Nashville Predators

Cap Hit – $863,333 with two years remaining

After an ugly end to his season in April with a broken femur, Kevin Fiala has recovered remarkably, and showed off some impressive moves for a very nice goal on Saturday night.  No one is expected to come back from a broken femur in just four months, let alone to an NHL level. Here he is though, and you had better get used to hearing his name called as the Predators goal horn sounds.

There may not be a spot on the top power-play unit, but there is room on the second line for some more scoring, and that is exactly where Fiala should be. Now if he can stop showing off, and as a result fly a little under the radar for the rest of the pre-season, it would be ideal. It seems as though the depth of the Predators forwards, as well as the focus on defence, has left fans to forget about Fiala.

As of Tuesday’s practice however, flying under the radar doesn’t seem to be going as planned, as he was put up on the top line with Filip Forsberg and Ryan Johansen. Lots of talent to get excited about if that line sticks for any length of time, but expect Victor Arvidsson to end up back there soon, so Fiala can help carry the offense on the second line.

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Logan Brown (C)/Filip Chlapik (LW) –  Ottawa Senators

Cap Hit – $894,166 / $728,333 both with three years remaining

With a Clarke MacArthur having failed his physical examination, and Colin White out with a broken wrist, a spot has opened up for one (or both) of Logan Brown and Filip Chlapik to make the Senators out of camp. Thus far, both young forwards have impressed, having not looked out of place, especially in the home & home series against Toronto.

With the roster potentially returning to full health soon, there may be less room for these two moving into November and December, but getting a some unexpected production for four to six weeks before moving onto the next waiver wire addition is always appreciated. Likely only one of these two gets games past the ninegame trial, but at this point it’s up in the air as to whom that may be.

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Miro Aaltonen (C)/Calle Rosen (D) –  Toronto Maple Leafs

Cap Hit – $925,000 x one year & $925,000 x two years

Both of these players have shown well in camp, with Miro Aaltonen seemingly all but assured the fourth line centre slot after coming over from Finland. His main competition actually hasn’t even suited up for a pre-season game. However, had Frederik Gauthier been healthy through the summer, the fourth line centre spot likely would have been Gauthier’s to lose. Alas, as it is in sports, one player’s injury means another player’s opportunity. Aaltonen seems to be making the best of it, and could provide some inexpensive faceoff wins, peripherals, and chip in the occasional point as well.

Rearguard Calle Rosen on the other hand is in a tight battle with other European import Andreas Borgman, and Erie Otters alumni Travis Dermott. In my view, Dermott has been the most impressive, and would really give another dimension to the second powerplay behind incumbents Jake Gardiner & Nikita Zaitsev. Unfortunately, it is more than possible that Dermott gets sent down, and one of the older Europeans gets the job. Rosen seems to have the inside track based on Monday night’s lineup, where what appears to be the full opening night lineup was getting the start.

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Christian Djoos (D)/Madison Bowey (D) –  Washington Capitals

Cap Hit – $650,000 x two years & $703,333 x one year

It seems as though at least one of these two is going to break camp with the big club. Best guess right now is Madison Bowey due to his right shot lining up well with current fifth defenceman Taylor Chorney. However, the left-handed Christian Djoos cannot be counted out. It wouldn’t even be all that surprising to see Djoos supplant Chorney on the bottom pairing anyways. Djoos has been knocking at the door for some time now, and his emergence into an everyday player is now a question of when, not if.

Bowey missed a big chunk of time last season due to an ankle injury, and really didn’t get his legs back under him until the AHL playoffs. So even if he were to get beat out for a spot now, it is very possible/likely that we see him later in the season when someone inevitably goes down with an injury. Bowey does seem to have the higher fantasy upside from an offensive perspective, so if you are going to toss your chips in with one or the other, may as well go for the higher reward.

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Timo Meier (RW) –  San Jose Sharks

Cap Hit – $894,167 with two years remaining

With the depth of the wingers on the Sharks fading, the new wave of wingers is almost here. Prime among them is Timo Meier, the ninth overall selection from 2015. Meier also had a good showing last season, posting 2.5 shots and 1.88 hits per game while averaging just under 13 minutes a night.

If he keeps looking good, then he may play his way onto the Sharks top line, possibly alongside Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton. If that were the case, then 50 points would be expected just by osmosis. That would have tremendous value alongside the youngster’s hits/shots totals, considering Meier isn’t even being drafted in the average Yahoo league. As an absolute best-case scenario, there would seem to be a spot on the powerplay – opened due to the departure of Patrick Marleau – that Meier could fill. Who knows what kind of season we may be looking at if he makes the most of that opportunity as well.

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Thanks for reading. As always, you can find me on twitter @alexdmaclean where I post some of my other smaller musings that don’t make it into the articles.