Over the course of the past few seasons we’ve seen the transition into a new era as far as player personnel and style of play across the league. A normal process in time with Crosby turning 30, the arrival of Jack Eichel, Auston Matthews, and Connor McDavid and the New Jersey Devils contending for the Metropolitan Division lead, it would seem times have certainly changed. For any team the future is reliant upon young individuals within the organization blossoming into go-to guys in order for them to have success. Let’s look at a few players that appear to be integral pieces of their respective franchises future.

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Anthony Mantha

Standing six feet five inches and weighing 225 pounds Monster Mantha should have taken up American football for a profession. After a quarter century plus of playoff contention the Detroit Red Wings missed the postseason in 2016-17. With Pavel Datsyuk leaving for Russia and Henrik Zetterberg getting further and further into his thirties the Wings are in dire need of their youth to grab hold of the reins and lead forth from here. Mantha has been a celebrated prospect since his days in Val d’Or where he was a goal scoring dynamo. The fact that he went 20th overall in his draft year still baffles me. His goal scoring translated in the AHL and is once again doing so now in the NHL with him on pace for a 30-plus goal season.

This year Mantha has seen his average ice time jump a minute and a half from the prior season as the team looks to him more and more for offense. Sporting a PDO of 1012 which is line with last season, a 50.3 CF%, and starting 56% of his shifts in the offensive zone Mantha is poised to continue producing. Though his shooting percentage is a tad high for his career so far at 16.4% it is not entirely unsustainable with his wicked wrister and affinity for driving towards the net. Regardless it is wise to expect at least a bit of regression but as stated earlier he looks poised to eclipse the 30-goal marker for the first time in his career this season. Not to be rude but for a team devoid of offensive talent beyond the top-six he is seemingly not in danger of losing his prime scoring role anytime soon. Look for the 23-year-old to be a go-to guy for many years.

Mikko Rantanen

When you post 20 goals in 75 games played in your rookie campaign at the age of 20 everyone should be turning their heads and paying attention. Especially when you do that on the absolute dumpster fire of a team that was the Colorado Avalanche in the campaign prior. Now a starkly improved squad thus far it should be no surprise that Rantanen is now producing at a more profound clip in 2017-18. Currently featured consistently on the top line alongside Nathan Mackinnon and on the top powerplay unit, Rantanen has become a must own asset at the tender age of 21. Though he put himself in the spotlight as a goal scorer in his rookie campaign, Rantanen has long been known to be of the playmaking style and this season sees him leaning more towards such with 13 assists on top of seven goals. Seeing as he is currently outproducing the second guy chosen overall in his 2015 draft class, people should really be taking more notice of this kid.

Rantanen is receiving an eye-popping average four-plus minutes of power play time per game this season and it shows in his 11 man-advantage points out of 20 total. Six of his seven goals have come a man up as well so although a reliance upon the power play is not ideal it certainly is nice to see a guy produce when deployed in said scenario. Rantanen will certainly eclipse his 133 total shots from 2016-17 and his shooting percentage is in line with last year, in fact it’s slightly lower. Fact of the matter is this kid has no sophomore slump effects at this point in time and will be an integral part of the Avalanche’s young core going forward.

Scott Darling

Coming from the arguably dynastic Chicago Blackhawks to the young upstart Carolina Hurricanes one has to expect regression statistically for any goaltender. Brought from Chicago to begin the phase out of Cam Ward, it’s been an up and down ride so far for Darling in the city of Raleigh. Nonetheless if we focus in on the month of November solely and exclude his recent start against the Rangers and another one against the Islanders early on, Darling has been rather solid throughout. Like any player it can take time to adjust to a new team, system, city, etc. and that just may be the case with Darling. Now with the offense clicking behind a seemingly ascending Teuvo Teravainen one has to hope for the wins to start coming his way. Though we can look to his statistical past for trends one would have to take them with a grain of salt as his scenario has altered completely.

As he approaches age 29 it is basically now or never for Darling to seize this crease and establish himself as a consistent starter in the NHL. Though his current save percentage sits at .905 only twice so far this season has his percentage been below .850 by the end of a game. Should the Hurricanes young defense continue to improve with age and improve in the shot suppression department Darling could really be become a force in net. For the time being one must temper their expectations of him but he’s the most capable netminder this franchise has had since Ward’s prime.

Jonathan Drouin

It was all but guaranteed Drouin would be shipped out of Tampa Bay after the drama he brought forth during his tenure. Hailing from Quebec province himself his move to the Montreal Canadiens I’m sure pleased him and Habs fans alike. Slick handed and tantalizing with skill reminiscent of Alexei Kovalev, Drouin is the offensive injection Montreal needed direly. With five goals and 12 assists through 25 games played, Drouin’s scoring is in line with his production from the prior campaign. This is both good and bad. Good in the fact he is matching output on a team that lacks the offensive depth he had around him in Tampa Bay and bad in the fact that he needs to step up a tier in his output to save Montreal.

With the current structure of the Canadiens, a team devoid of offensive firepower beyond the top six, Drouin must become at least a 65-70 -point player year in and year out. Receiving the highest offensive zone starting percentage and power play time of his career so far owners should be encouraged by his deployment for continued success. Drouin’s shooting percentage sits at 7.8% currently compared to 11.5% last season so expect some regression towards the mean in the goal department soon. Not to harp on the Canadiens but the team collectively needs to up their game offensively. Although it is great to see Brendan Gallagher pumping in goals, the fact he’s outproducing Max Pacioretty in this department is all too telling of the offensive woes. All in all, Drouin will continue to be relied on offensively and it’s great to see him at least matching his production from last season in the pressure cooker that is Montreal. Hope for better with time and improved play from his supporting cast.

Andrei Vasilevskiy

Bishop who??? With his departure to the Dallas Stars all eyes were on Vasilevskiy n 2017-18 to carry the squad in goal and boy has he delivered. No doubt at least somewhat a product of the scenario he finds himself in Vasilevskiy has delivered 16 wins coupled with only three regulation losses so far. He’s seemingly overcome his inconsistent struggles of season’s past as he is yet to post a start where he finished with a save percentage below .850. Much credit is due to him for taking his game to a new level, he is playing on a stacked squad that features the terrible-twosome of Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov.

Since 2015-16 from a statistical standpoint you can see Vasilevskiy’s gradual improvement with time. 2015-16 was the first time he eclipsed the 20-game mark posting a meager GAA of 2.76 and a save percentage (SV%) of .910. Entering 2016-17 where Bishop was eventually dealt to the Los Angeles Kings, Vasilevskiy’s workload more than doubled starting fifty games and posting a GAA of 2.61 and a SV% of .917. Not anything special but certainly an improvement with a bigger workload, surely a good sign. Now in 2017-18 through the first quarter mark he is boasting a 2.25 GAA, a significant improvement on the season prior and his SV% is currently .932, good for third overall in the league. He’s currently on pace to start around seventy games this season and if the winning ratios remain in line with the first quarter he will easily eclipse forty wins. All in all, this team looks destined for Stanley Cup contention barring no epic meltdowns and there are no questions in goal at this point in time. With a healthy Stamkos still in his prime, Kucherov not yet even 25 and Vasilevskiy well established in net, this team looks like a contender for years to come.

Andre Burakovsky

And to finish off this article we look to the District of Columbia’s  franchise that sorely needs it’s youth to step up to the plate as the current stars continue aging into their thirties. For the first time in what seems like a decade the Washington Capitals are showing cracks in their seams. A defense far thinner than the prior season with the departures of Karl Alzner and Kevin Shattenkirk and missing Marcus Johansson far more than they thought they would, this team is actually having troubles offensively beyond the top six. Ovechkin is 32, Backstrom and Oshie are 30. It’s all downhill from here as they age and this squad needs a young player beyond Evgeny Kuznetsov to step into the limelight. Not that he’s the only young player being counted on to break out (Jakub Vrana) but Burakovsky is now in year four so it’s time to put up or shut up. Though he is out with an unfortunate injury currently they will really need him to produce offensively immediately upon return.

Prior to injury Burakovsky was receiving the highest average minutes per game ever in his career so far, an almost full three-minute increase. In the nine games played prior to injury he managed to post a goal and three assists but two of those points came in one game. Plain and simple this will not be good enough to help this team overcome the hurdle that is the Metropolitan Division, the toughest one in the game. His shooting percentage was low though at 6.7% so that is reassuring. It’s guaranteed Burakovsky will slot right back into the top six upon return as we currently see the likes of Tom Wilson and Devante Smith-Pelley in scoring roles which is not ideal. I cannot stress enough how devastating the loss of Marcus Johansson was for this team. At times he was a Nicklas Backstrom clone on the ice and the most dominant forward in several games. Replacing him is taking a committee these days for the Capitals. Should Burakovsky produce upon return there is hope for this team in the wild card race, but should he return and not put it together it is time to start capping expectations for him as he may never become a star player.