With only a day before the puck drops for the 2021-22 regular season, rosters are taking shape and a few surprise cuts have been announced by teams.

Some notable rookies sent down to the AHL were Calen Addison – Minnesota, Alex Turcotte – Los Angeles, Josef Korenar – Arizona, David Farrance – Nashville, Pierre-Olivier Joseph – Pittsburgh, Scott Perunovich – St. Louis and Liam Foudy – Columbus as of Sunday night.

Matt Boldy in Minnesota and Quinton Byfield in Los Angeles were both injured and could be out for a while.

Here are my Top 10 rookies for 2021-22:

#10 – Arthur Kaliyev – (F) – Los Angeles

All Kaliyev has done during his brief career is score goals and points at every level he has been at. He played one game last year with the Kings and scored a goal. He played four games this pre-season and had four goals and six points with three of those points on the powerplay. The 20-year-old who was drafted 33rd overall in 2019 has some deficiencies in his game with no doubt, but the Kings who are craving offense need him. Unfortunately, even with his pre-season, he only played 9:58 per game, not an indication that the Kings are serious about keeping him up this year.

In his last two seasons of playing in the OHL, Kaliyev had 95 goals in 124 games, more than any other player over the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons combined. In his first season in the AHL last year, he had 14 goals and 31 points in 40 games. He also squeezed in the World Juniors last year with Team USA and had three goals and eight points in seven games. If the Kings gave him a chance as a regular he might be capable of 15-20 goals and 35-40 points, but he is a risky pick here.

#9 – Evan Bouchard (D) – Edmonton

Now that he is 21-years old and has 21 NHL games of experience, I think Bouchard is ready for a full-time role with the Oilers this season. When the Oilers brought back Tyson Barrie for three more years at $4.5 million AAV it wasn't the best news for Bouchard and having him inherit the much-envied PP1 quarterback spot on this team.

Bouchard will need to produce with 16-18 minutes of ice time per night and play well enough that it forces the hands of the coaches to play him over Cody Ceci. From the pre-season, it looks like Edmonton might go with Darnell Nurse and Bouchard as the points on the PP2. As good as that sounds, keep in mind that the Edmonton PP1 typically plays about 80-85 percent of the time with the man advantage. I still think Bouchard can produce 7-10 goals and 30-35 points this year.

#8 – Karel Vejmelka (G) – Arizona

The somewhat surprising choice over Josef Korenar to make Arizona this year as the backup to Carter Hutton, Vejmelka is 25-years old and has played in the Czech Extraliga for the past six seasons. For the past three years, he had never had a save percentage lower than 91.1 and had averaged about 36 games per season. He has a real chance in Arizona of becoming a number one goalie over Hutton, but his leash will be short on a bad team. This is an all-or-nothing pick, in that he could play 35-50 games and get 12-20 wins this season or crap out after two starts and be sent to the AHL. These opportunities don't come often though.

#7 – Michael Bunting (F) – Toronto

There is no doubt to be some correction from Bunting's 10 goals in 21 games on 38 shots on goal last season with Arizona that gave him a shooting percentage of 26.3. He is certainly not a 35-40 goal scorer in the NHL, but he has an opportunity to play with some very talented linemates in Toronto and could get a chance on the second line. It will be up to him to produce when given the chance and if he can manage 14-16 minutes per night he should be capable of 17-23 goals and 37-45 points.

#6 – Jeremy Swayman (G) – Boston

Swayman played 10 games last season with the Bruins and dominated with seven wins, a 1.50 GAA, 94.5 save percentage, nine quality starts and a phenomenal 9.93 GSAA. With Linus Ullmark brought in for four years at $5 million AAV, Swayman will have to bide his time as the backup or 1B, but he is perfectly capable of taking over at some point. Ullmark's career-high is 37 games in the NHL in 2018-19 with Buffalo so even if he plays well he shouldn't play more than 50-55 games. A conservative estimate for Swayman is 25-35 starts this season with 15-23 wins, with a higher ceiling.

#5 – Alex Nedeljkovic (G) – Detroit

Nedeljkovic has 29 games of NHL experience but is still considered a rookie. In those games with Carolina, he has 17 wins, 17 quality starts, a 92.8 save percentage and a GSAA of 15.2. He should be the starter in Detroit this year ahead of Tomas Greiss, but they will probably split the starts evenly, especially at the start of the season. I'd expect Nedeljkovic to take over at some point and finish with 45-50 starts and get 16-22 wins on a weaker Red Wings team. His save percentage and GSAA will decrease from his days in Carolina unfortunately.

#4 – William Eklund (F) – San Jose

The indefinite absence of Evander Kane and the lack of depth on the Sharks have given Eklund a chance to prove he can play in the NHL in the top-six. The 18-year-old 7th overall pick in the 2021 draft has perhaps the highest offensive ceiling of anyone from that draft. From all accounts, he looks ready for the challenge, but things can change fast in the NHL, especially for these recent draft picks. I would expect 15-20 goals and 35-45 points, but be wary that he could be anything from the Calder Trophy winner to playing seven games with no points and being sent back to the SHL for the rest of the year.

#3 – Spencer Knight (G) – Florida

Knight is still only 20 years old, which is very young for an NHL goalie. He turned pro at the end of last season after two years at Boston College where he played 54 games with a save percentage above 93.1.He has played four regular-season games with Florida and has four wins, a 91.9 save percentage and a GSAA of 1.11. He also had the confidence of the Panthers' coaching staff to earn two starts in the playoffs last year, where he won one and had a save percentage of 93.3.

The only thing in the way of more starts for Knight this year is a 33-year-old named Sergei Bobrovsky who earns $10 million AAV for the next five years. Bobrovsky has struggled his two years with the Panthers, so there is an opportunity for Knight to get more starts, but they will give Bobrovsky nine lives to get back on track. Bobrovsky should see a floor of 45-50 starts this year which would give Knight 30-35 games to perhaps win 17-24 games. The ceiling is high for Knight.

#2 – Cole Caufield (F) – Montreal

Caufield played 10 regular-season games with the Canadiens last year and had four goals and five points on 30 shots on goal. He went on and impressed in his 20 games in the playoffs with four goals and 12 points on 48 shots on goal. His ice time went from 13:58 in the regular season to 15:14 in the playoffs, which is a very good sign. I think he will be a shoo-in for 20-25 goals and 45-55 points this year.

# 1 – Trevor Zegras (F) – Anaheim

Zegras played 24 games last season with the Ducks and barely qualifies for the Calder Trophy this year. In his last 15 games, he had 11 points and 37 shots on goal while averaging just under 16 minutes per game. The Ducks power play has to improve from the 4.8 percent success of last year and Zegras should be part of that. He should be good for 20-25 goals and 50-60 points this year.

Honorable Mentions

Lucas Raymond – (F) – Detroit

Raymond was the fourth overall draft pick in 2020 and spent last year with Frolunda HC of the SHL where in 34 games he had six goals and 18 points as an 18-year-old. He has impressed this pre-season in Detroit as a 19-year-old and if he sticks with the Red Wings he could see top-six minutes and produce 25-35 points this year. He has a high offensive ceiling but perhaps needs a season or two in the NHL.

Marco Rossi – (F) – Minnesota

Rossi was the 9th overall draft pick in 2020 and was one of the higher-profile cases of Covid last year that shut him down for over a year. He is back healthy but the Wild might think he needs 10-15 games in the AHL before bringing him up to the NHL. If he does get the call he could play 60-65 games and produce 30-40 points with Minnesota this year. A full season of hockey is what he needs the most, no matter where he is playing.

Morgan Frost – (F) – Philadelphia

Frost was sent down to the AHL by the Flyers and will start the season there. With Kevin Hayes out for perhaps four to six weeks and being scheduled as the second-line center, some thought Frost would be given that chance, but he just wasn't good enough in the pre-season. Instead, Alain Vigneault will go with 34-year-old Derick Brassard, 27-year-old Scott Laughton and 37-year-old Nate Thompson as their second, third and fourth line centers.

To be fair, Frost did miss 54 games last season with an injury and does need time to get back to the level he was the year before where he played 20 games for Philadelphia and had two goals and seven points. There is a good chance that Frost will be back up with the Flyers sooner than later and perhaps sees 60-70 games, producing 25-35 points.

Anton Lundell – (F) – Florida

Lundell was the 12th overall pick in 2020 and played 26 games last season with HIFK of the Finnish Liiga where he had 16 goals and 25 points. The 20-year-old wasn't considered to have a very high offensive ceiling but last year might have dispelled that notion a little. If he makes the Panthers this year and plays on the third line he could see 25-35 points.

Thanks for reading, and let me know if you want me to focus on any players or topics by messaging me below or following me on Twitter @gampbler15.