I wanted to look back at the rookies I had profiled at the beginning of the season. Upon reflection, two of my players haven't played a game in the NHL this year and five others have been up and down from the minors.

Here were my picks from my early October article. I started off well, dropped off for five choices, then finished off strong.

This is just the Western Conference.

Honorable mentions:

Scott Perunovich – St. Louis

I thought that Perunovich might get some games on the first unit of the power play but would have a difficult time getting past Torey Krug for the quarterback role.

He had shoulder surgery the day after my original article and would be re-assessed in six months, which puts the assessment date toward the end of March 2023. He hasn't played a game this season and might not.

Martin Kaut – Colorado

Kaut requires waivers to be sent to the AHL this season on anything more than a conditioning stint, and has been placed on waivers twice already by Colorado with no takers. I thought he might stick with the Avalanche as I didn't think they wanted to expose him.

With all of the injuries to the forwards in Colorado this season, Kaut has managed to play 21 games with one goal and two assists. He is far from the 14-18 goals and assists I thought he might be able to produce if given a regular role.

Pavol Regenda – Anaheim

Regenda surprisingly made the Ducks out of training camp and had a few games with some success, but after being a healthy scratch a few times, he was sent to the AHL.

In 14 games he has one goal and two assists but did prove that he could play at the NHL level at certain times but he is not going to reach the 12-15 goals and 30-35 points I had hoped for him at.

#10 – Stuart Skinner – Edmonton

I had hopes that Skinner might play 25-35 games as the backup to Jack Campbell and slot in for 15-25 wins.

Skinner has outplayed Campbell and has already played in 21 games with 10 wins, a 91.1 save percentage and a GSAA of 4.22. Unless Campbell gets his game back to an average level, Skinner might get 45-55 games in this season and move up this list substantially.

#9 – Lukas Reichel – Chicago

I was hoping that Reichel would be given an opportunity in Chicago this season, but they decided to let him develop some more in the AHL this season. In 84 AHL games over this year and last he has 33 goals and 55 assists. He has played one game with Chicago this year after getting 11 games last season.

#8 – Shane Wright – Seattle

Once again, I didn't learn my lesson with 18-year old rookies in their first pro season. I was hoping Wright would get a regular role, but even though he made the Kraken out of pre-season, he was only seeing five or six minutes per game. He dressed for eight games with the Kraken with one goal and one assist before heading to the AHL on a conditioning stint where he played five games and had four goals.

He will be representing Canada at the World Junior Championships beginning today, but it will be interesting if the Kraken send him back to the OHL after or keep him on their roster.

#7 – Thomas Bordeleau – San Jose

After eight strong games with the Sharks last season and putting up five assists I was hoping that Bordeleau would be a regular this season. The Sharks had a different plan and sent him to the AHL to develop with the Barracuda, where in 29 games he has 13 goals and seven assists. He has yet to play a game in the NHL this season.

#6 – Marco Rossi – Minnesota

After 53 points in 63 games in the AHL last season, I figured that Rossi was ready for the NHL this season. He made the Wild roster after the pre-season, but the warning signs were there in the first few games, where Rossi was slotted in on the fourth line and playing less than 10 minutes per game.

He managed to play 16 games in Minnesota with only one assist before being sent back down to the AHL, where he has had 12 points in 12 games.

#5 – William Eklund – San Jose

Eklund struggled last year in the SHL after being sent back after playing nine games with the Sharks last season. This year he made the extended roster for regular season games in Europe but didn't play any games and then was sent to the AHL after the team returned to North America.

He has been in the AHL since and has 21 points in 29 games with 65 shots on goal. If he continues to put up some production he could find himself back up with the Sharks sooner than later.

#4 – Cole Perfetti – Winnipeg

I was hoping Perfetti could produce 14-18 goals and 25-30 assists this season if everything went right for him. After 33 games he has six goals and 14 assists, so is on pace for 15 goals and 35 assists if he keeps this up.

I'm back on track with my #4 pick!

#3 – Mason McTavish – Anaheim

I had McTavish down as being capable of 18-23 goals and 20-25 assists, which were pretty high aspirations.

After 35 games he has six goals and 14 assists, which puts him on pace for 14 goals and 33 assists, which is pretty close.

The good news is that McTavish is heating up after 11 points in his first 22 games and has nine points in his last 13 games.

Two in a row!!

#2 – Logan Thompson – Vegas

I had pretty lofty goals for Thompson to play 45-50 games and perhaps win 30-35 games as a rookie. In hindsight that seems a little high and a little unlikely.

Thompson has played 24 games so far and has 16 wins, with a 91.4 save percentage and a GSAA of 7.06.

Not only could he meet my hopeful goals from the start of the year but he might exceed them which would put him in the top three for rookies this season.

Three in a row!!!

#1 – Matty Beniers – Seattle

I had said that Beniers was a step above the other rookies who I had listed at the start of the season and that has come to fruition after 32 games where Beniers has put up 11 goals and 14 assists. He is on pace for 27 goals and 35 assists where I was hoping he would come in between 20-25 goals and 35-40 assists.

Perhaps four in a row to finish off, but Beniers still has to keep up the production.

Players not on my list who have emerged:

Mason Shaw – Minnesota

To be honest, Shaw wasn't even on my radar for anything more than a fourth-line role with the Wild this season and perhaps 8-10 goals and 8-10 assists. He has been a bit of a revelation in Minnesota this year with four goals and seven assists in 28 games, while putting up 46 shots on goal, 49 hits and 49 PIM. He has a chance to become the Tanner Jeannot of this year's rookie class.

He did receive a two-game suspension just before Christmas for a nasty knee to knee hit on Evgeny Svechnikov.

Nils Lundkvist – Dallas

Even though he was on my rookie list in 2021-22, I didn't think that Lundkvist would seize the role he has in Dallas this year. He has three goals and seven assists, 33 hits and 35 blocked shots in 32 games this season while averaging 17:26 per game.

He won't be in the top-three discussion for the top rookie, but he should certainly warrant a top-ten spot in the Western Conference if he maintains his play.

Matias Maccelli – Arizona

Looking back, I'm not sure how I missed the production of Maccelli last season in the AHL with 57 points in 47 games or the 39 points in 51 games the year before in the Liiga as a 20-year old, not to mention the 30 points in 43 games as a 19-year old in Liiga as well.

I was only focused on the one point in the last 15 games with Arizona last season.

While Maccelli doesn't shoot the puck much (23 in 30 games) he has managed three goals and 19 assists in those 30 games. He might struggle to get 10 goals this season but he could get to 40 assists before the end of the year.

Wyatt Johnston – Dallas

In 35 games, Johnston has 10 goals and five assists with Dallas this year as a 19-year-old first year pro.

He had 124 points in 68 games last year in the OHL and he has a lot of offensive potential. He is on pace for 23 goals and 12 assists right now

Calen Addison – Minnesota

In 77 career AHL games before this year, Addison had 13 goals and 45 assists, so it was quite clear that he had some offense to offer the Wild once he made the NHL.

I just didn't think that the Wild would turn to Addison to be their top quarterback on the first unit of the power play right out of pre-season. After 32 games, he has two goals and 14 assists with 12 of those assists coming on the power play.

He has struggled defensively and has only averaged 16:34 per night but the Wild have stuck by him on the power play.

Dylan Guenther – Arizona

Guenther will play in the 2023 WJC for Canada beginning Monday.

In 21 games with Arizona this season he has three goals and eight assists and should be back with them once the juniors tournament is over.

He has never played a game in the minors and might not.

Thanks for reading and if you have any questions or players you’d like me to look at please message or follow me on Twitter @gampbler15.