Maybe it was because it was the first full season in three years, but it felt as if plenty more players were reaching 70 points than we had seen in years, even though that wasn’t the case.

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One thing I’ve noted since I’ve been writing this column is that about a third of all players who reach the 70-point mark each season are reaching that mark for the first time. Last year, of the 50 players who notched 70 points, 18 made it for the first time, a total of 36 per cent rate.

Those 18 players cover all types of players. There are young defensemen (Cale Makar and Adam Fox), plus the veteran defenseman in his 30s (Roman Josi). There’s the power forward (Timo Meier) and the young forwards that we knew would get there soon (Kirill Kaprizov, Kevin Fiala, William Nylander, Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz, Jordan Kyrou, Pavel Buchnevich and Robert Thomas), plus those that we almost gave up on ever reaching that mark (Sam Reinhart and Filip Forsberg).

There are also the “wtf” players, where no one saw 70-point campaigns coming (Nazem Kadri, Chris Kreider, Mats Zuccarello and Jesper Bratt). Of everyone on that list, it’s the last four that are the most interesting. They are the hardest to predict, but this week we’re going to try.

If you want a quick top 10 of the most likely players to reach 70 points for the first time: Jack Hughes, Quinn Hughes, Elias Pettersson, Evander Kane, Andrei Svechnikov, Tyler Bertuzzi, Bryan Rust, Ryan Hartman, Tyler Bertuzzi and whichever one of Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stützle and Drake Batherson you prefer.

But where’s the fun in that? Most are predicting they will reach that mark if they can stay healthy.

Instead, we’re trying to identify players who will get the opportunity for ice time, power-play time, and the chance to play with elite players to become this year’s “wtf” players. Below are 10 players who have a long shot to reach 70 points for the first time in their careers this season.

This is not to say that every player on this list will reach that goal. We’re already mentioned that were only four “wtf” players last year. It doesn’t always work out. Tom Wilson has played alongside Alexander Ovechkin for half a decade and has a career high of 52 points. Max Pacioretty‘s injury history has meant he has never reached 70. Zach Hyman has spent most of the past two years alongside either Auston Matthews, Mitchell Marner, Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl, and in that time, his best has been a 63-point pace.

10. Kailer Yamamoto

Connor McDavid is the best offensive player in the NHL, but there should be concern over how much more productive he makes his linemates. There have been two Oiler forwards not named Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to post at least a 40-point season in the past five years, and that was Hyman with 54 points and Yamamoto with 41 points, both last season. So, it may be a bit of a stretch to expect Yamamoto to reach 70 points this year. But if McDavid goes off for 130-plus points, you would have to envision that eventually, some of that production will rub off on his linemates. In the preseason, Yamamoto has been the third wheel on that top line and could be a fixture there this season.

9. Anthony Mantha

One of the popular theories when it comes to predicting breakout seasons has to do with how long it takes much bigger and smaller players to reach their breakout season. The player needs to reach 400 games to reach that breakout threshold. The 6’5, 234-pound Mantha is now at 353 games, so he’s on the cusp, and if it wasn’t for injuries, he would already be at the 400-game mark. This preseason, he’s been lining up on the top line with Alexander Ovechkin (although strangely enough, they haven’t played a preseason game together). Mantha could be in that top spot until Tom Wilson is healthy and back in the lineup (he’s out for two to four more months), and could reap the benefits.

8. Vitali Kravtsov

It may seem strange to have Kravtsov on this list, as only two rookies (Mathew Barzal and Artemi Panarin) have reached 70 points in a season since 2008-09. However, Kravtsov has the best chance of all rookies this season. He is playing on the top line with Artemi Panarin, which is always a big reason why anyone might be able to reach 70 points. Even though he never reached 70 points, Ryan Strome had an 82-game pace of 69, 72 and 61 alongside Panarin. If Kravtsov can keep that plum spot and get some power-play time, 70 points could be within reach.

7. Anton Lundell

Early last week, Dobber pointed out that Rudolfs Balcers was on the top line in Florida alongside Aleksander Barkov. However, the Panthers are also experimenting with Lundell in that spot. The Panthers are awesome at getting the most out of their players. Last year, Lundell had 44 points in 65 games as a rookie while centering the third line, so he can be an offensive threat. Even if Lundell doesn’t stick on the top line the whole season, moving up there for any significant number of games could be enough to push him to the 70-point plateau.

6. Chandler Stephenson

It often feels as if Stephenson is the Rodney Dangerfield of fantasy hockey: He gets no respect. Think of all the injuries that the Golden Knights had to deal with last season, and yet Stephenson still managed to put up 64 points. When Mark Stone is healthy, he plays with Stephenson a significant amount (last year, they played together for 81 per cent of all five-on-five minutes in games they both played, according to Natural Stat Trick). He’s already shown he can be productive when everyone is out of the lineup. If the Golden Knights can be even a little healthier, that should help tremendously. He also has a chance of getting more power-play time, which will likewise help.

5. Miro Heiskanen

Last season, five defensemen finished with at least 70 points, and three of them (Makar, Josi and Fox) reached that mark for the first time. There were another three dmen (Morgan Rielly, Kris Letang and Quinn Hughes) that finished at exactly 68 points. There were another couple (Aaron Ekblad and Devon Toews) that were on pace, but were taken out of the running because of injuries. With a little luck, we could have been looking at 10 70-point defensemen, with six of them reaching the mark for the first time. Looking at that list of defensemen, aside from Toews, you are looking for defensemen that are their team’s best offensive weapon. That describes Heiskanen. No more sharing power-play duties or giving up offensive zone starts with John Klingberg.

4. Alex Tuch

I talked about Tuch a few weeks ago as one of the top 10 sleepers for this season. There’s a lot to like about his game going into this season. He’s pretty much guaranteed to be a top-six forward and top power-play time. He should also be better than last year when he had 38 points in 50 games, a 62-point pace. He missed the first 32 games recovering from a shoulder injury, but still came out flying, with 22 points in his first 21 games. After he was part of the trade involving Jack Eichel, Tuch is going to get every chance to grab the brass ring.

3. Ondrej Palat

Not only has Palat never reached a 70-point campaign, but he’s also never hit a 70-point pace over 82 games (although he does have two 69-point pace seasons). That could all change this season as he is now a New Jersey Devil. Throughout the preseason, Palat has been joined at the hip to Jack Hughes, who we’ve all been touting as being an elite player. Palat is also being used on the top power-play unit all preseason and could reach 20 power-play points for the second time in his career, which will go a long way to reaching that 70-point mark. The biggest thing that might keep Palat from having a 70-point season is Jack Hughes‘ health.

2. Reilly Smith

Playing with an elite linemate doesn’t guarantee a player will hit 70 points, but it certainly helps. Through training camp and preseason games, Smith has been lining up alongside Jack Eichel. This isn’t a one-off game to see how the lines will mesh either. This has been happening during practice and the preseason games. Through two exhibition games, Eichel has been on the ice for 96 per cent of Smith’s five-on-five minutes. Smith has been taking reps on the top power-play unit as well. He should also see a significant uptick in his 38 points from a year ago, and 70 has to be in play.

1. Tyler Toffoli

A few weeks ago, I listed Toffoli as the number one potential sleeper for this season. Everything I said then applies now. Toffoli will be playing with Jonathan Huberdeau, an elite player who has a history of elevating teammates. Toffoli has already had at least a 53-point pace in each of the last three campaigns, so reaching 70 points wouldn’t be that much of a stretch. He’s expected to be on the top power-play unit, something that hasn’t happened too often in his career. He’s also a high-volume shooter (his 2.6 shots per game last year was the lowest of the previous five years, but that should bounce back up this season).