Best Rookie Debuts This Season

It's a big jump to the National Hockey League

Jan 20, 2021

Throughout the season, I will have rookie rankings but this week I thought I’d take a look at the best NHL debuts.

That is a little narrower focus than rookies because there will be rookies that have appeared in NHL games before this past week but these are the players who had the best performances in their first NHL action this week.

As you will see, it’s not easy to jump to the highest level in the sport, which makes it all the more impressive for those that did it best.

Kirill Kaprizov, LW, Minnesota

The Wild had to be patient but the 23-year-old built a lot of hype in the five years since he was drafted in the fifth round. That included scoring 113 points in 114 KHL games in the past two seasons. In his first NHL game, a 4-3 win at Los Angeles, Kaprizov had a goal and two assists, his goal counting as the winner in overtime. A three-point game with the game-winning goal in overtime is an incredible start to an NHL career.

Vitek Vanecek, G, Washington

Chosen in the second round of the 2014 Draft, the 25-year-old would have been ticketed for the AHL if not for Henrik Lundqvist’s heart problems. Then he turned away 30 of 31 shots against Buffalo in his debut, effectively stealing a win for the Capitals.

Alexander Romanov, D, Montreal

A second-round pick in 2018, the Habs defenseman played more than 21 minutes in his NHL debut, a 5-4 overtime loss in Toronto. He recorded an assist, springing Tomas Tatar for a breakaway with a great pass through the neutral zone. Romanov does not need to be forced into a role with Montreal but he may just play well enough that he earns a bigger role.

Ty Smith, D, New Jersey

The 2018 first-round pick has not been playing big minutes for New Jersey but did play 17 minutes and scored a goal in his debut, a 3-2 shootout loss to Boston. Smith has a three-game point streak to start his career.

John Leonard, RW, San Jose

The college sniper scored 27 goals in 33 games for UMass-Amherst last season and started his pro career on the Sharks’ second line with Evander Kane and Tomas Hertl, picking up a pair of assists in a 4-3 win at Arizona.

Nils Hoglander, RW, Vancouver

Vancouver went into the offseason seeking a scoring winger on one of their top two lines and the 2019 second-round pick landed a spot on a line with Bo Horvat and Tanner Pearson, and he scored a goal in the Canucks’ 5-3 win at Edmonton.

Yegor Sharangovich, LW, New Jersey

The 2018 fifth-round pick quickly ascended up the Devils depth chart to secure a first line left wing spot and while he didn’t score in his NHL debut, Sharangovich held his own while playing more than 17 minutes in a shootout loss to Boston.

Dylan Cozens, RW, Buffalo

The Canadian World Junior star, the seventh pick in the 2019 Draft, played 12 minutes in his NHL debut but did record an assist in a 6-4 loss against Washington.

Ian Mitchell, D, Chicago

A 22-year-old out of the University of Denver, Mitchell played more than 17 minutes and did have positive shot differentials in a 5-1 loss at Tampa Bay.

Olli Juolevi, D, Vancouver, K’Andre Miller, D, N.Y. Rangers, and Alexis Lafreniere, LW, N.Y. Rangers

The pickings are kind of slim at this point so I’ll include three players who had moderately competent first games in the league.

TUESDAY STARS

NJ C Jack Hughes 2 G, 1 A in a 4-3 win at the Rangers.

PIT Sidney Crosby 1 G, 2 A in a 5-4 OT win vs. Washington.

CHI LW Dominik Kubalik 2 G, 1 A in a 5-4 OT loss at Florida.

PHI G Brian Elliott 40-save shutout in a 3-0 win vs. Buffalo.

New Jersey 4 N.Y. Rangers 3

NJ C Jack Hughes 2 G, 1 A

NJ LW Miles Wood 1 G, 1 A

NYR D Adam Fox and LW Artemi Panarin 2 A

NJ G MacKenzie Blackwood stopped 47 of 50 shots

NYR G Alexandar Georgiev pulled after two periods. He had allowed four goals on 20 shots.

Buffalo 0 Philadelphia 3

PHI C Kevin Hayes 1 G, 1 A

PHI G Brian Elliott 40-save shutout

Chicago 4 Florida 5 (OT)

FLA LW Carter Verhaeghe 2 G

FLA RW Patric Hornqvist 2 G

FLA C Aleksander Barkov, RW Anthony Duclair, and D Keith Yandle 2 A

CHI LW Dominik Kubalik 2 G, 1 A

CHI D Duncan Keith and C Lucas Wallmark 2 A

CHI G Kevin Lankinen stopped 23 of 28 shots in his NHL debut.

Washington 4 Pittsburgh 5 (OT)

PIT Sidney Crosby 1 G, 2 A

PIT LW Jake Guentzel 1 G, 1 A

PIT C Teddy Blueger 1 G, 1 A

PIT D Kris Letang 2 A

WSH RW Tom Wilson 2 G, 10 hits

Columbus 2 Detroit 3 (OT)

DET LW Tyler Bertuzzi 1 G, 1 A

DET C Dylan Larkin 2 A

Winnipeg 4 Ottawa 3 (OT)

Jets RW Blake Wheeler 1 G, 1 A

Jets C Mark Scheifele and D Josh Morrissey 2 A

The Senators line of Brady Tkachuk, Josh Norris, and Drake Batherson was ridiculously dominant (93.8 CF%, 100.0 xGF%).

Colorado 3 Los Angeles 2

LA C Anze Kopitar 2 A

COL C Nathan MacKinnon 2 A

I will get to real rookie rankings during the season but thought I’d go a little different this early in the season and look at the best NHL debuts in the first week of this NHL season.