NHL Breakout Players – Central Division Pt. I

With NHL training camps opening this week and the regular season less than a month away, the 32 clubs are looking for young players to break out after playing in Europe, the NCAA, or the AHL to make their mark in the big show. For contending clubs, finding players on their entry-level contracts is essential to stay under the $83.5 million salary cap, while rebuilding teams are looking for youngsters as potential building blocks.

We start our look at the possible breakout players from the Central Division:

Arizona Coyotes

Logan Cooley – It was mildly surprising that the 2022 third overall pick did not stay at Minnesota for another year after nearly winning an NCAA Championship and finishing as the Hobey Baker runner-up, but now that he is turning pro, Cooley will likely be the Coyotes first or second line center and get significant ice time five-on-five and on special teams.

Dylan Guenther – The 20-year-old winger spent 33 games in the NHL before being sent back to the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds for a long playoff run, that experience should help Guenther be better prepared for his sophomore campaign and a bigger role for a rebuilding Arizona squad.

Chicago Blackhawks

Connor Bedard – The star potential from the 2023 top pick is without question. The only thing to be determined is whether he will be closer to Jack Hughes (which would not be bad at all) or Connor McDavid. Bedard tantalized fans with a hat trick in his first rookie tournament game and his box score will be scanned by fans eagerly each night.

Lukas Reichel – Penciled in as Bedard’s linemate, the 2020 first-rounder has scored 50+ points with AHL Rockford the last two seasons but has yet to translate that scorer’s touch to the NHL, but that could change this season.

Colorado Avalanche

Jean-Luc Foudy – Breaking into the veteran-laden Avs lineup will be difficult this season, but Foudy is a good long-term bet to make the NHL, after making steady progress in the American Hockey League the last three seasons.

Oskar Olausson – One of the few first-round picks that GM Joe Sakic has not traded, Olausson shifted from the SHL to the Ontario Hockey League after being drafted 28^th overall in 2021 and scored 11 goals as a rookie with the AHL Eagles last season.

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Dallas Stars

Logan Stankoven – Offensive ability is not in question; it is whether a 5-foot-7, 170 lb. center can make it in the pros. Stankoven scored 201 points over the past two years with Kamloops and played in the Memorial Cup Tournament last season. He may start with the AHL Texas Stars, but the stay could be short.

Mavrik Bourque – Selected late in the first round in 2020, Bourque followed up an excellent junior career in Shawinigan with a 20-goal rookie AHL campaign. The next step is the NHL, but it might be tough cracking a deep Dallas forward group.