These five NHL players went from good to great and are now in the superstar category after a dominant stretch to open the 2014-2015 campaign.
This week’s NHL Player Rankings went on a search for the next big thing in the NHL. These five players began the season with lofty expectations but have surpassed them in the first two and a half months of the year and now rank among the game’s elite and are full-fledged superstars.
My qualifying factors to be eligible for this list were rather simple. Obviously players like Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin aren’t going to be on this list because they’re already superstars and have the hardware to back that up. Then there are the players without Hart Trophy’s or other individual accolades like the Patrick Kane’s, Joe Pavelski’s and Shea Weber’s of the world who are perennial All-Stars and fully recognized as stars in the NHL.
So in order to make this list you must have played at least two years in the league, so Filip Forsberg won’t be on this list despite his dominant rookie year that has him as the front-runner for the Calder Trophy, and you can’t have an All-Star Game appearance on your resume.
The All-Star game is a solid indication of your status around the NHL, so this list is designed to look at the players who became superstars this year rather than elevated their star status to elite status like Tyler Seguin who leads the NHL in points and was an All-Star in 2012.
Think of this list as players who were on the bubble of All-Star consideration and have smashed their preseason expectations and are now among the best at their position.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at the top five players who have entered superstar status in 2014.
Please leave your thoughts on the list in the comments section below, but remember the player can’t have an All-Star game appearance on their resume.
All stats courtesy of hockey-reference.com and current prior to Dec. 16 games.
Next: Ryan Johansen