Which player will be each NHL team’s superstar in 5 years?

The NHL is changing right before our eyes, so as the current generation starts to wind down, who will be each NHL teams superstar five years from now?

It’s a philosophy about time as old as time itself. Out with the old and in with the new, and it’s no different with the changing of the guard in the NHL. As this current generation begins to wind down, a new generation is ready to rise in it’s place to usher in a new era of hockey. The faces of the NHL for years have been the likes of Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, and Patrick Kane with their years of dominance in the league, but as they among others creep further into their thirties and out of their primes, new stars get ready to take the mantel.

So what if we were to fast forward five years from now in the NHL? Who will be the new faces of the NHL? Who will the Stanley Cup contenders be? Will this current generation of stars age out by then?

A lot can and will change over a five year span. Teams that are in good in hands with their stars now, may not have such security five years with aging cores and weak prospect pools. Other teams that have been buried towards the bottom of the league have amassed potential star prospects on the way, and will be Stanley Cup contenders sooner than later.

So who will your favorite teams star be in five years? A recent draft pick? An emerging young talent? The same person as now? Lets take a look.

Anaheim Ducks- John Gibson

The Stanley Cup window might be closing on the Anaheim Ducks as the current core gets older. Ryan Getzlaf and Correy Perry are both 33 and beginning to feel age regression catch up to them, but that doesn’t mean the Ducks are done for just yet. Unlike most teams when they start to get old, the Ducks have given themselves enough room to get out from their older players contracts and let the youth that they have been developing take over. Five years from now the Ducks are probably an entirely different team, and there are plenty of candidates as to who can take over as the star, but the most likely candidate is John Gibson, who could already be the last chance the Ducks have at playoff contention right now.

John Gibson at this stage in the Ducks franchise is far and away their most important player. The Ducks have been remarkably beneath expectations to begin this season but have begun to battle back, and the only reason they aren’t a bottom three team has been the spectacular play of Gibson. Only four times in the first 14 games for the Ducks has Gibson faced less than 30 total shots, and seven times he’s had to face 40 or more. Despite that, Gibson still has a .928 save percentage on the season. If the Ducks somehow make the playoffs, he shouldn’t just win the Vezina, but be in Hart consideration as well.

Ever since Gibson made the full time jump to the NHL, he has never put up a save percentage beneath a .920 in a single season. Even last year when the Ducks suffered several key injuries that should’ve sun their season, Gibson kept them afloat enough to not just sneak in, but push them into the second spot in the Pacific division.

Gibson isn’t a lock to be the face of the franchise in five years however. Plenty of prospects in the Ducks system could very well blossom into elite talents, but whether or not they have the potential to be stars is an entirely different question. Sam Steel for example, is tearing it up in WHL, but we still don’t know if that translate over to the NHL enough to make him more important to the Ducks than Gibson.

If the Ducks do however have a bust of a season, they could possibly draft a player like Jack Hughes or Kappo Kakko, which would pretty easily unseat Gibson as the eventual franchise face. Obviously, that would take a lot of luck especially considering the Ducks aren’t bad enough to have a realistic chance at a top pick.