Rookie watch: First-year players keeping busy

Elias Pettersson may be the frontrunner to win the Calder Trophy as NHL Rookie of the Year, but he's one of many young players creating quite a buzz during their first NHL season.

Pettersson, the 6-foot-2, 176-pound center for the Vancouver Canucks, leads NHL rookies with 46 points (23 goals, 23 assists) in 41 games despite missing five games with a sprained knee. His closest challenger for the Calder Trophy might be Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, who's second with 28 points (five goals, 23 assists) in 51 games.
Members of the 2018 NHL Draft class, including Dahlin (No. 1), Carolina Hurricanes forward Andrei Svechnikov (No. 2), Montreal Canadiens forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi (No. 3) and Ottawa Senators forward Brady Tkachuk (No. 4) each have at least 20 points this season. The one other time each of the top four picks had 20 or more points before February in the season immediately following their draft was 1973-74 (Denis Potvin, No. 1; Tom Lysiak, No. 2; Dennis Ververgaert, No. 3, Lanny McDonald, No. 4).
Nearly a third of the players invited to the 2019 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend were 23-and-under (13 of 44, 30 percent), including 19-year-old Dallas Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen.
At present, 49 percent of all players to play an NHL game this season were 25 or younger (408 of 830).
Here's a list of the top five teams ranked by the number of games played by rookie skaters and goalies.

Ottawa Senators

Total games played by rookies (10): 228
Players: Forwards Brady Tkachuk, Colin White, Drake Batherson, Rudolfs Balcers, Alex Formenton, Jack Rodewald; defensemen Maxime Lajoie, Christian Wolanin, Christian Jaros; goalie Marcus Hogberg.
Goals: 38
Assists: 46
Points:84
Plus/minus: -45
Tkachuk has had a productive rookie season with 23 points (11 goals, 12 assists) and 97 hits in 41 games. White (No. 21, 2015 NHL Draft), who missed five games because of an upper-body injury, leads all Senators rookies with 26 points (11 goals, 15 assists) and 16 takeaways in 46 games. Lajoie (No. 12, 2016 NHL Draft) has 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) and averages 19:17 of ice time.

Anaheim Ducks

Total games played by rookies (12): 208
Players: Forwards Kiefer Sherwood, Max Comtois, Sam Steel, Troy Terry, Isac Lundestrom, Kalle Kossila, Justin Kloos, Max Jones; defensemen Marcus Pettersson, Josh Mahura, Andy Welinski, Jacob Larsson.
Goals:11
Assists: 29
Points: 40
Plus/minus: -9
Anaheim has played more rookies than any other NHL team this season. Pettersson played 27 games for the Ducks before being traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins for forward Daniel Sprong on Dec. 3. Terry, who won a gold medal with the United States at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship and the NCAA Division I championship with the University of Denver three months later, has one goal and one assist in 10 games. Sherwood has 10 points (five goals, five assists) in 46 games for the Ducks but was assigned to San Diego of the American Hockey League on Jan. 16. Larsson has two assists, 31 hits and 44 blocked shots and averages 16:16 of ice time in 38 games.

Carolina Hurricanes

Total games played by rookies (11): 176
Players: Forwards Andrei Svechnikov, Warren Foegele, Saku Maenalanen, Clark Bishop, Valentin Zykov, Martin Necas, Janne Kuokkanen, Nicolas Roy; defensemen Trevor Carrick, Jake Bean; goalie Alex Nedeljkovic
Goals: 24
Assists: 22
Points: 46
Plus/minus: -21
Svechnikov leads Hurricanes rookies in goals (12), assists (10), points (22), ice time (14:45) and shots on goal (130). Foegele (No. 67, 2014 NHL Draft), has 10 points (six goals, four assists) and 86 hits in 52 games. Zykov had three assists in 13 games with the Hurricanes but was placed on waivers and claimed by the Edmonton Oilers on Nov. 30. He was then placed on waivers by the Oilers after five games Dec. 28 and claimed by the Vegas Golden Knights the next day. Nedeljkovic made 24 saves in a 5-2 win against the Vancouver Canucks in his season debut Jan. 23.

Chicago Blackhawks

Total games played by rookies (8): 173
Players: Forwards Dominik Kahun, Alexandre Fortin, Dylan Sikura, Luke Johnson, Jacob Nilsson; defensemen Henri Jokiharju, Carl Dahlstrom; goalie Collin Delia
Goals: 11
Assists: 39
Points:50
Plus/minus: -11
Delia (5-2-3), signed as a free agent July 28, 2017, has been a pleasant surprise with a 2.99 goals-against average and .922 save percentage in 11 games. Kahun, signed as a free agent May 21, 2018, has 22 points (eight goals, 14 assists) in 53 games. Jokiharju (No. 29, 2017 NHL Draft), who helped Finland win gold at the 2019 WJC, had 12 assists in 37 games but was returned to Rockford of the AHL on Jan. 31.

New York Rangers

Total games played by rookies (8): 169
Players: Forwards Filip Chytil, Brett Howden, Lias Andersson, Vinni Lettieri, Timothy Gettinger, Steven Fogarty; defenseman Ryan Lindgren; goalie Alexandar Georgiev
Goals: 14
Assists: 23
Points: 37
Plus/minus: -35
Chytil, Howden and Georgiev have contributed the most to the rebuilding Rangers. Chytil (2017 No. 21, 2017 NHL Draft) has 18 points (nine goals, nine assists). Howden (2015 NHL Draft, Tampa Bay Lightning, No. 27), out with a knee injury, has 15 points (four goals, 11 assists). Georgiev is 6-9-0 with a 3.28 GAA and .897 save percentage in 17 games. Andersson is closing in on a full-time role at some point. The No. 7 pick in the 2017 draft has 18 points (six goals, 12 assists) in 29 games for Hartford of the AHL this season and six points (two goals, four assists) in 28 NHL games.