Rookie Watch: Knight, Raymond among best so far in Atlantic Division

The impact several rookies are making on the NHL is one of the major storylines of the 2021-22 season. Each week, NHL.com will examine topics related to this season's class in the Rookie Watch.
This week, the top five rookies in the Atlantic Division (in alphabetical order):

Michael Bunting, F, Toronto Maple Leafs:The 26-year-old left wing is tied for third among all rookies with five points (three goals, two assists) in nine games. Bunting (6-foot, 186 pounds), who has averaged 15:07 of ice time per game while playing on Toronto's top line with Auston Matthews and William Nylander, is also tied for fifth in hits (16) and tied for sixth in takeaways (four). Originally selected by the Arizona Coyotes in the fourth round (No. 117) of the 2014 NHL Draft, Bunting is in his first season with Toronto after signing a two-year contract on July 28.
"Whether he is scoring or not, he's competing at a very high level," Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. "He's engaged in the game and he's engaged in every shift. He wants to score, and when I say that, everybody wants to score, but it's very obvious. It's apparent he's putting himself out there and going to the areas where the goals are more likely to happen."
Spencer Knight, G, Florida Panthers: The 20-year-old (6-3, 192) is 2-0-1 with a 1.95 goals-against average and .929 save percentage in three games this season. Knight, who was selected with the No. 13 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, has picked up right where he left off last season, when he went 4-0-0 with a 2.32 GAA and .919 save percentage in four regular-season games, and 1-1 with a 2.06 GAA and .933 save percentage in two games in the Stanley Cup First Round, when the Panthers were eliminated by the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games.
"I want to keep improving and evolving," Knight said after his first NHL loss, 3-2 in a shootout to the Boston Bruins on Saturday. "Just because I'm playing at the highest level doesn't mean I'm there yet. I still think I'm very far away from where I want to be and where I could be."
Anton Lundell, F, Florida Panthers:The 20-year-old, who was injured at the start of training camp, has really come into his own in his first season in North America, slotting in as the No. 3 center behind Aleksander Barkov and Sam Bennett. Lundell (6-1, 185) has scored five points (two goals, three assists) and leads all rookies in face-off winning percentage (54.8; minimum 25 attempts) in five games, but he has missed the past four with an upper-body injury.
Last season, after being selected by Florida with the No. 12 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, Lundell scored 25 points (16 goals, nine assists) in 26 games for HIFK in Liiga, the top professional league in Finland. He also scored seven points (four goals, three assists) in 10 games to help Finland finish second at the 2021 IIHF World Championship.
"He doesn't look like he's a rookie," Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky said. "He's very smart. He looks like he plays an experienced game. On the penalty kill, he's been great, and he's been great on the face-offs. He's been a great addition to our team. He's got so much in front of him."
Lucas Raymond, F, Detroit Red Wings:The 19-year-old left wing leads all rookies in points (nine) and even-strength points (seven), and is tied for first in goals (four) in nine games. Raymond, who was the No. 4 pick in the 2020 draft, is also averaging 16:07 of ice time while playing on Detroit's top line with Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi. In a 6-3 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Oct. 24, Raymond (5-11, 182) became the second teenager to score a hat trick in Red Wings history, joining Steve Yzerman, who did it twice (Dec. 23, 1983, and March 30, 1985). The same game, he also became the third Red Wings teenager to record a four-point game, joining Yzerman (Dec. 23, 1983) and Gordie Howe (Dec. 17, 1947).
"He's getting … an opportunity, No. 1," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "And he's earned some of it in the NHL at a young age, which not lots of guys get the chance to do. And No. 2, he's playing with real good players on a real good line and getting important minutes. I think, obviously, he's capitalized on that. There's opportunities that he's getting, and he's got to keep making sure he does a real good job in the minutes that he gets."

Moritz Seider, D, Detroit Red Wings: The 20-year-old, who was selected with the No. 6 pick in the 2019 draft, has been paired with either Danny DeKeyser or Nick Leddy this season and leads all rookies in assists (eight), power-play points (four) and average ice time (22:26) in nine games. He also leads all rookie defensemen from the Atlantic Division with nine hits, 11 blocked shots and six takeaways. Last season, Seider (6-4, 197) scored 28 points (seven goals, 21 assists) with Rogle BK and was named the top defenseman in the Swedish Hockey League, the top professional men's league in Sweden.
"I think for his personal development, one of the things that we've tried to do here, that we've done since (former general manager) Ken Holland was here and certainly with Steve (Yzerman), is try not to bring players up until they're really ready to make an impact," Blashill said. "I think when you do that, you get into a position where you're not playing minimal minutes. You're playing more minutes and that's going to help you grow. And certainly, Moritz has done some really good stuff. He's got some real good abilities. I think there's definitely room for growth, and we're going to help him grow and try to become a great player. I don't want 'Seids' to be a good player, I want him to be a great player. And we're going to push him to try to become a great player."