Rookie Watch: Lundell, Boldy among scoring leaders since Jan. 1

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, a look at the rookie scoring leaders since Jan. 1:

Michael Bunting, F, Toronto Maple Leafs: Bunting (6-foot, 186 pounds) is first in goals (11) and tied for first in points (21) with Florida Panthers center Anton Lundell among NHL rookies since Jan. 1. He's played on a line with center Auston Matthews and right wing Mitchell Marner and is second among rookies with 40 points (18 goals, 22 assists) in 52 games of his first season in the NHL. He scored an NHL career-high five points, assisting on each of Marner's four goals in a 10-7 win at the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday, to become the ninth Maple Leafs rookie to score five points in one game, first in the NHL expansion era (since 1967-68), and first for Toronto since Kent Douglas on Dec. 15, 1962. Bunting averages 15:25 of ice time per game, is first among rookies in penalties drawn (32), fifth in takeaways (23) and 24th in hits (49).
Selected by the Arizona Coyotes in the fourth round (No. 117) of the 2014 NHL Draft, Bunting signed a two-year contract with the Maple Leafs on July 28.
"Because of the way [Bunting] competes and the way he's involved in everything, he is usually the most hated guy on the ice," Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe told the Toronto Sun. "He gets a lot of attention from the other team and that inspires him to really push and be on guard because he knows teams are not going to take it easy on him. That helps guys like Auston and Mitch to be that much more alert and on guard themselves. The elite players those guys are, that helps the line a lot because they don't take many shifts off."

Anton Lundell, F, Florida Panthers: The No. 12 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft has scored 21 points (four goals, 16 assists) in 22 games. Lundell (6-1, 185 pounds) ranks fifth among rookies with 36 points (12 goals, 24 assists) and first with a plus-29 rating in 49 games this season. He leads first-year players with 622 face-offs taken and 282 wins (45.3 percent) playing on a line with left wing Mason Marchment and right wing Sam Reinhart. The 20-year-old averages 16:21 of ice time and leads rookies in even-strength face-off wins (248), defensive-zone wins (117) and shorthanded wins (23). He's first among rookie forwards with 47 blocked shots and 50 takeaways and tied for fourth among first-year centers (Dawson Mercer, New Jersey Devils) with 10 penalties drawn.
"You can see he's taking steps every game, every practice," Florida captain Aleksander Barkov said. "He has that enthusiasm to learn something new every day about hockey and about how to play here. You can see how good he is getting."
Matt Boldy, F, Minnesota Wild:Boldy (6-2, 201) is tied for third with Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider among first-year players with 18 points (eight goals, 10 assists) in 19 games since the start of 2022. He had his first NHL hat trick in a 7-4 win against Detroit on Feb. 14, becoming the fourth rookie in Wild history to score three goals in one game and joining Justin Fontaine (Jan. 9, 2014), Kirill Kaprizov (March 12, 2021), and Rem Pitlick (Nov. 13, 2021). He is the only rookie in team history to score four points in one game. The 20-year-old averages 0.95 points per game, tied with Bunting and Lundell for first among rookies who've played at least five games this season. The No. 12 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft scored one goal and had four shots on goal in his NHL debut at the Boston Bruins on Jan. 6 and has averaged 16:28 of ice time on a line with center Frederick Gaudreau and right wing Kevin Fiala.
"You can see how good he is and how smart he is and how he uses his stick to protect the puck," Minnesota forward Joel Eriksson Ek said. "Him being so young and being so strong is amazing. It's great for our team to get a player like that."
Moritz Seider, D, Detroit Red Wings:The No. 6 pick in the 2019 draft has scored two goals and 16 assists and is first with eight power-play points (two goals, six assists) in 21 games. He leads rookies in average ice time (22:56), is tied for third with 39 points (five goals, 34 assists) in 53 games this season and third in Red Wings history for points in one season by a rookie defenseman, trailing Nicklas Lidstrom (60 points in 1991-92) and Reed Larson (60; 1977-78). His 102 blocked shots are first and 75 hits are ninth.
Seider (6-4, 197) has scored 10 points (one goal, nine assists) in a six-game point streak.
"He's impressive to me," Detroit defenseman Marc Staal said. "He plays hard. He's so good with the puck and he's just getting better and better every day. He's a fun guy to watch and a great guy to be a teammate with."
Tanner Jeannot, F, Nashville Predators: The 24-year-old left wing (6-2, 208) is tied for fifth among NHL rookies with 14 points (10 goals, four assists) in 21 games since the turn of the new year. He's scored 18 goals, tied with Bunting among rookies, and is sixth in points (32) in 53 games this season. Jeannot (6-2, 208) ranks first in hits (179), ninth in blocked shots (38) and second in penalties drawn (18). The undrafted forward signed with Nashville as a free agent April 2, 2018. He scored a power-play goal in a 3-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2022 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series at Nissan Stadium on Saturday.

Trevor Zegras, F, Anaheim Ducks: He's tied for fifth among NHL rookies with 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 19 games and is averaging 17:41 of ice time since the start of 2022 while playing on a line with left wing Adam Henrique and right wing Jakob Silfverberg. Zegras is tied for third with Seider for the NHL rookie scoring lead this season with 39 points (13 goals, 26 assists) in 49 games. The No. 9 pick in the 2019 draft has drawn 16 penalties and leads rookies in shootout goals (six) on nine chances. He's had five of his 14 multipoint games since Jan. 1 and is second among first-year players with 0.80 points per game (minimum five games).
Lucas Raymond, F, Detroit Red Wings:The No. 4 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft has scored 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 21 games. He leads rookies with 42 points (15 goals, 27 assists) and his 29 even-strength points (11 goals, 17 assists) in 53 games are tied with Zegras for third this season. Raymond (5-11, 182) reached 20 assists in 36 games to pass Steve Yzerman (39) for fewest by a teenage player in Detroit history. He leads rookie forwards in average ice time (18:10) playing on a line with center Dylan Larkin and left wing Filip Zadina.