RW Mikko Rantanen, Colorado Avalanche
Rantanen's quality rookie campaign is being grossly overlooked due to the Avalanche's horrible season as a team and the trade rumors continuously circling C Matt Duchene, RW Jarome Iginla and LW Gabriel Landeskog. Rantanen has racked up 14 goals and 29 points through 53 contests with 10 of those points coming on the man advantage.
While Iginla is sure to be gone ahead of 2017-18, the Avalanche might continue to peddle the services of Duchene and Landeskog throughout the offseason. The loss of any of the three will open up more minutes within the top-six forward group and on the power play for Rantanen.
C Travis Konecny, Philadelphia Flyers
Konecny's own recent knee injury and C Sean Couturier's knee injury earlier this season have tempered Konecny's productivity, but he has still amassed 22 points in 51 games. He has primarily played out of a top-six role on the left side of the second line, and he has racked up three goals and four points in limited power-play usage. The Flyers will have the vast majority of their forwards return for 2017-18, but Konecny has already secured his spot in the top six.
D Ivan Provorov, Philadelphia Flyers
Unlike Konecny, Provorov should see a significantly increased role next season. Ds Mark Streit and Michael Del Zotto are set to become unrestricted free agents, with Shayne Gostisbehere entering the restricted phase. Provorov is already playing 21:38 per game, mostly on the second pairing at 5v5. He has 24 points through 59 games, with just four assists on the power play. He'll be a first-pairing defender next season.
C Pavel Zacha, New Jersey Devils
The Devils have C Adam Henrique signed for two more seasons and C Travis Zajac locked up through the 2020-21 season, both at reasonable cap hits of $4 and $5.75 million, respectively. This could keep the 19-year-old Zacha in a third-line role for another season. His most common linemates at 5v5 this year have been C Jacob Josefson and RW Stefan Noesen, both of whom are RFAs at year end.
With RW P.A. Parenteau a UFA in the summer, Zacha could switch to a top-six winger.
G Jusse Saros, Nashville Predators
Saros sports a 6-5-3 record through 12 starts and 14 appearances for the Predators. He owns a .929 save percentage and a 2.22 goals against average, posting one shutout. His usage is increasing, as he has fully surpassed G Marek Mazanec as the backup to Pekka Rinne, making four starts in each of the past three months.
With Nashville able to protect just one goaltender in the upcoming expansion draft, they could potentially say goodbye to Rinne's $7 million cap hit, or allow Saros to become the future starting goaltender of the Las Vegas Golden Knights.
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