The impact several rookies are making in the NHL is one of the major storylines of the 2023-24 season. Each week, NHL.com will examine topics related to this season's class in the Rookie Watch.
With the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline at 3 p.m. ET on Friday, NHL.com this week looks at five NHL rookies who have benefitted from a trade (listed alphabetically):
Ty Emberson, D, San Jose Sharks: Emberson (6-foot-2, 193 pounds) is week to week with a laceration sustained in a 6-4 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday, but he's tied for seventh among rookie defensemen with nine assists and tied for eighth with 10 points in 30 games. He averaged 18:33 of ice time beside defense partner Mario Ferraro before his injury. Emberson ranks second among first-year defensemen with 94 hits and ninth with 46 blocked shots. The 23-year-old was selected by the Arizona Coyotes in the third round (No. 73) of the 2018 NHL Draft, and traded to the New York Rangers on July 13, 2022, for defenseman Patrik Nemeth, a second-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, and an optional pick in either the 2024 or 2026 NHL Draft.
Emberson was named the 2023 best defensive defenseman in the American Hockey League after playing for the Rangers' affiliate in Hartford and was claimed off waivers by the Sharks from New York on Sept. 30. He minus-1 with two shots on goal in 13:10 of ice time in his NHL debut, a 5-1 loss at the Nashville Predators on Oct. 21. He missed 12 games with a lower-body injury in December, and seven more with an upper-body injury in January.
"He might have been our best defenseman when he got hurt (in January), so that was a tough blow for us to swallow," San Jose coach David Quinn said. "He plays hard, he plays with conviction, he finishes his checks, can make an outlet pass and he can skate."
Brock Faber, D, Minnesota Wild: Faber (6-1, 200) was selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the second round (No. 45) of the 2020 NHL Draft and traded to Minnesota, with a first-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft (forward Liam Ohgren), for forward Kevin Fiala on June 29, 2022. The 21-year-old is first among NHL rookies with 30 assists and second with 34 points, seven behind Chicago Blackhawks rookie center Connor Bedard. He's been a linchpin along the blue line, averaging 25:07 of ice time with defense partner Jacob Middleton. The right-handed shot leads rookies with 119 blocked shots and is tied for eighth among first-year defensemen with 51 hits in 62 games.
Minnesota general manager Bill Guerin thinks Faber is the front-runner for the Calder Trophy given to NHL rookie of the year.
"I don't care if Bedard's in or not," Guerin told WCCO-AM in Minneapolis in January. "With (Jared Spurgeon) being out, we've had to rely on him, he's stepped up to the plate, and like I said, (Faber's) got the 'it factor.'
"He just gets it, he knows what to do, he's got confidence. He's got the right amount of swagger and a great amount of humility. The way he approaches not just the game but the professionalism, how he treats people, this kid's a star in many ways."
Michael Kesselring, D, Arizona Coyotes: The 24-year-old (6-4, 190) is fifth among NHL rookie defensemen with 68 hits and tied for 18th with 32 blocked shots in 44 games. Kesselring has 14 points (five goals, nine assists) while averaging 14:30 of ice time next to defense partner Sean Durzi.
The New Hampton, New Hampshire, native was selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the sixth round (No. 162) of the 2018 NHL Draft and acquired by Arizona with a third-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft (forward Vadim Moroz) for forward Nick Bjugstad and defenseman Cam Dineen on March 2, 2023.
"I really like his upside," Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny said. "It's that length, his size, he can make plays with the puck."
Devon Levi, G, Buffalo Sabres: Levi (6-0, 203) was chosen by the Florida Panthers in the seventh round (No. 212) of the 2020 NHL Draft and traded with a 2022 first-round pick (forward Jiri Kulich) to the Sabres for forward Sam Reinhart on July 24, 2021. The 22-year-old goalie is playing for Rochester in the AHL. He's 7-5-3 with a 2.53 goals-against average and .926 save percentage in 15 games.
Levi is 9-7-2 with a 3.30 GAA and .891 save percentage in 20 games (19 starts) with the Sabres this season. He made 37 saves in a 5-3 win at the Kings on Jan. 24 before being reassigned to Rochester. He led NCAA goalies in save percentage for the second straight season and won the 2023 Mike Richter Award as the top goalie in men's college hockey after finishing 17-12-5 with a 2.24 GAA and .933 save percentage in 34 games for Northeastern. He joined the Sabres near the end of last season and went 5-2-0 with a 2.94 GAA and .905 save percentage.
Nikita Okhotiuk, D, Sharks: San Jose acquired Okhotiuk as part of an eight-player trade and draft picks that sent forward Timo Meier Meier to the New Jersey Devils on Feb. 26, 2023. The 23-year-old had core muscle surgery in April and is playing a role as a stand-up, physical defenseman.
Okhotiuk (6-1, 195) is first among rookie defensemen with 125 hits, third with 72 blocked shots and second with 44 penalty minutes in 43 games. He has eight points (one goal, seven assists) and averages 16:27 of ice time.
"I think we're still trying to figure out what his ceiling is since not having a full training camp and missing the first part of the season slowed him down a little bit," Quinn said. "But Nikita is a National Hockey League player. He can pass the puck, he can skate, he's coachable and he's a great teammate. Eventually it's going to all come together."
