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."
