Flash is not always a prerequisite for filling the role of a top-flight center in the NHL.

Most everything about Little as a hockey player fails to garner much attention. Everything, that is, except his consistent reliability everywhere on the ice.

The Atlanta Thrashers' first-round pick (No. 12) in the 2006 NHL Draft, Little combines solid playmaking ability, sound defensive instincts, a decent shot and average skating with a tremendous work ethic that elevates everything else about him.

A consummate team player, he became the first two-time winner of the Jets/Thrashers franchise's Dan Snyder Memorial Award after the 2013-14 season. The award, given to a player who "best embodies perseverance, dedication and hard work without reward or recognition, so that his team and teammates might succeed", also went to Little after the 2010-11 season.

By that time, the Edmonton native had established himself as a bona fide player. As a 19-year-old rookie playing his first NHL game, Little wasted no time inscribing his name in the franchise record book. Little's second-period goal in Atlanta's season-opener on Oct. 5, 2007, made him the first player in franchise history to score a goal in his NHL debut.

After shuttling between Chicago of the American Hockey League and the Thrashers during his rookie year, Little arrived in the NHL for good the next season. During the 2008-09 season, Little finished second on the Thrashers with 31 goals, tied for the team lead with 12 power-play goals and ranked third with four game-winning goals.

Little's first career hat trick, Dec. 26, 2008, against the Carolina Hurricanes, came on the heels of a two-goal effort in Atlanta's previous game against the New York Islanders. Single goals in the Thrashers next two games gave him seven goals over a four-game span. The strong second year earned Little a spot in the 2009 NHL YoungStars Game.

The relocation of the franchise to Winnipeg for the 2011-12 season let Little realize a long-held dream to play for a Canadian NHL team. Little, who after the move switched from No. 10 to No. 18 out of respect for former Jets legend Dale Hawerchuk, fulfilled another dream with his first Stanley Cup Playoff appearance in 2015. Winnipeg played the Anaheim Ducks in the first round, and Little led the Jets with two goals and tied for the team lead with three points in the series.

Little scored his 200th NHL goal against the Chicago Blackhawks on March 29, 2018, and he was the fifth member of the 2006 NHL Draft class to reach 500 points when he scored what proved to be the game-winning goal against the Detroit Red Wings on Jan. 11, 2019.

NOTES & TRANSACTIONS

• OHL Second All-Star Team (2007)
• Transferred to Winnipeg after Atlanta franchise relocated, June 21, 2011.