Six NHL Players Who Surprised Fans This Season

Mika Zibanejad

Mika Zibanejad had an amazing season this year. Last year he was only 8 points behind being a point per game and this year he had 75 points in 57 games! These are great numbers compared to last season’s 74 points in 82 games. Also, dont forget about the 5 goal game against the Washington Capitals.

Zibanejad is 13th in points and 5th in goals at the time of this article, with at least ten fewer games played then the other players around him. Just imagine his numbers if he stayed healthy the entire year.

John Carlson

Not many Defenseman can say that they are over a point per game, but that’s one of John Carlson’s many accomplishments. You could say Carlson’s been one of the best defenseman in the league since his contract season in 2017-18, when he had a career high in 68 points. Prior to that season, his career high in points was 33.

Carlson has had a clear Norris Trophy worthy campaign posting 75 points in 69 games as a defense-man. But the real question remains if he can help lead the Washington Capitals to another Stanley Cup.

J.T Miller

Automatically, as a New York Rangers fan, the first thing that comes to mind when I see J.T Miller’s stats this season is why he couldn’t put these numbers up in New York. At the same time I am very happy for him.

Miller has 14 more points than his career high back in 2017-18. In only 69 games this season. Miller has 72 points and is 17th in the NHL in points. He also leads the Canucks in points.

Pekka Rinne

I dont even know where to start here. The defending Central Division champions have struggled to stay in a playoff spot the whole season and Pekka Rinne’s performance has not helped.

While Rinne has 18 wins and 14 losses on the year, his .895 save percentage and 3.17 goals against average is a big drop off from his Vezina Trophy winning season two years ago.

Jamie Benn

This is the same guy who won the Art Ross 5 seasons ago, now, he’s 30 points under being a point per game.

Jamie Benn had 39 points in 69 games this year which would be his worst season by far. In fact, it was so bad that his five year long All-Star Game voting streak ended. Even though the Dallas Stars are a playoff caliber team they need much better production out of their captain.

Phil Kessel

The former Stanley Cup champion’s debut season with the Arizona Coyotes hasn’t been a great one, to say the least. There is no denying that Phil Kessel is a Hall of Fame talent, but when comparing this season to years past it doesn’t paint a pretty picture.

Kessel has 38 points in 70 games. He had 82 points in 82 games last season with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Kessel hasn’t had a season this poor since his rookie and sophomore seasons for the Boston Bruins. If Arizona wants to make the playoffs, Kessel needs to step up.

Honorable Mentions

Ryan Strome– Good season

Bryan Rust– Good season

Kevin Labanc– Bad season

David Perron– Good season

Sean Monahan– Bad season

Alex Debrincat– Bad season

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