Five NHL Players with Surprisingly Strong Starts 10 Games In

Sean Monahan, Brock Boeser and Jesperi Kotkaniemi are just some NHL players who put everyone on notice with a superb first 10 games to the season. Jacob Stoller lists five in particular.

With every NHL team reaching double-digit games, it’s acceptable to do some reflection, such as the most surprising starts to the season. 

There’s no perfect formula for this and everyone is going to define it differently, but the way we’re going to look at this is five players that have had the most surprising start – given how profound their impact has been relative to expectations, or their recent body of work.

So, with that said, here are five players with some of the most surprisingly strong starts to the NHL season.

It’s been a long time since Sean Monahan has been producing anywhere near a point-per-game pace.

During his first six NHL seasons, Monahan combined for 363 points in 471 career games — including three 30-plus goal seasons and four 60-plus point campaigns (including a career-high 82 points in 2018-19). But after a myriad of injuries derailed Monahan’s production over the last four years to 116 points in 210 games, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Monahan’s best days were long gone.

Somehow, though, the 29-year-old turned back the clock this season.

In 11 games with the Habs, Monahan recorded 10 points and plays in all situations for Montreal, averaging 18:53 of ice time. Given the profound impact he’s having in Montreal, Monahan — who looks as engaged as he did in his prime — could be a top trade target when the deadline rolls around, especially if Montreal retains 50 percent of his $1,985,000 cap hit.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LXDPVMLJ1Y[/embed]

The last few years have been tough for Brock Boeser.

When Boeser first broke into the league, he instantly asserted himself as an elite goal-scorer during 5-on-5 play. During his first three seasons, Boeser scored 1.01 goals at 5-on-5 per 60 minutes — ranking him in the 95th percentile among skaters that played 1,000 minutes through that span, according to naturalstattrick.com. The following three seasons came out to 0.63 goals per 60 (63rd percentile). Even though his 55 points last season were one short of his career high set in 2018-19, he still faced trade rumors.

This year, Boeser has flipped a switch. The 26-year-old hasn’t just returned to his old form — he’s playing the best hockey of his career to start the 2023-24 season.

Ten games into the season, Boeser is tied for sixth leaguewide in goals (eight) and 16th in points (13). With his confidence seemingly restored, Boeser has been unleashing his “brocket” of a shot much more frequently and effectively.

Nobody is probably happier seeing Travis Sanheim have a bounce-back season than Philadelphia Flyers GM Danny Briere.

Philadelphia nearly traded Sanheim to the St. Louis Blues in a reported blockbuster trade that was nixed after Torey Krug refused to waive his no-movement clause. Sanheim, 27, signed an eight-year, $50,000,000 contract extension last fall, which kicked in this season. But after putting pen to paper, Sanheim struggled during the 2022-23 season, and many believed it was a prelude to his impending extension aging poorly.

This year, though, Sanheim is looking like a bona fide first-pairing defenseman.

Sanheim, whose previous career high in points was 35, has 10 points in 12 games while logging 25:46 in ice time per night — which ranks third among all NHL players. During 5-on-5 play, Sanheim has posted a 53.8 Corsi-for percentage and a 58.7 expected goals-for percentage, according to naturalstattrick.com.

At this rate, the narrative surrounding his $6.25-million cap hit is bound to change.

His stock may have been on the rise since the middle of last year, but it’s hard to imagine anyone predicted Jesperi Kotkaniemi having this strong of a start to the season.

Well, maybe the Hurricanes foresaw the step up after taking a leap of faith and offer sheeting the 2018 third overall selection three summers ago.

“We see him as a potential 60-, 70-point guy,” Hurricanes GM Don Waddell told The Hockey News back in April.

After recording a career-high 43 points last season — with 36 of those points coming in his final 51 games — Kotkaniemi is leading the Hurricanes in scoring with 12 points in his first 12 games of the 2023-24 season. Even for Kotkaniemi’s biggest believers, seeing Kotkaniemi establish himself as a bona fide top-six center on a contending team is pretty surprising.

During 5-on-5 play, the 23-year-old center has been on the ice for 3.34 expected goals for per 60 minutes, which ties him 42nd among forwards who have played at least 100 minutes this season, according to Natural Stat Trick.

A big reason for Kotkaniemi’s elevated offensive output is he’s a lot less trigger-shy — generating significantly more scoring chances, shot attempts and individual expected goals per 60 minutes this year than in years past.

This is probably a good time to remind everyone that the Hurricanes have Kotkaniemi signed at a $4.82-million cap hit for another seven years.

Prospect junkies were always fond of Pavel Mintyukov. However, nobody could’ve possibly predicted him having this strong of a start to his rookie year.

Among a star-studded rookie crop, Mintyukov, 19, has risen above the surface. The 10th overall selection in the 2022 draft is building a solid case for the Calder Trophy.

While averaging 19:15 minutes per night through his first 10 games, Mintyukov has recorded seven points and leads all Anaheim Ducks defensemen with a 51.52 expected goals-for percentage during 5-on-5 play, per Natural Stat Trick.

The most surprising element of Mintyukov's campaign is just how mature his game has looked from the get-go. The smooth-skating Russian blueliner can not only run a power play and drive offense at a high level, but he’s also gifted at killing plays and retrieving possession after doing so.

Honorable mentions: Bobby Brink, Michael Bunting, Dylan Larkin, Ridly Greig, Lukas Dostal.