The rise of Stankoven in Dallas, Rempe's suspension and the Calder Trophy battle between Bedard and Faber are just some NHL rookie storylines to watch down the stretch.

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We have entered the home stretch of the NHL season as the trade deadline has gone by.

The good teams are looking to solidify their lineups heading into the playoffs, while the teams outside of the playoff picture look to give young players a shot to see what they have. Playoff races are to be decided over the next month.

While superstars like Auston Matthews, Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid and Cale Makar will certainly be the main characters as we enter the final games of the NHL season, some rookie storylines are emerging that should be some of the most exciting in the league. 

Will Matt Rempe learn from his suspension for hitting Jonas Siegenthaler, and what comes next for the Rangers power forward being the talk of the NHL? Was calling up Logan Stankoven the Dallas Stars' best addition in trade deadline season? And how likely will Minnesota Wild defenseman Brock Faber beat Chicago Blackhawks No. 1 overall pick Connor Bedard in the NHL rookie race?

Let’s dive into what should be an exciting end to the season for some first-time NHLers.

The Rise of Logan Stankoven

Since the 2021 NHL draft, Logan Stankoven has built a fan base on social media because of his highlight-reel plays, incredibly feisty motor and divisiveness of analysts. 

People have doubted Stankoven because of his 5-foot-8 size for years, and he’s blown every league he’s played in out of the water. First, he dominated the WHL, and this year, he has arguably been the AHL's MVP as a rookie.

Now, with eight points in as many games in the NHL, Stankoven has forced the hand of the Dallas Stars, which can’t send him back to the NHL. The diminutive winger has been scoring goals, winning puck battles, displaying his slick hands and helping give the Stars a shot in the arm as they fight for the best playoff position possible.

Stankoven has fit perfectly on the Stars' third line with Wyatt Johnston and captain Jamie Benn. 

Stankoven should be one of the most exciting players to watch in the entire NHL in the final stretch of games. His dual-threat offensive ability fits like a glove. Despite his size, Stankoven attacks the middle of the ice and plays harder than just about everyone on the ice.

The craziest part of the Stankoven story is that because of the number of games left in the Dallas Stars season, Stankoven will only play in 24 games at most and not burn his rookie eligibility, keeping him eligible for the Calder Trophy next season. It’s safe to say he is the favorite for next year’s Calder already.

Rempe Runs Rampant on NHL - Maybe Too Rampant

Has there been a more intriguing on-ice story in the NHL over the past few weeks than hulking New York Rangers rookie winger Matt Rempe? 

The 6-foot-7, 241-pound forward has thrown massive hits, fought every heavyweight who’s come his way and brought an old-school brand of hockey back to an Original Six franchise.

With the excitement has come debates, though. 

Should a 21-year-old be putting himself in the position to fight nearly every game? He’s fought in more than half of his games and received match penalties twice in the nine-game stretch. His face looks beaten and battered. He has surpassed eight minutes of ice time just once and has played under six minutes in all but three contests.

In his most recent game, he was thrown out for a blatant elbow right to the head of New Jersey Devils defender Jonas Siegenthaler. The NHL's player safety department suspended Rempe four games for that hit.

The excuse of “he’s just bigger than everyone” isn’t going to cut it when he throws an elbow and then taunts an opponent who's heated because of it. The Rangers may need to rein in Rempe before he becomes too much of an issue, hurting the squad more than he’s helping.

Calder Battle Between Bedard and Faber

We’ve tracked this battle throughout the year in the NHL Calder Trophy Tracker, and it remains one of the most tightly contested trophy races this season. 

The rookie of the year is a true two-horse race featuring an 18-year-old phenom in Connor Bedard and a quiet, emerging defensive star in Brock Faber. We’ve seen both rookies prove they are top-end players in the NHL in very different ways.

Bedard is an offensive dynamo for the Chicago Blackhawks, scoring goals and making plays for a team that was always destined for the lottery but never expected to be this bad. Injuries have piled up around him, and he even missed some time with a fractured jaw. 

None of that has stopped him from leading the NHL rookie scoring race with 19 goals and 46 points in just 51 games. Bedard has been the offensive dynamo as advertised.

Faber, on the other hand, has been one of the best defensive blueliners in the NHL while growing offensively each month. He took advantage of Bedard’s absence and briefly tied him for the scoring lead before the Chicago rookie’s return. Faber leverages his skating as well as any defender in the league, calming killing plays and immediately looking to get his team on the offensive.

The battle for Calder supremacy will go down to the wire. As of right now, Bedard seems to be ahead – but it’s no sure thing. Faber really has been that good at both ends of the ice. His game has grown throughout the year, and he is poised to be a difference-maker for the Wild moving forward.

Rapid Fire NHL Rookie Headlines

- Ivan Miroshnichenko scored his first NHL goal after being called up recently. Just before being drafted in the first round of the 2022 NHL draft, the Russian forward was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, the same cancer diagnosis Mario Lemieux had. Now fully recovered and back to playing the game he loves, Miroshnichenko has spent most of the season in the AHL, but a recent call-up could see him in the NHL to stay as the Capitals need some scoring punch as they wind down the season.

- Hurricanes netminder Pyotr Kochetkov has been playing well as of late but may not get as much of the net with veteran Frederik Andersen returning from blood clot issues. Kochetkov should get plenty of runway, but there is no guarantee he will be the guy heading into the playoffs. He must keep the starting job away from Andersen if he plans to lead the Hurricanes on a long post-season run.

- Injuries continue to be a storyline for this rookie class. With Adam Fantilli still out a few more weeks, Leo Carlsson has joined him on the sidelines with a concussion. There is hope that he returns by the end of this week, but he’s already been out a few games.

- Simon Nemec and fellow rookie defenseman Luke Hughes have bigger roles on the Devils as they’ve had some pivotal injuries, with Dougie Hamilton being the biggest among them. Nemec and Hughes have both struggled at times, particularly in their own zone, but the skill and flair they bring with the puck has been fun to see. The rest of this season should be about developing Nemec and Hughes as best as possible for the future because the Devils look like a lost cause this season.