During the summer I told my brother my picks for potential breakout players during the 10/11 season. My choices were Brandon Dubinsky (center/winger of the New York Rangers), Evander Kane (center/winger of the Atlanta Thrashers), PA Parenteau (winger of the NY Islanders) and James Wisniewski (Defenseman of the New York Islanders).
Let’s start off with Brandon Dubinsky. Seeing a few of the Ranger games with my brother last year I noticed his ability to see a play develop and almost always make the right passes, he was a playmaker and yet he also possessed a scorer’s touch. So far this year he has 10 goals, and 7 assists which add up to 17 points in 18 games. He leads the Rangers in points (17), goals (10), power play goals (3), shorthanded goals (2), and is third in assists (7), 4th in shots (43), and 3rd in shooting percentage (23.3%). At this rate Dubinsky, if he remains healthy, will have between 30-40 goals, and about 80-90 points. These stats, coming from a man who only managed 44 points (20 goals, 24 assists) last year are certainly the marks of a breakout player.
Second off is Evander Kane. I came across him during the 4 games the Isles played against Atlanta last year. There was a lot of hype surrounding him last year, a 4th overall pick in the 2009 draft, and the matchups between top draft picks Kane and Tavares was something that I wasn’t going to miss. Kane ended up having a below average 26 points (14 goals, 12 assists) last year, however he only played 66 games in his rookie season, which is also below average. Kane, at the time, was 18 and the same things that happened to him last year, happened to Nino Niederreiter this year. He was maturing into a man, at the same time that he was trying to mature into an NHL player. Dealing with the stress of being an NHL player isn’t easy on 21 year old rookies, never mind 18 year olds. Kane came into this season a lot more confident, knowing what to expect and how to prepare for the challenges that face NHL players on a day-to-day basis. So far this season he has managed 7 goals, and 5 assists for 12 points in only 18 games. In only 18 games, he has already managed to have half the amount of goals and points that he had during his entire rookie year. I see nothing but great things for Kane in the future, he and, goaltender, Ondrej Pavelec are the future cornerstones of the Atlanta Trashers.
Next is Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau, AKA PA Parenteau. Seeing most of his 22 games with the Rangers last year with my brother there was a lot of excitement facing this rookie who had come into the NHL after basically dominating the AHL, with 20 goals and 25 assists in only 35 games. He managed 3 goals and 5 assists in the 22 games he did play in, but still impressed a lot of people with his great ability with the puck, especially in shootouts. There was only one flaw in Parenteau’s abilities; he wasn’t what one would call a great skater. At the age of 27, he was let go by the Rangers, and Snow snagged him up almost immediately signing him on the second day of free agency, July 2nd. Right away he was being compared to Matt Moulson, who exploded with 30 goals in what many refer to as his rookie season (he went up and down between the Kings, and their AHL affiliate the Manchester Monarchs). A relatively unknown player outside of the New York area, there was no doubting his ability as a scorer, but could he manage to dominate the NHL the way he did the AHL? Parenteau has been one of the only bright spots to a, so far, disastrous Islander season. He has 4 goals and 6 assists in 16 games which isn’t bad at all considering he’s on a team which has been having problems, in the past few weeks, in putting the puck in the net. No one can deny Parenteau’s ability when it comes to scoring goals, and making plays. However can he be able to reach the next level and have the type of dominating performances that left coaches in the AHL in shock?
Last, but certainly not least, is defenseman James Wisniewski. The man was an unknown to me, and probably most of the NHL, before he was traded from the Anaheim Duck to the Islanders on July 30th for a conditional 2011 3rd round pick. Of course, as soon as I heard of this trade I went straight to YouTube to see some of his highlights. Right away I learned a few things, he was a hard hitter, he had a big shot, and after looking at his stats noticed that he had a lot of playmaking ability having 3 goals and 27 assists in 69 games. I thought to myself the d-line had become perfect, with him on the same line as Mark Streit the Islander power play was going to become unstoppable. Of course that was all before Mark Streit became injured for basically the entire season. However, the injury was a great, but unwanted, opportunity for Wisniewski. He would finally get the ice time he was looking for, but would never get, in Anaheim and an opportunity to finally show what he was made of. Such opportunities are rare in a players’ career, but as is now common in the NHL, the opportunity came at a high price with Streit being out for the majority of the season. Currently Wisniewski leads the team in assists (11), and points (13) and is well on his way to being what is widely thought of as the perfect temporary replacement for the loss of Streit. Wisniewski finally has the ice time he was looking for, and the opportunity he has spent his entire career looking for. There is little doubt on my mind that he will take full advantage of this, and show teams the great defenseman he truly is.