The New Generation Of The NHL

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 You’re a hockey fan like me. You grew up in the late 2000s and early 2010s. You grew up watching players like Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Steven Stamkos and Patrick Kane. Unfortunately, all these players are slowly getting closer to retirement and aren’t the same players like they used to be they when we were watching them on our TVs growing up. Except for Crosby who is still putting up 42 goals and 94 points in his 19th season.  The rest are past their prime, and I don’t know about you it’s making me feel kind of old. We knew that these players weren’t going to play forever, but now that the end is almost here and we hear these players talking about retirement more than ever before it makes me feel grey-haired.  

 

The Penguins-Capitals rivalry was the peak of 2010s hockey. You had the game’s two best players going against each other. (Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin)  It just takes me back to hearing NBC’s Wednesday night rivalry theme song and sitting on the edge of my seat waiting to see what amazing plays Crosby and Ovechkin were going to make. Can’t you relate? Another thing that made these games so great was that the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals were two of the best teams in the league. Now these two teams are just fighting for hopes of a  playoff spot. Crosby inked a two-year contract extension worth 8.7 million dollars per season (Again) to keep him in Pittsburgh for at least three more years. But is that it for Sid the Kid? Crosby has faced questions about retirement more frequently. Here’s what he said in April. 

 

“I don’t really think like that,I’ve always just gone year to year. That’s always kind of served me well, as far as how I evaluate my game and that sort of thing. There’s always a lot of factors.” 

“There’s no point worrying about four, five years from now, There are so many factors when you get to this point. … I don’t really think that far ahead, to be honest with you. That’s just how I feel and how I approach it.”

As a Canucks fan I felt this when Henrik and Daniel Sedin retired, did you as well? They were the two staple players for the Canucks and have been on the team ever since I started watching hockey. When they played their last games as Canucks, I felt the kid inside me slowly start to drift away. I was wondering what’s next for this team? Will watching the Canucks be the same anymore? As time would tell everything would be ok. The team started a new chapter we had new things to get excited for new young players to watch. Even though we didn’t have the Sedin twins any more or Ryan Kesler, Kevin Biesksa and Roberto Luongo. The staples of the team who went to the 2011 Stanley Cup final were gone but new stars arrived. Among the likes of Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser and Quinn Hughes. The team had a bright future. 

 

The Canucks had a new slogan going into the 2020 season “Colourful past bright future”. Showing pictures of the Sedins, Markus Nasland and other players from the teams storied past. Along with current players. 

 

Many teams and their fans must feel the same way. I find it quite astounding when I see kids wearing jerseys of stars like Mcdavid, Matthews ,Makar and so many more because they are growing up idolizing these players like I did to players in my era. It goes to show you the new generation is here. The current day NHL is run by Connor Mcdavid, Nathan Mackinnon, Nikita Kucherov, Auston Matthews, and few other superstars, but who’s going to be following in their footsteps? Let me introduce you to the NHL’s next batch of superstars and players who will be dominating the league before you know it.  

Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils is the younger brother of Canucks captain and reinging Norris Trophy winner Quinn Hughes. At just 23 years old Jack’s already made quite a name for himself in the league racking up 99 points in the 2022-23 season. New Jersey has a few other young studs, but Hughes is the shinniest star of them all. I don’t think Jack is going to be living in his older brothers shadow as Jack has already proven himself to be named among the leagues elite centers. 

 

Connor Bedard, if you don’t know who Connor is you must have been living under a rock for the past three years. Bedard has been making national headlines since he was 15 years old after being granted exceptional status in the Western Hockey League and is considered to be the best Prospect since Connor Mcdavid. Bedard sent shockwaves around the nation after his incredible performance in the 2023 World Junior Championships. He finally made his long awaited NHL debut and to no ones surprise he scored in his first game. Even after missing 14 games Bedard still ran away with the Calder trophy for rookie of the year. He finished with 62 points last year and I know he’s going to smash that this year. 

Matt Boldy of the Minnesota Wild is a name you might not be too familiar with but that’s what this article is for. The former 2019 12th overall pick really started to take off in March of 2023. With the Wilds’ leading scorer Kirill Kaprizov missing extended time, someone needed to step up. That’s exactly what Boldy did, he carried the load offensively leading the Wild to the playoffs. Without Kaprizov in the lineup, Matt Boldy showed that at just 22 years old he was capable of leading a team to great lengths. In the summer of 2023, the Wild awarded him with a seven year, seven million dollar contract. 

 

Another superstar playing for a canadian team is Tim Stuzle. He was taken third overall in 2020 to be the franchise center for the Ottawa Senators for the next decade. Although he had a decent first two seasons in the nations capital, he exploded for 90 points in his third year. The Senators are building a pretty decent squad and Stutzle is at the nucleus of it. If he can stay healthy, Stutzle will help carry the load for Ottawa and the Sentators will be playing playoff hockey sooner rather than later.

 

With all these young stars and many more on the way kids have plenty of great options to look up to. The NHL as a league is getting faster, more creative and is bring in a global audience, which you can credit these young players for. While we are shifting over to new chapters of our lives and our memories of our past idols are fading, the new generation is ready to take over. 

 

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