1 Breakout Candidate For Each Team: Western Conference Edition

A player from each team in the West that I believe is primed for a big 2023-24 season.

Anaheim Ducks: Luke Evangelista

NHL Team: Nashville Predators

Last Season: 7-8–15 in 24 NHL Games, 9-32–41 in 49 AHL Games

Evangelista has been an amazing talent at every level he has played at, and looked right at home during his short stint in the NHL last season. With a full season in a top 6 role, I would expect Evangelista to have an amazing season. Especially if he can beat Nyquist for a spot on the top line with Forsberg and O’Reilly.

Arizona Coyotes: Evan Bouchard

NHL Team: Edmonton Oilers

Last Season: 8-32–40 in 82 Games

Bouchard, during his entire tenure as an Oiler, has been stuck behind Tyson Barrie in terms of having a spot on the top powerplay. Despite this, Bouchard has been able to put up back to back 40 point seasons. His 40 points was good enough for 36th in the league while his average PPTOI was 2:16, placing him at 46th among defensemen. For reference, Barrie ranked 21st with 3:05, and that number is probably nerfed a bit having been behind Josi in Nashville after being traded. With Barrie out of the picture, the spot on the top PP is Bouchard’s to lose, and I think he’ll take it and run. In fact, I’d be willing to put money on Bouchard scoring his first 50-point season. 

Calgary Flames: Alexis Lafreniere

NHL Team: New York Rangers

Last Season: 16-23–39 in 81 Games

Lafreniere has been quite disappointing so far, no one can deny that. However, we also cannot deny that Lafreniere has been horribly misused on the Rangers thus far. A lot of that is due to the logjam the team has at LW with Kreider and Panarin. That said, sometimes it takes a bit of time for prospects to figure it out. Although injury was a lot of the reason for this, Jack Hughes took a bit to get going, and look at him now! I don’t want it to come off like I’m saying he’s as good as Jack, but I do think Lafreniere is a good player and I believe this year, the team will realize their mistake and he will either be given opportunities in the top 6 in a different position, or he will be traded. Regardless, I think this may finally be the year Lafreniere does something. 

Chicago Blackhawks: William Eklund

NHL Team: San Jose Sharks

Last Season: 2-1–3 in 8 NHL Games, 17-24–41 in 54 AHL Games

I’m not entirely sure where Eklund ends up in the Sharks’ lineup, but I have to imagine that he’ll be in the top 6, or middle 6 at the very least. Regardless of where he ends up in the lineup, I think Eklund is good enough that he will work his way up to the top 6. The Sharks may not be all that, but they’ve got some solid talent that I think can help Eklund really break out if put in the right situations. 

Colorado Avalanche: Dylan Larkin

NHL Team: Detroit Red Wings

Last Season: 32-47–79 in 80 Games

Now look, I know it’s weird to call for the breakout of the captain of an NHL team who has scored 69 and 79 points in his last 2 seasons.But here’s the thing: I’m a Red Wings fan, and for years, I have seen people from every single fan base, including our own, say that “Dylan Larkin is not a 1C.” I, personally, cannot wait to laugh in each and every one of their faces after this season. For the first time in his entire career, Larkin will have 2 players at his wing that can actually keep up with Raymond and Debrincat, and Debrincat especially is the kind of player that Detroit has needed for a long time. They tried with Mantha, and that failed. They tried with Vrana, and that failed. They drafted Zadina, and that failed. With Debrincat, Larkin has a goal scorer to play with who is actually a proven talent and has put up 40 goals in the past, and so I fully expect Larkin to finally break 80 points for the first time in his career, and finally shut up every single person who ever said he wasn’t a 1C. HM to Wahlstrom though, because he probably makes more sense for a true breakout, but biases and such. Nick’s a Red Wings fan anyways, so he’ll appreciate my rant! 

Dallas Stars: Wyatt Johnston

NHL Team: Dallas Stars

Last Season: 24-17–41 in 82 Games

Well what do ya know! Apparently, when you put your young players in a position to succeed, they actually do! The Rangers should learn something from Dallas. Flames too, probably. Anyways, yes, Dallas continues to put faith in their young players and surround them with just the right amount of veteranship to help them grow and allow them to flourish. We’ve seen it with Robertson, we’ve seen it with Hintz, we’ve seen it with Heiskanen, and next we’ll see it with Johnston. With how Dallas prospects have developed, I fully expect Wyatt to score at least 35 goals next season and probably like 65-70 points or something. Regardless, I expect that he’ll have a massive year after a really solid rookie year that saw him put up 20+ goals.

Edmonton Oilers: Sean Durzi

NHL Team: Arizona Coyotes

Last Season: 9-29–38 in 72 Games

Durzi is an interesting piece here. He was able to place 40th among defensemen in scoring while playing second fiddle to Doughty. Even then, it seemed like the Kings had more faith in guys like Roy, Anderson, and Gavrikov, despite the fact that Durzi was easily their 2nd best defenseman. Now he finds himself on an Arizona team in which he very well may be in a similar situation with Dumba having been recently acquired, on top of Moser and Valimaki who look to get powerplay time. So, he’ll have to fight for it. The thing with Durzi is he is good enough to overtake them, in my opinion, and I think Arizona is a lot more willing to go with the hot hand than LA is/was. So, he will once again have to fight, but I think Arizona will absolutely be in more of a position to give him the ball and I think once he finally is given the ball, he will run away with it. 

Los Angeles Kings: Marco Rossi

NHL Team: Minnesota Wild

Last Season: 0-1–1 in 19 NHL Games, 16-35–51 in 53 AHL Games

Minnesota is a weird team. It’s like they understood how to help players develop with Boldy and then said fuck that when it came to Rossi. While Boldy got opportunities in the top 6 and the top pp, Rossi was strangely delegated to the bottom line with two guys I’ve quite literally never heard of. And, somehow, they expected him to produce?? It’s actually the exact reason why I traded him. I’m sure they’ll get it eventually, but the way they treated him while seeing how they also treated Boldy showed me that they see him as less than. The more frustrating thing is that during the preseason, he was put on a line with Kaprizov and he played amazing! That’s the unfortunate issue with playmakers is that they are reliant on their linemates, and when your linemates wouldn’t even be on a top 6 in the AHL, there is clearly something wrong with the coaching. All that being said, I think they’ll realize what to do with Rossi this season and start putting him in situations where he can actually flourish, and that’s when we’ll see the Rossi we all know and love. 

Minnesota Wild: Yegor Sharangovich

NHL Team: Calgary Flames

Last Season: 13-17–30 in 76 Games

I’m gonna start this one off by saying that Owen Power is very likely the true breakout star on the DCHL Wild, but I would rather focus on someone that less people are talking about. Sharangovich is going to be playing in Calgary, and yes, they did have an off year. However, I do think they have the potential to turn that around and they will be a very hungry team that is looking to prove themselves, and especially Sharangovich after having a pretty rough year. The reason I think he’s going to break out is due to his situation, in that he is currently slated on the top line with Lindholm and Huberdeau. If there is any time for him to break out, it’s this season assuming nothing changes. Even if he doesn’t necessarily “break out,” if Huberdeau even returns to half of his Panthers’ form and Yegor stays on a line with him and Lindholm, he should be able to easily clear his previous career high in points of 46 and goals of 24. Time will tell, of course, but assuming that line stays together, he should be in for a great bounce back year.

Nashville Predators: Ty Dellandrea

NHL Team: Dallas Stars

Last Season: 9-19–28 in 82 Games

Admittedly, Ty is only here because there aren’t really any other players on the team that have breakout potential to me. While Dellandrea can do that, to me, he is unfortunately a victim of Dallas’s amazing drafting ability/insane forward depth in that there are just too many guys he’ll have to beat for a spot higher in the lineup. Younger players like Hintz, Robertson, Johnston, and  (very likely) Stankoven will have a role in the top 6 alongside Pavelski and Benn. When you’ve got a third line of Dadonov, Seguin, and Duchene, the odds aren’t exactly in your favour. That said, I’ve watched some Stars games, and Dellandrea at times shows flashes of absolute brilliance that remind you that he is a first round pick, and if he can build on those, I fail to see why he wouldn’t be able to climb his way up the roster. 

San Jose Sharks: Lucas Raymond

NHL Team: Detroit Red Wings

Last Season: 17-28–45 in 74 Games

Raymond suffered from a sophomore slump this past season, but this year he will have all the opportunities in the world playing alongside Larkin and Debrincat. I don’t really have much to say about him honestly, love the guy, hope he bounces back. The team will only get better year after year, and Raymond has been on the top line since his first season. No reason to believe he won’t bounce back and that he won’t also continue to get better and better.

Seattle Kraken: Cole Caufield

NHL Team: Montreal Canadiens

Last Season: 26-10–36 in 46 Games

Last year really should have been Caufield’s big year. He ranked 10th in the league for goals per game and was on pace for 47 goals before injury ended his season. If Caufield can avoid injury or any other issues, he should very well be able to replicate his scoring from last season and maybe even build on it. Please note that this was written on August 12th, 2023 at 6:12PM, and at the time of writing, Caufield is still a Kraken. Though, I heard he traded McDavid for Caufield in another league, so perhaps Caufield will stay a Kraken. 

St. Louis Blues: Noah Dobson

NHL Team: New York Islanders

Last Season: 13-36–49 in 78 Games

If Podkolzin was on any other NHL team, I would probably say that he would be the breakout player for St. Louis. However, he is on Vancouver, and as of late it seems like Vancouver just does not know what to do with its prospects as he is currently slated to be on the 4th line. And so, the breakout candidate for the Blues will be Dobson. The last two seasons, Dobson has had 49 and 51 points, so he’s already among the top end of defenseman scoring. However, I think there’s a very good chance that he can do more than that. It may be a bold prediction given the Islanders style of play, but I think Dobson will score 60+ and people will begin to recognize just how good he actually is. Then again, like I said, the Islanders play a very defense-oriented style, so we will see.

Vancouver Canucks: Arthur Kaliyev

NHL Team: Los Angeles Kings

Last Season: 13-15–28 in 56 Games

With the departures of Iafallo and Vilardi, 2 spots in the Kings’ top 6 have opened up. It seems likely that one of those spots will be taken by Byfield. The second spot, at the moment, is held by Kaliyev. Currently looking to play on a 2nd line composed of Fiala and PLD, if Kaliyev can keep his spot next to those two players, he can absolutely have a breakout year. With Dubois having just had a career year and Fiala having had back to back PPG+ seasons, there’s no telling what Kaliyev could do next season. Even last year, he put up more points than the prior season while playing 24 less games. If there is one player who benefited the most from the PLD trade, it very well may be Kaliyev.

Vegas Golden Knights: Tyler Bertuzzi

NHL Team: Toronto Maple Leafs

Last Season: 8-22–30 in 50 Games

HM to Tarasov and Tolvanen who I think could also have breakout years, but I think it has to be Bertuzzi here. Tyler Bertuzzi, in my very biased opinion, may be one of the most underrated players in the league. In 2019-20, he managed to put up 21 goals on a Red Wings team where only 2 players (himself and Larkin) surpassed 40 points. In 2021-22, he put up 62 points in 68 games played, including his first 30 goal season. He got traded to Boston, and fans of that franchise quickly became fans of his. My uncle and grandmother being huge Bruins fans, they always talked to me about him and told me how much they wanted him to stay. In the playoffs, he even put up 10 points in 7 games. He was easily the best player on the Bruins in those 7 games. And now he finds himself in Toronto on a line with Matthews and Marner. He is being put in the best situation of his career, and as long as he can build chemistry with those two, I personally believe that he will be a point per game player for the first time in his career.

Winnipeg Jets: Matias Maccelli

NHL Team: Arizona Coyotes

Last Season: 11-39–49 in 64 Games

It was a bit difficult to choose for Winnipeg, I considered Vilardi and Berggren for the breakout candidate. However, Vilardi pretty much broke out last season, and Berggren will likely get shuffled around the lineup a bit. Maccelli is a clear choice for a breakout candidate. Honestly, he sort of came out of nowhere last season. No one knew his name then, myself included, but I think people will know his name now. Not only that, but I think he has an even bigger year this year. Right now, it’s looking like he’ll be playing on the 2nd line. His linemates? None other than Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther. If this line can click, I think Maccelli could have an absolutely insane year.