The impact several rookies are making on the NHL is one of the major storylines of the 2024-25 season. Each week, NHL.com will examine topics related to this season's class in the Rookie Watch. This week, in honor of the Canada's championship triumph at the 4 Nations Face-Off, a look at the top five Canada-born rookies (listed alphabetically):
Zack Bolduc, F, St. Louis Blues: The 22-year-old, selected in the first round (No. 17) of the 2021 NHL Draft, is tied with Mavrik Bourque of the Dallas Stars for third among Canadian rookies with 18 points (six goals, 12 assists) and first with a plus-10 rating in 48 games. He has 15 even-strength points (five goals, 10 assists) in a middle-six role when in the lineup, three power-play points (one goal) on the second unit and has earned minutes on the top line. Bolduc (6-foot, 187 pounds) is fourth in hits (64), 10th in blocked shots (21) and fourth in takeaways (11) while averaging 12:13 of ice time. St. Louis has a 49.7 percent shot-attempts percentage and 63.2 percent on-ice goals for percentage at 5-on-5 when Bourque is on the ice.
Mavrik Bourque, F, Dallas Stars: Bourque (5-11, 181) is second among first-year players from Canada with eight goals in 51games. Dallas' first-round pick (No. 30) of the 2020 NHL Draft, plays a third-line role with left wing Jamie Benn and right wing Evgenii Dadonov. The 23-year-old is seventh in blocked shots (24), fifth in takeaways (10) and averages 12:22 of ice time. The Stars have a 53.0 shot-attempts percentage at 5-on-5 when Bourque is on the ice. He was named MVP of the American Hockey League in 2023-24 after scoring 77 points (26 goals, 51 assists) in 71 games for Texas.
"Anytime you're injecting young players into your lineup, you're going to get that roller coaster," Stars coach Peter DeBoer said. "They're going to have good weeks or months, or months where they slip a little bit and have to take a step back, but I'm really proud of the contributions our young guys have given us, but it hasn't been a straight line. I'm proud of the way they've handled adversity and handled whether moving down the lineup or up in the lineup, playing different roles."
Macklin Celebrini, F, San Jose Sharks: The No. 1 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft is playing better than expected and being discussed as a potential Calder Trophy candidate. Celebrini (6-0, 190), a center, is playing in a top six role in and leads Canada-born rookies with 41 points (18 goals, 23 assists) in 46 games after missing 12 games earlier this season with an injury. He averages 19:43 of ice time, has drawn 15 penalties, is first among all rookies in face-off attempts (662), wins (325), and shots on goal (150), and tied with Mackie Samoskevich of the Florida Panthers for second with four game-winning goals. Celebrini scored his 15th goal of the season in a 6-5 loss to the Nashville Predators on Jan. 23 to tie Jeff Freisen for the most by a Sharks player before his 19th birthday. He has nine points (five goals, four assists) in his past nine games.
Celebrini scored 46 seconds into overtime of a 5-4 win against the Detroit Red Wings on Nov. 18 to become the third-youngest player in NHL history (18 years, 158 days) at the time of their first regular-season OT goal, behind Sidney Crosby (18 years, 101 days on Nov. 16, 2005) and Jordan Staal (18 years, 153 days; Feb. 10, 2007).
