NHL Rookie Notebook: Swayman a driving force behind surging Bruins

Every week throughout the 2020-21 season, we’re highlighting a handful of rookie performances and milestones from around the league.

Knight’s successful debut comes at best time for Panthers

The Florida Panthers caught a glimpse of their future in net this week, and boy is it ever bright. Spencer Knight, Florida’s top pick (13th overall) in 2019, made his NHL debut against the Columbus Blue Jackets Tuesday night and came away with the win and the game’s first star.

Knight, 20, stopped 33 of 34 shots in the 5-1 victory as the Panthers continue to press for the top spot in the Central Division standings down the stretch.

It’s pretty rare to see a goaltender drafted as early as Knight was two years ago — at the time, Knight was the first netminder selected in the top 20 since the Tampa Bay Lightning took Andrei Vasilevskiy 19th overall in 2012, and the highest-drafted goaltender since the Dallas Stars drafted Jack Campbell 11th overall in 2010. (Just last fall, the Nashville Predators drafted Russian goalie Yaroslav Askarov 11th overall from the class of 2020.)

As goalies tend to take longer to develop, it’s not often we see a goalie as young as Knight hit the pros so soon after being drafted. Looking around the league at other rookie goalies emerging and finding success in the NHL — Washington’s Vitek Vanecek, Chicago’s Kevin Lankinen, New York Rangers’ Igor Shesterkin, Minnesota’s Kaapo Kahkonen, New York Islanders’ Ilya Sorokin, Carolina’s Alex Nedeljkovic — all are 25 years old, having taken more time to develop in other leagues before arriving in the NHL and challenging for starting roles (Kahkonen is still 24, but will turn 25 in August).

But the more we learn about Knight, the more we understand ‘rare’ is a suitable word for his elite skillset at such a young age. He’s excelled at every step, most recently backstopping Team USA to world juniors gold before being named NCAA’s Hockey East goalie of the year, player of the year, and first-team all-star for the Eagles while also earning first all-star team honours and a Hobey Baker finalist nod.

With Panthers backup Chris Driedger sidelined day-to-day with a lower-body injury and starter Sergei Bobrovsky’s continued struggle to find consistency, we could be seeing more of Knight soon.

Swayman shines behind surging Bruins

The Boston Bruins have won six straight games as they sprint down the stretch and solidify their standing in the tough East Division’s playoff picture. The win streak dates back to the NHL’s trade deadline and the acquisition of Taylor Hall, but the former Sabre isn’t the only new force contributing to the club’s success. Rookie goaltender Jeremy Swayman, winner of five of his first six NHL starts, has been a major driving force in the Bruins’ red-hot April that has seen the team register a 9-3-1 record this month.

Swayman made his first career start on April 6 against Philadelphia, a 40-save victory that kicked off a string of starts for the 22-year-old Alaska native that included his first career shutout last Friday versus the Islanders. That quick success couldn’t have come at a better time, with Tuukka Rask still sidelined at the time by injury and backup-turned-starter Jaroslav Halak in COVID protocol, leaving the team to turn to third-stringer (and fellow rookie) Dan Vladar.

Through his first six career NHL starts, Swayman (Boston’s 111th overall pick in 2017) has a 5-1-0 record, 1.65 GAA, .943 SV%, and one shutout while facing an average of 29 shots per game so far — all this, before he’s even got an official NHL headshot. His NHL call-up comes after putting up similarly elite numbers with the Providence Bruins (8-1-0, 1.89 GAA, .933 SV%, 1 SO). And, like Knight, Swayman was also Hockey East’s player of the year with Maine, in 2020 — just one year prior to Knight winning it with BC.

With numbers like his, it’s no surprise Boston’s fourth starting goalie this season has so quickly been vaulted into “fan favourite” status among Bruins faithful.

That, and his joyful media availabilities.

Swayman credits much of his early success to the opportunity to learn from Rask, and as head coach Bruce Cassidy indicated after last week’s shutout, it shows:

Coach Cassidy on Jeremy Swayman: "Very composed. He does have some of that Tuukka…technically sound, composed guy that never looks out of control. Good to see. Good for him. A good kid who works hard. Both our young goaltenders have really stepped up when we needed them." pic.twitter.com/PowFovdAek

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) April 17, 2021

Now, with Rask having made his return last week and Halak due back soon, Boston’s got a deep crease that could be dangerous this post-season.

Rookie scoring title going down to the wire

Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov has been atop the rookie scoring race all season, but things are getting interesting atop the stat sheet with the finish line in sight.

Dallas Stars forward Jason Robertson has been steadily progressing this season, going from the Stars’ secret offensive weapon to a top-line star whose impressive stats — including a current six-game point streak — has seen him push the Stars back into the post-season conversation. The 21-year-old is third in team scoring behind linemates Joe Pavelski and Roope Hintz, tallying 14 goals and 22 assists for 36 points in 41 games. Those numbers have him sitting first in assists among NHL rookies and second in rookie points, just two behind Kaprizov with four games in hand. His 0.88 points per game are the best among first-year skaters, just .04 ahead of Kaprizov.

Kaprizov, too, has a little streak going at the moment — he’s scored in three straight games, contributing to the Wild’s five-game win streak that has them within five points of the Colorado Avalanche (also on a five-game win streak) and seven shy of Vegas (eight-game win streak… man, is the West ever good!).

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