Each Central Division team’s top breakthrough candidate for the second half of the 2022–23 season

Mike Gould
Mike Gould
Each Central Division team’s top breakthrough candidate for the second half of the 2022–23 season
Credit: Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports


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We’re back for the second part of our “Breakthrough Candidates” series here at Daily Faceoff, in which we’re going through each of the NHL’s four divisions to identify some of the top candidates to take off in the second half of the 2022–23 regular season.

Having already looked at the Pacific Division on Sunday, the Central is on today’s agenda. Eight more teams, eight more players. Those are the rules … that I’ve just made up.

We’ll keep the preamble to a minimum this time around. Going by alphabetical order means it’s time to kick things off in Mullett Arena.

All figures in this article are sourced from Natural Stat Trick, except when otherwise stated.

Arizona Coyotes: Barrett Hayton — Don’t look now, but Hayton is in the midst of arguably his best run as a Coyote after ending a long goalless drought to start the season. The 22-year-old center has nine points in his last 12 games (including seven points in his last six) and was rewarded for his strong play with a promotion to the top line against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday. Naturally, Hayton made a nice play to score the Coyotes’ lone goal in that game. While he may never live up to his billing as a top-five pick, Hayton might just be the right guy to play between Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz.

Chicago Blackhawks: Lukas Reichel — A key part of the new wave of German talent entering the NHL, Reichel scored his first goal as a Blackhawk on Sunday and very much looked the part of a highly touted recent first-round pick. He’s slick, speedy, and confident with the puck, traits he’s put on display time and again with the Rockford IceHogs over the last two AHL seasons. Reichel, who was just 19 when he made his North American pro debut, has 35 goals and 93 points to his name in just 88 AHL contests. He was arguably the Blackhawks’ best player in their win over the Calgary Flames on Sunday.

Colorado Avalanche: Ben Meyers — Widely regarded as the top NCAA free agent available on the open market last spring, Meyers opted to bet on himself by signing with one of the deepest teams in the league. And while the 24-year-old forward has had a slower start to his NHL career than some might’ve expected, there’s reason to believe he might pick up the pace before long. He’s still stuck at just one point (a goal) in 18 games this year, but his 5-on-5 expected goals percentage (54.93) is among the best on the Avalanche and he’s had plenty of high-danger chances. His on-ice shooting percentage won’t remain at 3.90 forever.

Dallas Stars: Nils Lundkvist — The Stars moved an unprotected 2023 first-round pick to acquire Lundkvist this past September, which shows you how much faith they have in his abilities. The 22-year-old rearguard certainly hasn’t been bad in his inaugural campaign in Dallas, but he’s also capable of doing much more. While plying his trade on the Stars’ second power-play unit (and a pairing with Ryan Suter at 5-on-5), Lundkvist has a respectable four goals and 12 points in 38 games — and tied his season-high mark with four shots on goal in Sunday’s 5–1 win over the Florida Panthers.

Minnesota Wild: Mason Shaw — Let’s keep it simple: Shaw is a ton of fun to watch. He’s a smaller forward (5’9″, 179 pounds) who has bounced around between the NHL and AHL over the last two seasons, but it’d be surprising to see him relinquish his spot in the Wild lineup now with how well he’s been playing. Shaw plays with great speed and can be relentless on the forecheck, particularly when killing penalties with fellow Iowa Wild alumnus (and roommate) Connor Dewar. Given his history as a solid scorer in the AHL, it isn’t hard to fathom Shaw taking a couple more steps forward in a bigger role.

Nashville Predators: Cody Glass — After struggling to find his footing in Las Vegas, it looks like Glass might finally be on the verge of turning into a player for the Predators. The young center spent most of the 2021–22 season with the Preds’ AHL affiliate and did very well for himself, scoring 62 points in 66 games. He’s been up in Nashville all along this year and has taken on more responsibilities of late, responding in turn with seven points in his last nine games. Glass has both a high 5-on-5 expected goals percentage (54.96) and a low on-ice shooting percentage (6.32) — the perfect recipe for a player poised to go on a run.

St. Louis Blues: Jake Neighbours — The Blues have been one of the league’s most meh teams through the first half of the season. They’ve played 41 games, have won 20 of them, and currently boast a minus-16 goal differential. Feel the excitement. But while the Blues have struggled to score, defend, and find saves, they might be able to rely upon Neighbours to provide more offense down the stretch. The 20-year-old winger is beginning to get a lot of power-play time and, like many on this list, has been hampered by a miserable on-ice shooting percentage (5.33).

Winnipeg Jets: Sam Gagner — We’ve talked a lot about players just breaking into the NHL or reinforcing their positioning in the league. Gagner is an entirely different character. The 33-year-old forward has become one of the NHL’s most reliable mercenaries over the years, making stops in Edmonton, Arizona, Philadelphia, Columbus, Vancouver, Edmonton (again), and Detroit before finally arriving in Winnipeg. Gagner has been a pretty seamless replacement for Paul Stastny as the Jets’ key veteran utility forward and, given his strong individual chance generation rates and relatively poor on-ice shooting luck, he could very well improve upon his current scoring pace down the stretch. 1,004 games into his NHL career, Gagner remains a quality player.

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