This year’s NHL rookie class is without a doubt one of the best ones we have witnessed in a long time.
18-year-old Patrik Laine and 19-year-old Auston Matthews currently sit in the top two spots of the rookie scoring race with 61 and 60 points heading into Friday night's action, and they don’t look like they’re going to slow down anytime soon.
Over the years, players who have totaled a minimum of 60 points in a season before the age of 20 have gone on to have impressive careers. Here are eight players who put up incredible numbers before they turned 20.
Sidney Crosby
There was a lot of hype surrounding Sidney Crosby from a very young age and it was all for a good reason. Crosby played two full seasons in the NHL before he turned 20 and put up numbers that will most likely never be topped by an upcoming rookie. In his rookie season, Crosby scored 39 goals and put up a massive 102 points. The following year, his goal total dropped to 36 but his point total increased to 120. In his first 160 games, the two-time Hart Trophy winner put up a whopping 222 points.
Jaromir Jagr
Jaromir Jagr scored 27 goals and totaled 57 points during his rookie season as an 18-year-old, and statistically speaking it was one of the worst years of his career. The following year he upped his production total to 32 goals and 69 points and then went on an absolute tear after that, recording 90 or more points in 8 of the next 9 seasons, with the only one being the shortened season in 1994-95.
Eric Lindros
When hockey fans think of a 19-year-old Eric Lindros, they think of the guy who refused to go play for the Quebec Nordiques. The first overall selection of the 1991 NHL Entry Draft put up 41 goals and 75 points in his first career 61 games. However, his rookie season went a little unnoticed because a 22-year-old by the name of Teemu Selanne scored 76 goals and put up 132 points that year.
Steven Stamkos
Steven Stamkos had a bit of a down year during his rookie campaign. As an 18-year-old, Stamkos scored 23 goals and added 23 assists for 46 points, but everything changed for him that offseason. The following year, Stamkos came out flying and scored 51 goals to secure the Rocket Richard Trophy. Aside from his 51 goals, he added 44 points for a massive 95 points. Despite being plagued by some freak injuries throughout his career, Stamkos continues to be a point-per-game player when he’s healthy.
Connor McDavid
Connor McDavid didn’t get to play out his first full season in the NHL, but he still finished with an impressive 48 points in 45 games. He didn’t turn 20-years-old until January of this year, making his NHL totals as a teenager beyond impressive.
Joe Sakic
Joe Sakic got off to a hot right from the get go as he put up 62 points in 70 games as a 19-year-old. He would go on to score at least 100 points in three of his next four seasons and went on to have a Hall of Fame career.
Pierre Turgeon
Pierre Turgeon’s rookie season as an 18-year-old was nothing to write home about. He scored just 14 goals and finished with 42 points in 76 games, but that lack of production didn’t last much longer throughout his career. He followed up his rookie campaign by scoring 34 goals and totaling 88 points as a 19-year-old and recorded his first 100-point season the following year.
Jimmy Carson
Jimmy Carson might be known best as being one of the key players involved in the Wayne Gretzky trade, but he actually had a pretty good career going before he called it quits at the age of 27. In his first season with the Kings, Carson put up 79 points in 80 games. Over the next two seasons, Carson scored 104 goals and totaled 207 points. His career didn’t last as long as he had hoped, but he still finished with 561 career points in 626 games.
