Rick Osentoski – USA TODAY Sports
The season opening matchup between Central Division foes the St. Louis Blues and the Detroit Red Wings not only kicks off the season for both teams, but will kick off the NHL careers of two highly-touted prospects as well.
The Blues are excited to see what Russian star Vladimir Tarasenko can do in North America this season. The 2010 first round pick stayed in the KHL during the lockout, taking advantage of a chance to play with Ilya Kovalchuk. Through 31 games, he had 14 goals and 31 points, on pace for his best season yet. Last season, he scored 18 goals and racked up 38 points for Novosibirsk Siber before being traded to St. Petersburg SKA, where he added five more goals. He’s fast, has great hands and scores beautiful goals (see YouTube) – the big question is how his game will translate to a smaller ice surface. If he can live up to even half of the comparisons to Evgeni Malkin or Alexander Ovechkin, he’ll not only boost the Blues this season, he may compete for the Calder Trophy too.
Swiss forward Damien Brunner comes to the Wings with high expectations, after leading Switzerland’s top league in scoring during the lockout. While paired with Red Wings teammate Henrik Zetterberg, Brunner scored 25 goals and added 32 assists in just 33 games for EV Zug. The two flashed some of their chemistry during the team’s Red-White scrimmage game on Tuesday, creating several scoring chances. The pair will be joined by Pavel Datsyuk on Detroit’s top line, and could be lethal on the offensive end.
The debuts of two exciting players will only add to the excitement of opening night, and both teams will hope to see early on that their prospects can make the transition to the NHL quickly.
