Worth the wait: after faltering in 2002, Islanders winger Trent Hunter stuck in the NHL—and led all rookies in goal scoring

Hockey Digest, July-August, 2004 by John Kreiser

Bergeron led all rookies with seven power-play goals during the first three-quarters of the season, but he's more than just a gunner.

"He can play at both ends of the rink," says Sullivan. "He gets big goals at key times, he can kill penalties, he takes face-offs on the right side, and he plays in a lot of key situations for us. That's really something special for an 18-year-old kid."

Bergeron's all-around game has impressed his teammates, too.

"He's poised beyond his years," center Brian Rolston says. "To be as aware as he is in the defensive zone as well as the offensive zone--he plays the whole game."

Bergeron put his offensive game on display on national TV in late February in Philadelphia, where he beat Sean Burke from the right circle to break a tie in a game the Bruins won 43, but says he's "more the type of guy who's going to pick up a rebound. I just try to be in the right spot at the right time."

Hunter, Malone, and Bergeron are part of an excellent class of first-year for wards that also includes Montreal's Michael Ryder, Toronto's Nick Stajan, and Calgary's Matthew Lombardi, plus 18-year-olds Eric Staal of Carolina and Nathan Horton of Florida. It's as a good a crop of first-year forwards as the NHL has seen in several years.

And though Bergeron has given the Bruins a boost up front, fellow rookie Andrew Raycroft might be their most important addition.

With a goals-against average around 2.00 and a save percentage in the neighborhood of .930, the 24-year-old goaltender came out of nowhere to take the No. 1 job away from veteran Felix Potvin, who the Bruins signed as a free agent with the expectation that he would plug their hole in goal. Instead, the 135th pick in the 1998 draft (15 spots ahead of Hunter), took the starting job away from the veteran after spending three years at Providence in the AHL learning his craft.

"He's a great kid," says Sullivan, who coached Raycroft at Providence and got the top job in Boston this season. "He wants to get better and that's how he approaches every game."

Like many of today's young goaltenders, Raycroft is efficient rather than spectacular, relying on positioning rather than reflexes to stop pucks. "I don't try to do too much out there," he says. "I just try to let the play come to me, get in position, and let things happen. I think that's the most efficient way to do it."

Potvin, who serves as Raycroft's backup and mentor, says the Bruins are being rewarded for their patience.

"They brought him up the right way," who played in the NHL as a 20-year-old. "He played a couple of years in the minors and they didn't rush

Both of our top first-year defensemen are Europeans. But while Marek Zidlicky spent a lot of time on the other side of the Atlantic honing his skills, Joni needed only one season after being drafted to make an impact.

The Philadelphia Flyers wanted Pitkanen badly--they shipped forward Ruslan Fedotenko to Tampa Bay to move up to fourth in the 2002 Entry Draft to nab him. The 6-foot-3, 200-pounder spent one more year playing at home in Finland before joining the Flyers last fall. And though he's barely 20, he's already the best offensive defenseman the Flyers have had since Eric Desjardins was in his prime.