Rookie Watch: Michkov, Stankoven among top 1st-year players in Metropolitan Division

The impact several rookies are making on the NHL is one of the major storylines of the 2024-25 season. Each week, NHL.com will examine topics related to this season's class in the Rookie Watch. This week, the top five rookies in the Metropolitan Division (in alphabetical order):

Emil Andrae, D, Philadelphia Flyers: Andrae (5-foot-9, 189 pounds), a second-round pick (No. 54) in the 2020 NHL Draft, was recalled from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League on March 7. The 23-year-old has six points (one goal, five assists) and averaging 18:35 of ice time in 28 games. He ranks sixth among Flyers defensemen in hits (33), and seventh in blocked shots (38) and takeaways (12). He has 16 points (three goals, 13 assists) in 25 games with Lehigh Valley.

"The part of the game that I like is his transition game," Philadelphia coach John Tortorella said in November. "I like what he's done on the power play, too. I love what he's doing with the puck, but he's got to get better anticipation skills for him to maybe get the pucks in the defensive zone instead of just closing big bodies out; that's where he struggles. He might be able to get to the puck first and get us going. I think he's got some moxie as far as not being afraid to make a play."

Jackson Blake, F, Carolina Hurricanes: The fourth-round pick (No. 109) in the 2021 NHL Draft earned his place in the lineup with a relentless work ethic, particularly in his own zone. He's also provided some offensive spark, scoring 23 points (11 goals, 12 assists) in a top six role while averaging 13:18 of ice time. Carolina has a 60.7 shot-attempts percentage at 5-on-5 when Blake is on the ice. The 21-year-old right wing, the son of retired NHL forward Jason Blake, scored his first NHL goal in his third game, a 4-2 win against the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 15, deflecting a shot by Dmitry Orlov at 10:16 of the third period. Blake led the University of North Dakota in goals (22), assists (38) and points (60) as a sophomore last season, when he was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award as the top NCAA Division I men's ice hockey player.

"He's just continued his progression," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "He's really impactful out there and he doesn't look out of place, that's for sure. It takes time coming out of college, but the college game is really a great learning area to take that next step."

Matvei Michkov, F, Philadelphia Flyers: He was named the NHL's Rookie of the Month for February after leading all first-year players with five goals and 10 points in seven games. Michkov (5-10, 172), who also earned Rookie of the Month honors for October, is second among rookies in goals (20) and third with 47 points in 66 games. The right wing has averaged 16:15 of ice time and is tied with San Jose Sharks forward Macklin Celebrini for the NHL rookie lead with seven power-play goals. Since the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off, Michkov has 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in 11 games while averaging 17:18 of ice time.

Flyers captain Sean Couturier knows it hasn't been easy for Michkov in his first season in North America but appreciates how he continues to work hard to have an impact.

"I think it was a lot harder, for me personally, at the start of the year, because of the language," Couturier said. "We weren't sure if he always understood or not. Now I feel he's starting to understand more. He's starting to open up and give feedback, talk back. You can kind of understand where he's coming from. If he doesn't understand, he'll try to make sure he gets the point, whether it's a conversation or a joke. He's getting more comfortable just to kind of give some feedback and wanting to learn."

Logan Stankoven, F, Carolina Hurricanes: Stankoven (5-8, 165) was acquired by the Hurricanes in the trade that sent forward Mikko Rantanen to the Dallas Stars on March 7. He has 31 points (10 goals, 21 assists) in 63 games this season, including two points (one goal, one assist) in four games with the Hurricanes. His high danger shots on goal (45) lands in the 82nd percentile League-wide, and well above the League average (25.7), per NHL EDGE. The 22-year-old, who can play the wing and center, had 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in 24 regular-season games in 2023-24, and eight points (three goals, five assists) in 19 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

Selected by Dallas in the second round (No. 47) of the 2021 NHL Draft, Stankoven has one season remaining on his three-year, entry-level contract he signed with the Stars on Sept. 28, 2021.

"He is a really aggressive player just by nature," Carolina general manager Eric Tulsky said. "When the puck is on his stick, he's very shifty with it, he's very aggressive, he's attacking on offense. And when he's going and recovering loose pucks, he's always the first one in on it, he's always there pressuring and getting into peoples' bodies and making things difficult. He's not the tallest guy in the world, but he plays bigger than he looks, he plays hard, competes hard, and that's what we look for in a Hurricanes player."

Maxim Tsyplakov, F, New York Islanders: Tsyplakov (6-3, 210), who was undrafted, has been playing a bottom six role of late with center Kyle MacLean and right wing Marc Gatcomb, and has 28 points (eight goals, 20 assists) in 61 games. The Islanders have a 51.3 percent shot-attempts percentage at 5-on-5 and 54.2 percent on-ice goals-for percentage at 5-on-5 when the native of Moscow, Russia, was on the ice. New York signed the left-handed shot out of the Kontinental Hockey League on May 16 after he had 31 goals and 47 points for Spartak Moscow. He made an impressionable start to the season but has been struggling a bit with turnovers; he is fourth on the Islanders with 66 giveaways.

"It's something that he's been doing since the start of the season, you know? And we want to fix that," New York coach Patrick Roy said. "I don't like to go in the media after a game, but, sometimes, you have to do what you have to do. I think that when we made the trade (Brock Nelson to the Colorado Avalanche on March 6), we said, everybody needs to step up, and 'Tsyppy' is one of the guys that needs to step up as well."

Tsyplakov has 24 giveaways in 23 games since Jan. 1. He's eligible for the Calder Trophy given to the NHL rookie of the year since he didn't celebrate his 26th birthday by Sept. 15 of the season he's eligible. He turned 26 on Sept. 19.