NHL Under The Radar Breakouts

This past NHL season appears to have come to a close as far as the regular-season goes, now with rumors swirling that the NHL could forgo the remaining games left for teams and jump straight into the playoffs its an appropriate time to look back on some of the breakout player that some of you either didn't see coming, or just flat out didn't even notice while it was happening. For this section I've chosen 5 players and if you see a player you think should be on the list, don't worry there will be a second part to the series.

Columbus Blue Jacket Goalies:

Coming into this season all/any hopes fans had for the Blue Jackets season after the departures of Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky went out the window entirely, but when play hit a pause the Blue Jackets sat at a 33-22-15 record and in the hunt for a playoff spot. One of if not the major weakness was the goalie situation and both Elvis Merzlikins and Joonas Korpisalo both ended up having great seasons for the Jackets. The pairing would split starts for the full season with merzlikins starting in 31 games and Korpisalo with 35. Both net-minders would put up solid GAA numbers with Merzlinkis at 2.35 and a .923 save% which would rank 5th in the entire league. Korpisalo would be a step down but was just as effective in net putting together a 2.60 GAA and a .911 save%. Merzlinkis would have 5 shutouts ranking second in the league, Korpisalo would have 2. All the problems at the beginning of the season about what they would do without Bobrovsky, turns out it worked out in the teams favor as Bobrosvky would put up a 3.23 GAA and a .900 save% while carrying a cap hit of $10 million for the next 6 seasons for his new team in Florida.

Pavel Francouz: Goalie/Colorado Avalanche:

For a the past few seaons one of Colorado's problems has been finding a goaltender to lead the now dynamic offense to the playoffs and they got a lot of that this year with the goal-tending tandem of Pavel Francouz and Phillip Grubauer. The one i want to focus on is the 29 year old Pavel Francouz who before coming into the season had spent his time overseas prior to joining Colorado last season. Francouz was given a chance when Phillip Grubauer went down with an injury and he did nit disappoint. He would appear in 34 games and start 30 of them putting together a 2.41 GAA and a .923 save% which would help his 21-7 record. Many including myself probably didn't notice the great season he was putting together since like i said prior, he was basically an unknown goalie playing overseas before coming over to America last season where he wouldn't necessarily shine in the AHL but he definitely stepped up and the Avalanche are hoping he can continue his high level of play once play resumes.

Ryan Graves: Defense/Colorado Avalanche

This is a breakout where some may be confused, as Graves wasn't even in the top 50 in points for a defense man with 26 points in 69 games. But the thing that really ticks out is his league leading +/- rating of +40. You could make the argument that its pure luck being on the ice for that many goals on a team that has Nathan Mckinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen, but considering he ranks third among defense in defensive point shares at 5.2. Graves was on the ice for a total of 75 goals against, but his expected goals against (XGA) was at a low 35.8. For those that don't know, expected goals against (XGA) is a stat that given where shots came from, for and against, while this player was on the ice at even strength.

It's based on where the shots are coming from, compared to the league-wide shooting percentage for that shot location. its a good stat to look at as far as how many "bad goals" are being let him while said player is on the ice.

Anthony Mantha: Forward/Detroit Red-Wings

Surprise surprise we have a Red Wings player on the list! Although Mantha only played in 43 games in large part due to a punctured lung and rib injury he suffered near the end of December. While he was on the ice though he was one of if not the better players on the last place Red Wings this past season. He was on his way to a career year but again, injuries and the season on pause sort of put a damper on things. He is a RFA this off-season so depending on how teams view this half season breakout, he could be looking at a big pay raise.

Travis Konecny: Forward/Philadelphia Flyers:

The last 3 season Konecny has put together solid numbers with a high of 49 points last season. This season he took a huge leap with 61 points in 66 games which would lead the team. His +/- of -1 is nothing special but his expected +/- of +8 is something to take note of. He spent majority of the season on the 2nd line playing 16:48 on average per game. Next season though especially with him getting more leash or even being bumped up a line, could put up even bigger numbers. Especially when you look at the guy between the pipes Carter Hart who is showing to be one of the next young top goaltenders waiting in the shadows.