Top 10 Best NHL Rookies 2023-2024 Rankings

Updating the Best NHL Rookies so far in the 2023-2024 NHL season as Connor Bedard of the Chicago Blackhawks leads the way

By admin | December 13, 2023

Top NHL Rookies 2023-2024

Inching closer and closer to the midway point of the NHL season and the holiday break, it has been a fantastic year for rookie skaters in the league. The Anaheim Ducks, in particular, are loaded with young talent, and two rookies are currently in the top ten in rookie scoring. Here are the top ten NHL rookies so far this season.

Honorable Mention

Bobby Brink

Team: Philadelphia Flyers

Previous Ranking: Unranked

The honorable mention goes to Bobby Brink, who has miraculously bounced back from hype surgery. After three incredible seasons with the DU Pioneers, winning the NCAA championship and a gold medal at the 2021 WJC.

So far this season, Brink has scored four goals and seven assists for 11 points. He has only played 21 games this season as the Flyers have been rotating their rookies.

Top 10 Best NHL Rookies

10. Matthew Poitras

Team: Boston Bruins

Previous Ranking: Unranked

Poitras had two very successful OHL seasons with the Guelph Storm of the OHL before making the Bruins roster.

After 131 games, 40 goals and 108 points. Poitras was able to impress the Bruins brass and, at just 19 years old, made the Bruins roster during the preseason.

Currently centering the third line, he is currently 8^th in points on their roster. Poitras has five goals and seven assists for 12 points this season.

9. Pavel Mintyukov

Team: Anaheim Ducks

Previous Ranking: Unranked

Mintyukov was drafted 52^nd overall by Saginaw during the 2020 import draft. Due to the pandemic, he did not join the Spirit until the 2021–2022 season. In his rookie season in Canada, he scored 14 goals and had 45 assists for 62 points.

This earned him the tenth overall pick in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. After three seasons, 136 games, 41 goals and 109 assists, he made his NHL debut this season with Leo Carlsson. He currently has one goal and 12 assists as a rookie defenseman.

8. Leo Carlsson

Team: Anaheim Ducks

Previous Ranking: Unranked

The lottery balls fell, and the Ducks were able to get the second overall pick in the 2023 draft. While everyone thought that Fantilli was the easy pick, the Ducks took the Swedish center instead.

After 79 games in the SHL, he scored 13 goals and 21 assists for 34 points. He joined the Ducks this season, and they have been slowly putting him in and out of the lineup as he adjusts to the North American ice. He has eight goals and five assists for 13 points in just 18 games.

7. Logan Cooley

Team: Arizona Coyotes

Previous Ranking: Unranked

Logan Cooley had a slow start to the season but has heated up in a big way. The former University of Minnesota Gopher had a heartbreaking end in overtime last season, but he had 22 goals and 38 assists for 60 points.

Going pro, Cooley now has three goals and 11 assists for 14 points. Cooley and the Coyotes have been red-hot, and he will surely fly up this list.

6. Luke Evangelista

Team: Nashville Predators

Previous Ranking: Unranked

One of the few non-first-round picks on this list, Evangelista has been a pleasant surprise for the Predators in what is going to be an uneventful year. Drafted 42^nd overall in the 2020 NHL Draft, he had a rough start to the NHL.

Due to the pandemic, Evangelista spent time with the Admirals during the 2020–2021 season, and when he returned to the OHL, he led the league with 55 goals.

The Milwaukee Admirals are one of the best AHL clubs in the league for development, and Evangelista is a testament to this fact. In 25 games this season, he has four goals and 10 assists for 14 points.

5. Dmitri Voronkov

Team: Columbus Blue Jackets

Previous Ranking: Unranked

Voronkov was drafted by the Blue Jackets 114^th overall in 2019 and took his time coming over to the NHL. After four seasons with AK Bars Kazan, he came over to the NHL. In 182 games in the KHL, he scored 37 goals and 37 assists for 74 points.

After brief consideration of returning to Russia, the rookie has found a home in Ohio. In just 23 games this season, he has five goals and nine assists for 14 points.

4. Marco Rossi

Team: Minnesota Wild

Previous Ranking: Unranked

There was some serious concern for a while that Rossi might have been a waste of a top-10 pick. Thankfully for the Wild and their fans, it looks like this is not the case.

After some injuries and impressive play in the AHL, Rossi is here to stay in the NHL. In what is hopefully a full, healthy season in the NHL, Rossi has eight goals and seven assists for 15 points in 25 games.

3. Luke Hughes

Team: New Jersey Devils

Previous Ranking: 3

It’s a Hughes Brothers NHL, and we all get to witness it. Drafted fourth overall in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, he joined the Devils organization with his brother Jack.

After two immensely successful seasons with the University of Michigan Wolverines in the NCAA, he finally went pro last season. Although he was sparingly used, he is now a full-time player in the NHL.

So far in his first full professional season, he has four goals and 12 assists for 16 points in 25 games.

2. Adam Fantilli

Team: Columbus Blue Jackets

Previous Ranking: 2

While Adam Fantilli leads rookies in games played this season, he is still five points behind the number one player on our list.

Even though he was drafted 18^th overall in the OHL draft, and was considered a top Canadian prospect, he had previously committed to playing for the Chicago Steel in the USHL.

After two seasons, he went to the NCAA with Michigan, scoring 65 points in 36 games. So far this season with Columbus, Fantilli has eight goals and eight assists for 16 points.

1. Connor Bedard

Team: Chicago Blackhawks

Previous Ranking: 1

What is there to say about Connor Bedard that has not already been said before? One of the best players in WHL history is now looking to start his NHL legacy as one of the next generational talents in the league.

Even with a ridiculously tough schedule, Bedard is finding a way to put the points up. So far this season, Bedard has scored 11 goals and 10 assists for 21 points in 25 games.

How would you rank the best NHL Rookies going into the 2023-2024 season? Rank below to be added in the NHL Power Rankings.