Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Surviving Rookies

10/02/2013 at 10:24am EDT

from Dan Rosen of NHL.com,

It may still be a few years before anyone can determine just how deep the 2013 NHL Draft was, but the early returns are matching the hype that accompanied this year's class.

Seven of the top 10 picks survived the final round of training-camp cuts to make the opening-night roster of their respective teams. Six will definitely be in the lineup, with an injury potentially postponing the debut of Carolina Hurricanes forward Elias Lindholm.

It's the most top-10 picks to make opening-night rosters since seven members of the 2008 NHL Draft survived the final cuts in their first training camp. That year's rookie class included Steven Stamkos, Drew Doughty, Zach Bogosian, Alex Pietrangelo, Luke Schenn, Mikael Boedker and Josh Bailey, who started the season on injured reserve and didn't make his debut for the New York Islanders until November.

This year the survivors are Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche), Aleksander Barkov (Florida Panthers), Seth Jones (Nashville Predators), Lindholm (Carolina Hurricanes), Sean Monahan (Calgary Flames), Rasmus Ristolainen (Buffalo Sabres) and Valeri Nichushkin (Dallas Stars).

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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