For most rookies, acclimatizing to the NHL's physicality, speed, and skill is the most difficult hurdle to overcome in their first year. The obstacles they face are only increased if they jump from an international ice surface to the smaller rinks in the NHL. It’s exceedingly rare that a first-year player can enter the highest level hockey league in the world. That is unless that player is extraordinary.
After the season he just had, there is no doubting that Kirill Kaprizov is special, having just been named as a finalist for the Calder Trophy, recognized as one of the NHL’s top rookies.