Five NHL players whose stocks rose in the 2024-25 preseason

Vancouver Canucks right winger Daniel Sprong

Credit: Oct 4, 2024; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks forward Daniel Sprong (91) skates against the Edmonton Oilers during the third period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images

The 2024-25 NHL season has begun in earnest, with eight teams playing at least one game since the Global Series kicked off last week in Czechia. Still, 24 teams await their first contests, so it’s a good time to take stock of what transpired among them during the pre-season.

More specifically: which players did the most to change their outlooks for the better over the past month? Here’s a look at five pre-season risers. Disclaimer: I excluded rookies from this list. If you’ve never played in the NHL before, you can’t really “rise” from any previous set of circumstances.

Anthony Beauvillier, Pittsburgh Penguins

Beauvillier never delivered on the promise that made the New York Islanders select him 28^th overall in the 2015 Draft. He has topped out as a feisty, inconsistent middle-six forward who has reached 20 goals and 40 points once in his career. But Beauvillier has produced in spurts when pressed into bigger roles, most notably as a Vancouver Canuck in 2022-23 when he came over in the Bo Horvat trade and established nice chemistry with Elias Pettersson.

The Pens inked Beauvillier to a one-year deal over the summer, and he’s getting another chance to make a splash on a top line. He showed a good rapport from Sidney Crosby pretty much immediately and has been glued to his wing since the start of camp. While we have to take preseason results with a grain of salt, Beauvillier was an ice-tilter, compiling the second-most individual shot attempts per 60 of any Penguin at 5-on-5. With Bryan Rust on IR to open the season, the odds of Beauvillier staying on the top line only increase, and his speedy game makes him a natural fit with Sid.

Brandt Clarke, Los Angeles Kings

If you play six or more NHL games in multiple seasons, you lose rookie status, so Clarke no longer qualifies, having played nine and 16 games, respectively, in his past two seasons. For several years now, the hockey world has excitedly watched his ascension into a top-drawer offensive defenseman prospect. As a Barrie Colt in the 2022-23 OHL season, he put up a jaw-dropping 61 points in 31 games. Last year, in his first full AHL campaign, he tallied 46 points in 50 games. He saw sheltered action in the NHL, playing just 13:39 a night and not suiting up for any playoff action, but the Kings need him much more this season. Drew Doughty’s fractured ankle, sustained in a pre-season game, will sideline him months even in the best-case scenario, and Clarke is the only right-shot defenseman on the team with a scoring skill set remotely similar to Doughty’s. Clarke will slot into the top power-play quarterback job and has a golden opportunity to break out.

Pavel Dorofeyev, Vegas Golden Knights

The signs were quietly there if you looked closely enough. In 65 games of NHL duty across the previous two seasons, Dorofeyev managed 20 goals, including 18 at even strength, in 65 games despite averaging 13:32 of ice time. He quietly placed 10^th among all NHLers in goals per 60 at 5-on-5 over that span. With the Golden Knights capped out and uncharacteristically unable to make big-ticket additions this offseason, Dorofeyev has been locked into a top-six role. Clicking on a line with Tomas Hertl and Alexander Holts, Dorofeyev led all NHLers in pre-season goals and points. Has Vegas uncovered a gem with its 2019 third-round pick?

Moritz Seider, Detroit Red Wings

Seider over the past three seasons has landed in the 100^th percentile in difficulty of competition, simply thrown to the wolves, asked to be a shutdown horse while sometimes paired with weak partners. His play-driving results have been middling and his offensive role has been stifled; last season, he sat 42^nd among blueliners in power-play TOI per game. In 2024-25 training camp, however, he leapfrogged offseason signing and power-play specialist Erik Gustafsson. Seider is now working on Detroit’s PP1 unit. His huge defensive responsibility will remain taxing, but perhaps we’ll at least see career-best offensive numbers from the big German.

Daniel Sprong, Vancouver Canuc ks

Just give Sprong a chance, and he puts the puck in the net. He sits top-10 in the NHL in goals per 60 at 5-on-5 over the past two seasons, managing 39 goals despite playing a piddly 11:44 per game. Even though prospect Jonathan Lekkerimaki got most of the ice time on the Pettersson line in the preseason, Sprong was waiting in the wings, impressing with plays like this doozie. Once Lekkerimaki was cut, Sprong elevated to the Pettersson line alongside Jake DeBrusk. If Sprong can maintain top-six deployment, he has a real chance to smash his career best of 21 goals.

_____