Young Players Having the Biggest Impact on the 2015-16 NHL Season

One of the quirkier distinctions of the 2016 World Cup of Hockey is the organizers' decision to include a Team North America made up of players who will be 23 or under when the tournament takes place next September.

The NHL has been infiltrated by a new generation of stars—many of whom are realizing their potential at younger and younger ages.

Here's a look at the most prominent youngsters around the league so far this season. All players fall within the Team North America age cutoff, but for this list, all nationalities are welcome.

With so many good young players to choose from, we gave preference to those who have taken noticeable leaps forward this season or are putting up particularly impressive numbers.

10. Mika Zibanejad: Ottawa Senators

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Age: 22

Career NHL Stats: 218 games played, 45 goals, 68, assists, 113 points

2015-16 NHL Stats: 18 GP, 2-11-13

It seems incredible that Mika Zibanejad is in his fourth full NHL season but doesn't turn 23 until next April. The sixth overall pick from the 2011 draft has made steady strides forward every year of his career so far.

He scored 20 goals last season, and his 13 points so far this year have him on pace for a career-high 60 points—even as he sits sixth in scoring on the high-flying Senators.

Zibanejad's trademarks are his sweet shot and his versatility, which make him a valuable member of Ottawa's group of forwards.

9. Teuvo Teravainen: Chicago Blackhawks

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Age: 21

Career NHL Stats: 54 GP, 8-10-18

2015-16 NHL Stats: 17 GP, 4-5-9

Artemi Panarin of the Chicago Blackhawks is making headlines as the NHL's leading rookie scorer this season, but at 24 he's too old for this list. That's an excellent reason to turn the spotlight on super sophomore Teuvo Teravainen, whose speed and soft hands enable him to light the lamp with regularity.

The dynamic Finn's stat lines above don't tell the whole story. He also showed he has big-game poise as he collected 10 points in 18 games while the Chicago Blackhawks marched to the Stanley Cup last spring.

Teravainen's nine points so far this season already equal his output from 34 games in 2013-14. Considering the superstar forwards above Teravainen on the Chicago depth chart, he's doing well with his ice time, which includes an average of one minute, 52 seconds per game on the power play.

8. Morgan Rielly: Toronto Maple Leafs

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Age: 21

Career NHL Stats: 172 GP, 13-54-67

2015-16 NHL Stats: 18 GP, 3-8-11

The Toronto Maple Leafs may be going through a year of transition under new head coach Mike Babcock, but it's clear they've got one foundation piece to anchor their rebuild.

Morgan Rielly looks like he's on his way to becoming a franchise defenseman, playing on Toronto's top pair with Matt Hunwick. The 21-year-old is tied with Dion Phaneuf for the Leafs' scoring lead and sitting just outside the top 10 in scoring among all NHL blueliners.

Rielly's game has grown by leaps and bounds at both ends of the ice this season. He should be an anchor in Toronto for many years to come.

7. Leon Draisaitl: Edmonton Oilers

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Age: 20

Career NHL Stats: 45 GP, 7-15-22

2015-16 NHL Stats: 8 GP, 5-8-13

Two weeks ago, all the attention in Edmonton was on young star Connor McDavid, who was living up to sky-high expectations in his first NHL season before suffering a fractured clavicle on November 3.

The Oilers have struggled since McDavid's injury, going 1-4-0, but one cause for optimism has been the play of sophomore Leon Draisaitl.

Chosen third overall in 2013, the big German started the season in the minors. In eight games since he was recalled in late October, he's scoring at an average clip of 1.625 points per game and has already eclipsed the nine points he collected in 37 games last season.

At the beginning of the year, it looked like McDavid may have squeezed Draisaitl out of the Oilers lineup. Now, it's hard to imagine the team without him.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 22, has also been a standout. He's second in Oilers scoring with 14 points. Nail Yakupov, also 22, got off to a great start but has managed just one point in the five games since his linemate McDavid was injured.

6. Dylan Larkin: Detroit Red Wings

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Age: 19

Career NHL Stats: 18 GP, 5-7-12

2015-16 NHL Stats: 18 GP, 5-7-12

After just one year of college hockey, Dylan Larkin has made an effortless jump to the Detroit Red Wings' top six, quickly establishing himself as one of the team's top forwards and earning opportunities to play with talented veteran linemates such as Henrik Zetterberg and, now, Pavel Datsyuk.

Larkin is tied for third in rookie scoring and plays an exciting style that has made him an immediate fan favorite. His plus-12 ranking shows that he also has tremendous two-way acumen, especially for such a young player.

Just 18 games into his pro career, the 15th overall pick from the 2014 draft has only just begun to show what he can do.

5. Colton Parayko: St. Louis Blues

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Age: 22

Career NHL Stats: 18 GP, 5-7-12

2015-16 NHL Stats: 18 GP, 5-7-12

Colton Parayko is probably the biggest surprise of the season so far—a raw rookie who has become a top-pairing defenseman on the defensively demanding St. Louis Blues before his pro career is 20 games old.

Blues coach Ken Hitchcock is known for being a taskmaster with his players, but he has shown extraordinary trust in Parayko, who combines a hulking 6'5" frame with a howitzer of a shot that he has already used to score three game-winning goals this season.

Parayko's 12 points and plus-10 ranking make his debut even more impressive than that of Ben Hutton of the Vancouver Canucks. Both players were chosen late in the 2012 draft—Parayko in the third round and Hutton in the fifth—and went the college route before making a splash this year at training camp. Hutton has collected eight assists so far and is averaging 17:36 of ice time per game, compared to 19:42 for Parayko.

4. Johnny Gaudreau: Calgary Flames

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Age: 22

Career NHL Stats: 100 GP, 29-53-82

2015-16 NHL Stats: 19 GP, 4-13-17

There's no sophomore slump this season for super scorer Johnny Gaudreau.

Even though his Calgary Flames are struggling, Gaudreau has actually picked up his scoring pace compared to the 64-point rookie season that earned him third place in Calder Trophy voting last season.

A bargain fourth-round pick for the Flames because of his small stature (5'9", 157 lbs), Gaudreau is proving to be one of the most skilled young players in the NHL today—and plays on a line with another young standout, 21-year-old center Sean Monahan.

Gaudreau's 17 points rank 16th overall in the NHL scoring race. Monahan is not too far behind, with 13 points so far this season.

3. Jack Eichel: Buffalo Sabres

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Age: 19

Career NHL Stats: 17 GP, 6-3-9

2015-16 NHL Stats: 17 GP, 6-3-9

The poster child for the Buffalo Sabres rebuild, second-overall pick Jack Eichel has quickly established himself as a key member of the team's new top six forwards.

Eichel is averaging a respectable 18:49 of ice time per game—fourth among Buffalo forwards—and is showing his dynamic creativity on both special teams as well as five-on-five.

The Sabres are well-stocked with plenty of young talent, including forwards Zemgus Girgensons (21) and Sam Reinhart (20) defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen (21) and goaltender Linus Ullmark (22), who has done an impressive job in the net after new starter Robin Lehner was injured during the first game of the season.

2. Max Domi: Arizona Coyotes

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Age: 20

Career NHL Stats: 18 GP, 8-8-16

2015-16 NHL Stats: 18 GP, 8-8-16

Max Domi looks like he's about to become the Arizona Coyotes' first true offensive star since Keith Tkachuk scored 52 goals in 1996-97—the team's first season in the desert after relocating from Winnipeg.

Max's father Tie Domi, who was a member of the original Winnipeg Jets from 1992 to 1995, was best known for his hard-nosed playing style. Max has some edge in his game, but his hands are his primary weapon.

Domi's 16 points in his first 18 NHL games rank him second in rookie scoring behind 24-year-old Artemi Panarin, and his eight goals lead the Coyotes. Anthony Duclair, who's also 20, is second on the team with seven goals and ranks 11th in the NHL with an astronomical shooting percentage of 29.2.

1. Nathan MacKinnon: Colorado Avalanche

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Age: 20

Career NHL Stats: 163 GP, 46-74-120

2015-16 NHL Stats: 17 GP, 8-11-19

Nathan MacKinnon is back on track in his third NHL season, averaging better than one point per game as the Colorado Avalanche try to climb the ranks of the tough Central Division.

The 2014 Calder Trophy winner turned some heads when he picked up three points and scored his league-leading fourth game-winning goal when the Avs handed the sizzling Montreal Canadiens their first regulation home-ice loss of the year on November 14.

MacKinnon is seventh in NHL scoring and is being supported by two of the Avs' other young guns. Captain Gabriel Landeskog, who turns 23 on November 23, is fourth in team scoring with 12 points, and 21-year-old Mikhail Grigorenko exploded for three points when he moved up to MacKinnon's line against Montreal.

All stats courtesy of NHL.com.