Kyle Turris Turning Heads for the Phoenix Coyotes

We all witnessed the future of hockey last season in Chicago, with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.

The year before, it was Evgeni Malkin who made a splash on the NHL scene.  The year before him, it was the Crosby and Ovechkin show.

This season, there is a new kid on the block, and he is gonna create more cases of whiplash than Pam Anderson at a bikini contest.

Need a hint?

He wears number 91—and no, it ain't Steven Stamkos.

It's the Phoenix Coyotes' third-overall pick from the 2007 NHL Entry Draft—Kyle Turris.

The kid has game, folks.  And if the first two games of the 2008-09 regular season are any indication, he may just challenge for top rookie honours this year.

Phoenix is off to a 2-0 start, and Turris has chipped in for one goal and two assists thus far.

Turris is what the Desert Dogs need to turn their struggling franchise around, and he will do it under the radar—unlike the for-mentioned Stamkos.

He is no stranger to putting up points. After all, he did score 66 goals and 55 assists in just 53 games in his final year of juniors. So his three points in the first two games this season shouldn't come as a surprise.

What may be a surprise is that the young phenom didn't crack the squad last year—but he did win yet another World Junior Gold with Canada, and matured as a hockey player with the Wisconsin Badgers (though he put up marginal numbers, by his standards).

With the "Great One" Wayne Gretzky taking him under his wing, Turris may just have one up on the other rookies this season—and then some.

In any case, the fans in Phoenix have a reason to be optimistic for the first time since this team came from Winnipeg. And with teams like Colorado, Calgary, and Anaheim sputtering out of the gate, a playoff birth isn't out of the question.

This team's fortunes are finally turning around, and it starts with Kyle Turris.