Watch out rookies!

Not our rookies so much as the rest of the league's rookies. With the way that Dubinsky has been playing as of late its time to start thinking (I know this early in the season) for him to be rookie of the year. Yea, he needs to start putting a few more points on the board but I see that happening real soon. Playing with Jagr and soon Straka on his other flank this will add to his point totals. Personally I think he is playing great and could pull some votes away as long as he starts putting up the points. There is very little chance that he will outscore Kane of Chicago but with everthing else he does on the ice he very well could pull it off.

Now that I got talking about rookies I'm sure people will be saying but what about Dawes and Staal? Hell Dubinsky may not even be the best rookie on his own team how could he be rookie of the year? Yes Staal has been impressive and as far as I can tell he should be included in the listing for rookie of the year as well there is no question about that. I took my information on the top 5 rookies from thefourthperiod.com. Here is what is up right now:Kane, Toews, Cogliano, Erik Johnson, and Carey Price. I can eliminate 2 of them right now Price and Johnson, Price isn't the starter on his own team right now and unless that happens he will not get any consideration for the rookie of the year. He has currently played only 6 games, this could change but if it doesn't then he will be out of the race. Johnson has only played 5 games. Not sure what is the deal with him, he is listed on the roster but is not playing or has just started playing, no injuries are listed for him.

Dubinsky and Staal have played every game for the Rangers and have made great contributions to the team and are some of the best players on the team. Staal is easily one of the best defensemen on the team, I would rank him in the top 3 on the team currently. Being ranked that high on the league second stingiest defense is pretty impressive for a rookie, even if he doesn't have that many points (even though he will probably have around 20 at the end of the season). Dubinsky started the year on the third line with Prucha and Callahan, which without some injuries he might still be there, and now is playing with one of the best players in NHL history and is starting to seriously contribute. 2 goals in 3 games last week, and he could have had a few more. The team still can't score as much as they should be once that starts he will start piling up the assists. I have watched this kid make some real good passes to open players where they just have not finished, if that starts there will be a lot more assists to his credit.

Now to this point I have only mentioned Dawes once, I think. I have pretty much left him off this list for 1 reason. I don't know what his future brings. There is a very good chance he will be back in Hartford by this time next month. Even though I think he should stay he most likely will be wearing a wolf pack jersey soon. I think he will be in the lineup over Hossa who has kind of played his way back into the ? category of whether he should play or not. When he first got into the lineup he was hustling and acting like he wanted to play, I just don't see it anymore. Once Straka and Callahan come back though I think Dawes will be back in Hartford, unless Avery jumps to the 4th line and Orr and Hollweg start switching off games. Dawes would go back to playing with Gomez and Shanny, Straka-Dubinsky-Jagr would be the top line and, Prucha-Drury-Callahan would be the 3rd. I don't see that happening however. Maybe 1 or 2 games or a once a week think. That 4th line is Renney's shut down line, they have an awful +/- (which is misleading, because they can't score) but they most likely will not be broken up and will remain playing together.

Unless a trade is in the future which I don't think is going to happen the team will most likely return to it's opening day roster with different line combinations.