Every year, there are players in the NHL who have seasons that go beyond the pace of their career history, and step up to either meet or exceed expectations. Those seasons signify a realization of talent and signify the arrival of a player as a true NHLer. It doesn’t necessarily mean they will be all-star caliber players or set the world on fire, but sometimes simply move from spare part or minor leaguer to solid NHL regular, or regular to bigger contributor in the grand scheme of things.
Here are the names of a player from each team in the Atlantic Division who are my top candidates for Breakout player this coming season: