Gabriel Vilardi. Dominik Kubalík. Jesper Bratt. Valeri Nichushkin – if you told me that you'd predicted these four players would land in the top 15 of league scoring after three weeks of action, I'd call you a goddamn liar.

That’s the beauty of hockey, though. It’s why they play the games. Because every single year there are surprises that make the preseason prognostications look downright silly – mine included. Of course, not all of these players will maintain this pace. History, deployment, and underlying metrics suggest that maybe two of them can keep playing near this pace, if that, but it’s still fun to dream.

So, which two are they? That’s probably easy to ascertain, but let’s break them all down.

Valeri Nichuskin, RW, Colorado Avalanche

It boggles the mind that this is the same player w