The dog days of August continue to roll on, and at FanSided NHL were are passing the time with more theme weeks. For the next several days we are going to be taking a look at the best and worsts associated with the various franchises we cover, and the first thought that came to mind was NHL debuts.
There is often a lot of pressure and anticipation when a top prospect or star player joins an organization, but for me, I love when a lesser known individual breaks onto the scene and steals the spotlight. One such player that will forever hold a special place in the hearts of Rangers fans of a certain era is Derek Stepan.
Derek Stepan was an unexpected success story for the Rangers
Stepan's career started all the way back during the 2010-11 season, 16 years ago at this point, and he joined the Rangers organization all the way back at the 2008 draft. The Blueshirts nabbed him 51st overall in the second round of the draft, and not much was expected of him as a bit of an undersized center
Stepan turned heads with an 111 point season at Shattuck St. Mary's, and he held his own in his rookie year at the University of Wisconsin with 33 points in 40 games. He followed that up with 54 points in 41 games as a sophomore, and during that same year he captain Team USA to gold at the World Junior Championship with 15 points in seven games.
Even with all of that under his belt, Stepan entered the season with very little expectations. Chris Drury was expected to be a fixture in the top six, Brandon Dubinsky and Artem Anisimov were young centers with upside, Vinny Prospal was a veteran coming off a 58 point season at age 34, and you also had names like Erik Christensen and Brian Boyle in the mix.
Stepan's historic debut
Stepan made his NHL debut on the road against the Buffalo Sabres, and this was during the time period in which Buffalo was one of the top teams in the NHL. Ryan Miller was in goal, and he was the reigning Vezina Trophy winner as the league's top netminder.
At 10:53 of the first period Stepan scored his first NHL goal to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead. A little later on in the game, after a goal from Dubinsky and Jordan Leopold of the Sabres, Stepan found the back of the net for the second time. Just under three minutes later, Stepan scored again, and at this point the Rangers had a 4-1 lead.
New York tacked on a fifth goal early on in the third period to make it 5-1, Buffalo scored a pair of goals to make it 5-3, and Dubinsky picked up his second goal of the game to officially ice things. Stepan's hat trick marked the fourth-time in NHL history that a player recorded a hat trick in their debut game, and it was an impressive feat that was later bested by Auston Matthews scoring four goals in a loss during his debut against the Ottawa Senators.
In any case, this game is easily the best debut by a rookie in the history of the Rangers, and it was an amazing start to a career which was full of other impressive moments that make Stepan a fan favorite to this day.
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