5 surprising players who cracked opening-night rosters

NHL opening night rosters have been set.

On the eve of the start of the NHL regular season, much is always to be made about the players who were given the heartbreaking news that they're not among those to crack their perspective team's roster.

Related: 5 most surprising cuts before the regular season begins

On the flip side, many received news that they had done enough to earn their spot, even if it was a bit of a shock. With that, here are five players who surprisingly earned opening-night roster spots:

Seth Griffith

Seth Griffith has broken through the American Hockey League barrier.

After being placed on waivers several times last season and spending the majority of his time with the Toronto Marlies of the AHL, Griffith has claimed a spot on the Buffalo Sabres roster.

Griffith had a respectable preseason with the Sabres, tallying a goal and an assist in four games. His roster spot looks to be the result of paying his due in the AHL, where he's tallied 66 goals and 202 points in 203 career games.

Haydn Fleury

The Carolina Hurricanes defense corps has quickly become one of the more desirable ones in the league.

With the likes of Noah Hanifin, Jaccob Slavin, and Justin Faulk in the mix, it's not easy to crack this unit - but Haydn Fleury has done just that.

Sure Fleury was the seventh overall selection in 2014 and looks to be a great talent, but it's somewhat surprising he was able to muscle his way into the lineup after just one year of seasoning in the AHL.

Kailer Yamamoto

Kailer Yamamoto may now be the smallest player in the NHL.

The 19-year-old is just 5-foot-8 and 154 pounds, but what he lacks in size, he more than makes up for in offensive prowess. The Edmonton Oilers forward finished second on the club in preseason scoring behind only Connor McDavid and led the team with five goals, while adding two assists in six games.

Considering Yamamoto was just drafted this past June (22nd overall) and given his size, there's no question he had to fight for his spot, but it appears it has been well earned.

David Booth

Given that he hadn't played in the NHL since the 2014-15 season - on a lowly Toronto Maple Leafs squad - it seemed a return might be out of the cards for David Booth.

However, after two years in the KHL, the 32-year-old inked a professional tryout with the Detroit Red Wings and made the most of it. He tallied just one assist in five games, but proved he can create offense, firing the second-most shots on the club (16) during the preseason.

Booth is expected to slot on the fourth line, according to MLive.com's Ansar Khan, but after a two-year absence from the league, he'll take it.

Victor Mete

Prior to training camp few people had likely heard about Victor Mete, but very quickly he has become one of the better stories to come out of camp.

The 19-year-old earned a spot on the Montreal Canadiens' blue line after proving he can contribute offensively while also taking care of things in his own end.

His four points during the preseason were just one point shy of the team lead, while his three power-play points paced the Canadiens. Not bad for a 2016 fourth-round pick.

Copyright (C) 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.