On the Fly: 4 young players who will break out in 2016

On the Fly, theScore's NHL roundtable series, continues in 2016. Below, we identify four young players who will have a memorable 12 months, and beyond.

Connor McDavid

Justin Cuthbert: This is most certainly a cop out, but you'd imagine Connor McDavid would be primed to break out over the next 12 months.

The Edmonton Oilers mega prospect, who's missed the last two months with a broken clavicle, wasn't just providing indication that he was the game's next great star in the season's first month, but was already prepared to hoist his plodding organization.

After a heedful start, McDavid accelerated past a point-per-game scoring pace with 11 points over a seven-game stretch in late October, while helping to derive never-seen-before contributions from Nail Yakupov and Benoit Pouliot. This was before he was erased into the end boards by a pair of Philadelphia Flyers defensemen.

The Oilers have slipped back to last place in the West in No. 97's absence, losing seven of their final eight games in December, but they're only five points out of second place with McDavid - who'll turn 19 on Jan. 13 - back at practice.

He'll have the platform to do something special, if his teammates can hold on a little longer.

Aleksander Barkov

Craig Hagerman: Though Aleksander Barkov hasn't been a bust since joining the Florida Panthers in 2013-14, we've yet to see his full potential.

Barkov has proved that he can play a responsible two-way game and be relied upon to play in any situation. However, while playing alongside Jonathan Huberdeau and Jaromir Jagr and this season, his offensive game has taken flight. The 20-year-old has 11 goals and 23 points in 29 games, which puts him first on the Panthers with 0.79 points per game. Last season, Barkov finished with 10 points in his final 10 games. As we begin the new year, the Finnish forward has 10 points in his last 10 games.

Barkov's on pace to shatter his previous career high of 36 points, but as a young star in only his third season, he's nowhere near his ceiling. There's a reason why he was drafted second overall in 2013.

Morgan Rielly

Navin Vaswani: It isn't always about points. Morgan Rielly's proving that.

The Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman has made major strides under head coach Mike Babcock, seeing his role increase as captain Dion Phaneuf's decreases.

Rielly - in his third season and 22 on March 9 - has four goals and 14 assists in 37 games (0.49 points per game) and is on pace to hit 40 points, which would better his career-high 29 points, set last season. All the more impressive: He's doing it at 5-on-5.

Rielly's played only 35:31 on the power play in 37 games, with a goal and two assists with the man advantage. The Maple Leafs aren't concerned about his offensive output - Babcock wants to make him a better defender, and that's precisely how Rielly should be developed.

His ice time is up to 22:08, third on the team behind Matt Hunwick (22:31) and Phaneuf (22:14), and he's third on the team in shorthanded ice time (79:57).

Rielly's starting fewer shifts in the offensive zone, more in the defensive zone, has maintained the Corsi For rating he had last season (in and around 48 percent), and is still putting up points - all while playing against the opposition's best players. You must be impressed.

Toronto wants Rielly to be its Duncan Keith. Offensively, their numbers are awfully similar in seasons one through three:

Keith:

Season	GP	Points	PP Points	TOI
2005-06	81	21	2	23:26
2006-07	82	29	4	23:36
2007-08	82	32	6	25:33

Rielly:

Season	GP	Points	PP Points	TOI
2013-14	73	27	12	17:38
2014-15	81	29	9	20:20
2015-16*	37	18	3	22:08

* In progress

The Maple Leafs are dreamers, but this one isn't out of the realm of possibility. Rielly's one of the more fascinating players to watch during Toronto's rebuild.

Jakob Silfverberg

Ben Whyte: Can this season possibly get worse for Jakob Silfverberg?

After steadily improving through his first three NHL seasons before tallying 18 points in 16 postseason games last year, many had the 25-year-old pegged as a breakout candidate on a Cup contending Anaheim Ducks team.

Instead, Anaheim has toiled near the bottom of the Pacific Division through three months with almost no help from the Swede, whom has posted only three goals and three assists in 38 games.

His linemates have been as disappointing, with both Ryan Kesler and Carl Hagelin well behind their regular scoring pace, but it's hard to imagine their combined struggles could continue. Count on Silfverberg to recapture his form in the second half.

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