By Mark Janzen /

There was a time not so long ago, that for a rookie in the National Hockey League, winning the Calder Trophy said more about the future than the present.

But since the game opened up following the lockout in 2005, winning professional hockey’s rookie of the year prize isn’t just a sign of future greatness.

In the past three seasons, Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and Patrick Kane have topped Calder vote getters in the new NHL where speed, skill and youth are key ingredients to a team’s makeup.

This season, there won’t be a more hyped first-year pro than Tampa Bay Lightning phenom Steven Stamkos, whose new team wasn’t the only one to win a draft lottery.

In Tampa, Stamkos will be surrounded by one of the deepest groups of skilled forwards in the NHL.

New Lightning co-owner Len Barrie has said that offseason signings Ryan Malone and Radim Vrbata were targeted as Stamkos linemates just days after the 18-year old’s name was called 1st overall at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft in Ottawa.

Amongst Stamkos’s top competitors for rookie recognition is fellow 2008 World Juniors gold medalist and 2007 3rd overall draft pick of the Phoenix Coyotes, Kyle Turris.

The steady Coyotes pivot impressed during a brief three-game look at the end of last season, and would not have been brought aboard after a fine freshman season in the NCAA if he wasn’t ready to make an immediate impact in the NHL.

While Stamkos and Turris may fill the net, this season’s rookie class could be defined by one the greatest infusions of blueline talent in recent memory.

Depending on team needs and pre-season performances, the league may welcome as many as a half-dozen defencemen picked in the top-five of the 2007 and 2008 Entry Drafts.

2008 second overall pick Drew Doughty is vying for a spot on a Los Angeles Kings blueline that lost impact performers Rob Blake and Lubomir Visnovsky in recent months.

Of the others, Zach Bogosian (Atlanta) and Luke Schenn (Toronto) have played themselves onto teams that aren’t widely expected to compete for playoff berths.

Meanwhile, Washington sent Canadian World Junior captain Karl Alzner to the minors to get more professional experience and to keep the team’s salary cap below the $56.7 million ceiling.

In St. Louis, Alex Pietrangelo will begin the season on the roster for the Blues.

The top five picks in this year’s NHL Draft will all start with the regular season with their respective NHL club’s this season: Stamkos, Doughty, Bogosian, Pietrangelo, and Schenn.

From net to net, it’s clear that there won’t be any shortage of top-end talent in this season’s rookie pool. But as for who’s going to emerge as the class of the group; well, that’s why they play the games.