The Globe and Mail

Wednesday turned out to be a big night for the NHL's freshman class, one that saw a pair of phenoms in Carey Price and Jonathan Toews make their debut (with Montreal and Chicago), and that even had room for a ninth-round pick in Ottawa's Brian Elliott to pick up his first win in his first NHL start.

Price also won his first-ever start, a 3-2 decision over the Penguins, while Toews scored in his first game after returning from a broken finger that kept him out of the first week of the regular season.

Those three pushed the number of newcomers in the NHL to 38 so far, a few of whom could make a pretty significant impact. Also of note:

Patrick Kane, 18, Chicago
First-rounder is picking up prime ice time with the Blackhawks, including nearly 17 minutes Wednesday night in a 2-1 loss to San Jose. Kane has two assists in three games so far, and doesn't look to be returning to the London Knights.

Peter Mueller, 19, Phoenix
The Coyotes' roster is essentially a rookie parade, but Mueller's been getting a lot of the minutes on the power play (he's second among rookies with 4:30 per game with the man advantage). What he doesn't yet have is his first NHL point through three games, but he's getting his chances.

Andrew Cogliano, 20, Edmonton
Was thought to have been moved up to the team's second line after a nice start, but played just 12:56 in a 2-0 loss to Minnesota on Wednesday. Has a goal and two assists through four games.

Kris Russell, 20, Columbus
Leads all rookies with more than five minutes per game on the power play and has eight shots on goal after three games. The Blue Jackets have needed a quarterback for ages and Russell's going to get a shot at filling that role.

Honourable mention to a few veteran rookies:
Ville Koistinen, 25, Nashville
Jaroslav Hlinka, 30, Colorado
Cory Murphy, 30, Florida
Magnus Johansson, 34, Chicago