It’s been a nice run lately for Carolina’s Sebastian Aho.
Last week, he was narrowly edged out for January’s rookie of the month honors by Leafs forward Mitch Marner.
Over the weekend, Tucker profiled Aho’s stellar freshman campaign, which included GM Ron Francis calling the 19-year-old “extremely competitive, extremely smart and extremely talented.”
Today, another feather in Aho’s cap -- he was named the NHL’s first star of the week.
From the league:
Aho tied for the League lead with four goals (4-1—5) including two game-winning tallies as the Hurricanes (24-20-7, 55 points) won all three of their games.
On Jan. 31, Aho recorded his first career hat trick, including the game-winning goal, and added one assist in a 5-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.
He added another game-winning goal in a 2-1 win against the Edmonton Oilers on Feb. 3 before being held pointless in a 5-4 overtime victory over the New York Islanders on Feb. 4.
Chosen 35th overall by Carolina in the 2015 NHL Draft, the 19-year-old Rauma, Finland native ranks third among rookies with 16 goals and tied for sixth with 31 points (16-15—31).
One has to wonder if Aho can work his way into this year’s Calder discussion. It’s a loaded one, with the likes of Marner, Auston Matthews, Patrik Laine, Matt Murray, William Nylander and Matthew Tkachuk all in the mix -- but if Aho continues to score at this clip, he’ll almost certainly be in the conversation.