With no season, the excitement of watching the talent of potential of rookies is being put on hold, but there would definitely be some interesting young guns to watch if a deal had been reached. Obviously, without games being played, it’s tough to tell which rookies would be spending a full year in the pros and which would be heading back to juniors for another year after a handful of games, but I am going to take a stab at what the all-rookie team for 2012-13 would look like.

Center - Mikael Granlund (Minnesota Wild)

Along with Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, Mikael Granlund was expected to be a huge addition to the Minnesota Wild for this upcoming season. Often touted as a top-five prospect in the NHL, the 20-year-old Finn led his country to an IIHF World Championship in 2011, and he has been a consistent point-per-game player or more nearly every season he played in the SM-liiga overseas as well as in every international championship he has participated in. Granlund will be a big boost to his Minnesota team whenever hockey returns, and he should be fun to watch alongside someone like Zach Parise or Dany Heatley.

Left Wing - Chris Kreider (New York Rangers)

Ranger fans got a little taste of their future during the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs as they utilized top prospect Chris Kreider from Boston College. The hype surrounding Kreider is gigantic, but he may be able to satisfy New York’s hopes for him based on what we’ve seen. Despite limited playing time last spring, he potted two goals and added seven assists and has already shown streaks of talent at the NHL level on a big stage. In fact, his first game in professional hockey was a playoff game in the NHL - how many other players can say that? Following a monster year in 2012 at Boston College, there are high hopes in the Big Apple for this kid in the coming years.

Right Wing - Nail Yakupov (Edmonton Oilers)

The first pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft gets the right wing spot on the all-rookie team. Russian-born Nail Yakupov has already made for some interesting headlines despite not playing a game at the professional level. He was the third first-overall pick in a row by the Edmonton Oilers, and he is the first Muslim to ever be selected first overall in the draft. Along with other top picks Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins as well as other top youngsters in Justin Schultz and Jordan Eberle, Yakupov is just one more name with a lot of potential on an incredibly young and talented Oiler roster.

Defense - Dougie Hamilton (Boston Bruins)

The Phil Kessel trade gave Boston the second overall pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft (Tyler Seguin) and the eighth overall pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, which turned out to be Dougie Hamilton. Not very often does such a highly-touted prospect get drafted by the defending Stanley Cup Champion, but Hamilton was an exception. The Bruins already have a solid defense corps, but if they can squeeze Hamilton into the rotation, watch out! Boston’s youth has made it possible for the Bruins, an already elite team in the NHL, to not have to worry about rebuilding for a very long time.

Defense - Justin Schultz (Edmonton Oilers)

Go take a look at the AHL scoring leaders. You will discover that a rookie defenseman out of the University of Wisconsin is leading all AHLers (including many NHL regulars) in points. Edmonton won a bidding war for Schultz this past July as he was an unrestricted free agent who did not sign with Anaheim after being selected by the Ducks in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. He is certainly living up to expectations in the AHL, and he will definitely be someone to keep an eye on whenever hockey starts.

Goalie - Ben Bishop (Ottawa Senators)

The Senators have an interesting goalie situation and Bishop appears to be second on the totem pole behind starter Craig Anderson and ahead of fellow rookie Robin Lehner, but if Anderson doesn’t play up to par, Bishop could very well take over the reins as a starter. He has a lot of potential and has shown few flaws in a handful of NHL games with Ottawa and the St. Louis Blues. He has played in three different NHL seasons, but has played no more than ten games. Nevertheless, his Goals Against Average in those seasons ranges from 2.48 in ten games in 2011-12 to 2.94 in six games in 2008-09. He keeps showing signs of improvement and should be a decent NHL goaltender some day.