There have been plenty of breakout players heading into All-Star Weekend in Columbus and many big stars have emerged this season in the NHL.
From past All-Stars finding their form to rookies changing the landscape on the ice, the first half of the NHL season has had plenty of exciting players to watch.
Here are Sports World News' Top 5 surprise players of the first half of the NHL:
5) Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators: The Preds backstop is expected to be good as he is an all-world goalie, but he had an unbelievable first half. Rinne leads the entire NHL with 29 wins and is currently third in the league with a 1.96 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage. Rinne is a huge reason why the Predators are 30-10-5 and lead the NHL with 65 points at the All-Star break. The Nashville netminder has been in net for all but one of the team's victories this season. Bad news for Nashville, however, is that Rinne is out for at least the next month with a knee injury.
4) Nick Foligno, Columbus Blue Jackets: Through the first half of the season, Foligno -- who will captain an All-Star team this Sunday at the Blue Jackets' home rink of the Nationwide Arena -- is already three points off of his career-high with 42, which ranks second on the team. Foligno has also tied his career-high with a Columbus-leading 18 goals thus far. Foligno also leads the Blue Jackets in plus-minus (plus-three), power play goals (9) and power play points (22) while ranking second in assists (24). Though early injuries have kept Columbus (20-22-3, 43 points) out of the postseason picture in the first half, Foligno is shining.
3) Rick Nash, New York Rangers: After struggling most of the way through the Blueshirts trip to the Stanley Cup Final last season and being plagued by injuries in his first two years in New York, Nash has broken out in 2014-15. Nash is tied for the NHL lead with 28 goals and leads New York with 43 points through the first half. Nash also leads all Rangers skaters with a plus-18 rating this season and has been a huge part of the team's turnaround from early-season struggles. New York sits at 27-13-4 with 58 points, good enough for the third and final automatic playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division.
2) Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning: In his first full season with Tampa Bay, Kucherov has become a force on the right wing of the team's second line. Aligning himself with center Tyler Johnson and right winger Ondrej Palat, Kucherov is having a breakout year and helps the Lightning's depth by giving them two potent lines. Kucherov leads the NHL with a plus-28 rating and ranks second on the team in goals (17-tied) and assists (26) and third in points (43). Kucherov and the red-hot Lightning are off to a 30-14-4 start and lead the Eastern Conference with 64 points.
1) Filip Forsberg, Nashville Predators: The only rookie to enter the actual 2015 All-Star Game, Forsberg has been unstoppable on the ice this season. Forsberg is third in the NHL with a plus-24 rating and leads all rookies and the Predators with 40 points. Forsberg paces all first-year players with 40 assists and is second with 15 goals (tied for first on Predators) while he also leads Nashville with 11 power play points. Forsberg is a spark for the Predators this season.
The NHL had many breakout stars in its first half and things are sure to heat up after the All-Star Game this Sunday night at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus when the push to the playoffs continues.
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