Michael Bunting wasn’t your average NHL rookie in 2021-22 with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Never mind that the gritty forward was already 26 at the time, he’d also played a handful of games in the NHL while shuttling between the Arizona Coyotes and their minor-league affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners, in two previous seasons — 26 games.
That number — both his age and his number of games played — put him just inside the NHL threshold for eligibility, thus allowing him into a group of rookie-of-the-year finalists that included 21-year-olds Trevor Zegras of the Anaheim Ducks and Moritz Seider of the Detroit Red Wings.
