By Jacob Messing

With each new season, fans get to see breakout performances from some of the NHL’s emerging talent. These budding superstars show glimpses of the league’s future.

While some players are stuck in the developmental level of their careers -- learning hockey at its highest level -- others consistently deliver highlight-reel action every time they step onto the ice. Last season, players such as Viktor Arvidsson, Mikael Granlund, and Nikita Kucherov moved from the former category to the latter. Who could do the same this year?

Below are five players who could explode to the next level and become household names.

Sean Couturier

Philadelphia Flyers | C | 24 years old

By now, many have written off Couturier’s ability to be a consistent offensive threat in the NHL. However, the strong two-way center will be suiting up for his seventh NHL season and won’t turn 25 until December. In other words, he’s got plenty of experience but won’t run out of energy down the stretch.

Couturier was set to score career highs in each of the past two seasons but has been limited to just 63 and 66 games in each campaign. There is strong reason to believe the former eighth-overall pick has yet to reach his ceiling.

His chances of breaking out will also be supported by Philly’s newfound forward depth. The team will enter next season with Valtteri Filppula, Jori Lehtera, and second-overall pick Nolan Patrick at the position.

Noah Hanifin

Carolina Hurricanes | D | 20

The fifth pick from 2015, Hanifin has been a solid blue liner for the Carolina Hurricanes but also still has much to learn. The enviable group of defensemen sitting in Carolina has allowed head coach Bill Peters to shadow Hanifin as the youngster develops his game.

Although the Boston native has been on the wrong side of the plus-minus scale in each of his first two seasons, the statistic is more of a team-wide issue rather than an individual problem. Last year, the Hurricanes finished second to last in the Metropolitan Division with a minus-21 goal differential, and the year before wasn’t much better: third from the bottom with a minus-28 differential.

There’s no reason to think he won’t grow into the player that organizations expect from a fifth overall pick. He’s young and learning the hardest position in hockey, but the Hurricanes hope to be knocking on the playoff door this year. A breakout season from Hanifin could make that possible.

Dylan Larkin

Detroit Red Wings | C | 21

Larkin endured a sophomore slump as opposing teams figured him out. Now, it’s up to the incredibly fast forward to play less predictably. His highlight reel shows the skills required to be a high-end scorer in the NHL, and he’s added muscle and trained hard in an unusually long Detroit offseason as he transitions to a center role.

With the emerging talent of Anthony Mantha, Andreas Athanasiou, and not-so-distant-future teammate Evgeny Svechnikov, Larkin will soon be able to establish chemistry with linemates who can keep up with him.

Larkin began to reassert himself at the end of the season with 13 points in the team’s final 20 games. He started to play with more mystery and a more diverse attack repertoire, and he should be able to do the same next year.

Nathan MacKinnon

Colorado Avalanche | C | 21

The 2013 No. 1 pick and Calder Trophy winner hasn’t been able to repeat his scoring touch from his rookie season, but it’s not all his fault. For those who have written off MacKinnon, they tend to forget he’s still just 21.

The Avalanche have too many formidable pieces to lose 56 games in a season, like Colorado did in 2016-17. MacKinnon is just one hot streak away from not looking back, and his teammates will help support him, finally.

Next season, Mikko Rantanen and Tyson Jost will start the year with the club, and nearly every roster player is destined to bounce back. Mix those together and not only will MacKinnon bounce back, but he’ll also accelerate his game to the next level.

Mika Zibanejad

New York Rangers | C | 24

It’s no secret that the Rangers won the Derrick Brassard-Zibanejad trade: Zibanejad was already scoring at a comparable pace and is five years younger. However, Ottawa was in win-now mode and the deal made immediate sense.

A year later, Zibanejad is entering training camp as the Rangers irrefutable top-line center. While it may not appear so on paper, he is coming off his best year in the NHL.

As a former sixth-overall pick, Zibanejad still has another level or two to reach, and he’ll be playing alongside the best talent yet of his five-year NHL career. He’s one of the likeliest players on this list to find that next level of offense this season.

Have a question or a comment for Jacob Messing? You can find him on Twitter @JMessing23.