The league leaders right now are fun, aren't they? There's Auston Matthews at the top of both the points and the goals race. Connor McDavid is right behind in points. You know Patrik Laine won't let those two get too far ahead and if Jack Eichel weren't injured, chances are he'd be right in the middle of it all.

It's a good time to have a young star in the NHL.

The centerpieces of the rebuilds in Toronto, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Buffalo have been everything everyone expected. The results in the standings may be lagging for some of the teams involved, but nobody is blaming the young stars.

So much has to go right to land one of those players. In the year or years you're bad, there has to be a generational player available. Then you have to win the lottery. Then the player has to be as good as everyone expects. It doesn't always work out, as the recent Nail Yakupov trade proves.

Toronto and Edmonton are going to be in great shape on that front. But what about a team that didn't land a young star during its rebuild? What about a team that didn't quite bottom out or hit the lottery magic; does its group of young players have the same ceiling?

The Carolina Hurricanes are a fascinating study in that regard.

A popular pick to get back into the playoffs, the Hurricanes are at a point in their rebuild where serious strides forward are expected. And yet, there's isn't one player you can point to as the centerpiece to lead the way. The Hurricanes don't have their Matthews or McDavid or Eichel. They don't even have a Dylan Strome.

Defenseman Justin Faulk is their best player and was quick to defend his young team when relayed this concern.

He looked around the visitor's dressing room in Detroit and found one.

"We've got Aho," Faulk said, smiling.

He's referring to Sebastian Aho, the 5-foot-10 dynamic winger from Finland, Carolina's second-round pick in 2015 -- an exciting young player, but probably not even the best player on his world junior line from Finland.

If you're looking for a Carolina guy to build a team around, Faulk might be the best candidate. The player sitting in the stall next to him isn't bad either. Noah Hanifin was the No. 5 overall pick in 2015 and is still working things out defensively, as most 19-year-old defensemen in the NHL are. Good player, not necessarily great just yet.

It's a product of picking in that part of the draft during their rebuild. The Hurricanes got as high as No. 5 overall in recent years. Never higher.

It makes the picks just a little harder to get right. Even now, just one draft removed from 2015, there's an argument to be made that perhaps the Hurricanes were better off taking Ivan Provorov or Zach Werenski in the Hanifin slot.

In 2014, they grabbed Haydn Fleury at No. 7 overall with William Nylander available.

In 2013, they chose Elias Lindholm at No. 5, leaving Sean Monahan for the Flames at No. 6.

It's the challenge of picking in those slots. That five-to-seven range is often when a draft to starts to get a little murky.

"We've done it a little differently. If you look at the way Toronto has done it, with their early picks, they've taken forwards," Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said. "We've taken defensemen. That's the way we're going about it. We have to continue to do that. At some point though, we've got to add high-impact players through the draft."

The Hurricanes believe Aho will be a high-impact player. They also believe that Janne Kuokkanen, their second-round pick in 2016, is a high-impact player and potential top-six center.

Right now, that's what's missing. There are really nice pieces in place with the Hurricanes right now at forward. Jeff Skinner, Victor Rask, Teuvo Teravainen, Lindholm, Aho, Jordan Staal -- they're all players you want on a good team. There's just not a game-breaker right now in Carolina.

It makes winning a little harder.

"The challenge is having everyone going every night," Staal said. "The only way we're going to continually be one of the better teams in the league is if everyone is on their game every night. That's probably the biggest challenge -- we're going to need the whole team to win. We've done some good things to start the season; we need that continual effort."

As built right now, there's enough talent to compete for a playoff spot. They also have one of the game's best upcoming coaches in Peters, whose Mike Babcock influence is apparent.

What needs to happen next is the organizational pivot. GM Ron Francis has stockpiled his young defensemen. He built a team capable of making the playoffs. That means picking at the top of the draft in coming years is probably out of the question.

If the Hurricanes are going to get their game-breaker or top-six center they need to truly crown the rebuild, it's going to have to come via trade.

They need their own version of a Seth Jones-for-Ryan Johansen swap. Or Taylor Hall for Adam Larsson.

Teams are always looking for defensemen and there has to be a point when the Hurricanes take advantage to bring in the center to fill the void.

"That's the position we're looking to add in our age group, the center position, somebody who can make a difference and be a game-changer," Peters said. "Down the middle, you've got to have guys that are special."

It's not an easy transaction to make. Minnesota has been in the same boat for years. But Carolina is unique in that it has the Jones- and Larsson-caliber defensemen to make it happen.

"Everyone is always looking for D-men," Peters said. "You don't just want to get a D-man in your group, you want to add a guy at the top and push everyone down to where they should be. ... Edmonton and New Jersey just did that. When you get a lot of depth in one position, you can use that to your advantage."

That might be what's next for Carolina, as the Hurricanes continue to evolve into a young contender without the benefit of that No. 1 overall pick.