What has sparked Mike Ribeiro’s bounce back season?

Mike Ribeiro certainly has exorcised some demons over the past few years, leading to a large buyout this past off-season. He had just completed the first year of a four-year, $22-million deal, when GM Dan Maloney deemed Ribeiro's behavioural issues so taxing, that it was somehow worth paying out two-thirds of the remaining $16.5 million  for Ribeiro to simply leave town! Maloney publicly stated he didn't have a centreman all season anyhow, ignoring Ribeiro's presence altogether.

However, the 34-year-old seems to have nestled in quite comfortably in Nashville, Tennessee, making inroads at repairing his image and, quite frankly, his career. The former 83-point pivot (2007-08 with Dallas) has not so silently returned to his near-point-per-game level, a key cog for the early Calder trophy candidate, Filip Forsberg. Add elite sniper, James Neal to the line and you've got arguably the most prolific trio in the league thus far. The line has already put up 53 points just six weeks into the season.

2014-15 Frozen Pools Most Frequent Linemate Generator – Mike Ribeiro

Things have gone so well in Nashville that Ribeiro, a career minus-15 heading into the campaign has nearly brought it back into the black with a plus-11 rating. You can clearly see why below in the chart below. Despite being given 3:09 PP TOI per game, 88.2% of his output has come at five-on-five, fostering a strong base for his positive plus-minus thus far.

2014-15 Frozen Pools – Linemate Production Generator – Mike Ribeiro

Despite a slow start in the opening week, Ribeiro and company quickly spawned a lethal line, with Forsberg's coming out party a big reason why. As you can see below, his 5v5 efficiency succeeded for over a month straight until a slight blip last outing.

Not primarily known for his sniping abilities (despite having the ability to do so quite skillfully), Ribeiro is on pace for 22 goals. He hasn't scored that many in a season since 2008-09. It is possible that he is scooping up rebounds more often due to a heavier shooting linemate than he is accustomed to in Neal. Last season he was lacing them up most frequently with Shane Doan, (who was recovering from Rocky Mountain Fever for large components of the campaign) hardly a volume shooter anymore.