Matt Tennyson – (Pre-January – 1 pt in 9 gms, Jan/Feb – 7 pts in 14 gms)

There is a buyer beware factor with Tennyson in that he's getting his opportunity as a result of the rash of injuries to the Sharks' backend. But Tennyson is taking full advantage, averaging a point every two games of late. He's even carved out steady minutes on the Sharks power play, taking Matt Irwin's spot, and now averaging almost two minutes of power play time each game. With Justin Braun likely out for another month, and Marc-Edouard Vlasic on IR with a cold (per Fantrax), Tennyson has a legitimate chance to stick with the team – and keep a good spot – for an extended period of time.

Patrick Marleau – (Pre-January – 27 pts in 38 gms, Jan/Feb – 12 pts in 16 gms)

Historically Marleau has scored on over 13% of his shots; but this season has seen that number cut nearly in half. Since January 1, however, Marleau has scored on 8.5% of his shots, meaning things are normalizing and that there's still realistic room for his further improvement. In fact, based on current projections, Marleau could score on 15% of his shots the rest of the season and still just make it to 10%. Even though we're already well into the second half of the season, it wouldn't be out of the question for Marleau to end up with double his current goal total.

St Louis

Alex Steen (Pre-January – 23 pts in 35 gms, Jan/Feb – 21 pts in 16 gms)

David Backes (Pre-January – 18 pts in 36 gms, Jan/Feb – 19 pts in 16 gms)

TJ Oshie (Pre-January – 15 pts in 29 gms, Jan/Feb – 19 pts in 16 gms)

The St Louis Blues season is a tale of two lines – the "STL" line and whatever this line is called (lets try the 'Backes to the Future' line). The difference between the two lines is the STL line starts 55% of its shifts in the offensive zone while the 'Steen Wolf' line gets that privilege only 45% of the time. This means the 'Life with Oshie' line has a lot more work to do just to get the puck into areas where they have an opportunity to score. Part of the hot streak for the 'Steen City' line was based on outlandish shooting percentages, which have come back to earth; but the 'Backes Attacks!' line has continued to produce. What's more – their crazy shooting percentages can be seen as an evening out of their lower percentages to start the season. The only potential drawback to the 'For Love or Oshie' line is the absence of Kevin Shattenkirk, but that is an issue for every Blue except Alex Pietrangelo.

Vancouver

Nick Bonino – (Pre-January – 21 pts in 35 gms, Jan/Feb – 4 pts in 16 gms)

Bonino has struggled to produce much in the way of points since December. His shots per game then fell off a cliff in mid-january, bottoming out at just over half a shot per game at even strength. Bonino faces the toughest competition for the Canucks, getting 46% of his starts in the offensive zone against the other team's best. As a result it's no surprise to see him hit a rough patch. But there are signs he's rebounding, starting with his shot rate creeping closer to 2.5 per game overall in February. Now that Bonino is shooting again, expect his on-ice shooting percentage to climb from the floor it's been on since January 1.

Adam Clendening – (Pre-January – 2 pts in 4 gms, Jan/Feb – 1 pt in 4 gms)

Clendening is a bit of a reach for this series, but warrants a mention because he's gone from being a minor leaguer to averaging 18 minutes per game, with well over three of those minutes coming on the power play. Furthermore, Clendening is averaging a shot per game and has the highest shots per 60 minutes played at even strength among Canuck blue liners. Four games really is not enough to make any declarations; however, the early returns look very good for Clendening, especially with Alex Edler producing next to no points on a middling Canuck power play.

Winnipeg

Mark Scheifele – (Pre-January – 19 pts in 38 gms, Jan/Feb – 11 pts in 17 gms)

Scheifele is averaging two points for every three games since January 1 while scoring on less than six percent of his shots over that period. He has three points in four games in February while scoring on 10% of his shots – the difference between a 50 point pace and a 60 point pace. More good news for Scheifele is that his shot rate has steadily been on the rise since the end of January, and is now up to 2.5 per game. The emergence of Scheifele's game is evident, as he has as many shots this year as he did in 10 more games all of last season. As Scheifele continues to shoot, he's overdue for a high shooting percentage run.

Blake Wheeler – (Pre-January – 28 pts in 38 gms, Jan/Feb – 13 pts in 17 gms)

Blake Wheeler is averaging nearly three shots per game for the season, but 3.5 since January 1. Over that span he's also scored on just over eight percent of his shots, three percentage points lower than his normal rate. Basically, a below average shooting percentage has cost Wheeler two or three goals over the last 17 games, equivalent to between 10 to 15 over an entire season. His newfound desire to shoot doesn't appear to be a blip either, as there have been a couple of prolonged runs this season where Wheeler has pushed his shot attempts to elite levels. It's also in keeping with Wheeler's trend of increased shooting over the last four seasons.

Trending Up (Part 1) – 2014-15

Deep Dive Part 2 (2015)

Deep Dive Part 1 (2015)