We are four weeks into the season and there are plenty of opportunities for players to take advantage of new roles. Sometimes a player gets thrust into a new, more prominent role due to a team shuffling up their lines. The other key reason is an injury to somebody above you on the depth chart. Sometimes it is an average player above you, sometimes it is a star player. Both of these situations could be quite different for the long-term effect of the change. If an average player gets hurt and you replace them, and you are successful, you could remain there long-term. If it is a star player that you replace, you are likely only to get the benefit in the short-term until the star player is back. Each situation needs to be treated differently and uniquely. Ask yourself why this situation is new and why it is working.

Anthony Cirelli (31 percent on Yahoo) – Anthony Cirelli was supposed to break out last season after putting up 44 points in 68 games in the COVID-shortened 2019-2020 season. However, he really struggled scoring just 22 points in 50 games. This season, however, is the breakout we were expecting as he's put up 9 points in 11 games and is really thriving alongside Brayden Point and Ondrej Palat. Additionally, his possession numbers support this hot start as he leads the team by a pretty wide margin all things considered, with a 59.4 Corsi For percentage (CF%). This is more than four percentage points higher than the second best forward, Point.

Jaden Schwartz (25 percent) – His time for the Seattle Kraken started off slow, but after just one point in the first six games, Jaden Schwartz has picked up seven points in the last six games. He has also started to fire the puck off a lot more, with 19 shots in the last six games compared to five in his first seven. Schwartz has been playing with Alex Wennberg and Jordan Eberle almost exclusively since Seattle's forwards started to get healthy. Additionally, he plays on the top power play unit so while it hasn't been a successful unit — dead last in the NHL with just a 7.9 percent conversion rate — he is in a position for success.

Ryan Hartman (18 percent) – I am not sure what has gotten into Ryan Hartman, but he is taking more shots than almost ever before. He has averaged well under two shots per game dating back to 2016-2017 where he averaged 2.23. However, in 11 games to start this season, he is averaging 3.45 shots per game and that is resulting in more goals. He has scored 6 goals in these 11 games at just a 15.8 percent shooting rate. That's higher than his 9.4 percent career average, but not outrageous enough to be too concerned. Hartman seems to have taken it upon himself to shoot the puck more than he ever has in his career and it has been working. We can check back in a couple weeks and see if this shot rate continues.

Adrian Kempe (15 percent) – Anze Kopitar has turned back the clock this year, with an incredible 7 goals and 15 points in the first 12 games of the season. Line mate Adrian Kempe has picked it up a lot recently as the Los Angeles Kings are riding a five game win streak, where Kempe has scored in three straight games and picked up five points during the winning streak. Dustin Brown rounds out the line, and the three of them also play together on the Kings top power play unit, so there is plenty of opportunity for Kempe to continue to pick up the points.

Pius Suter (4 percent) – An injury to Dylan Larkin gave Pius Suter an incredible opportunity to play alongside Tyler Bertuzzi and Lucas Raymond. He was solid in a short stint, but now has dropped back down between Robby Fabbri and Filip Zadina. He could still thrive here, as this line gets plenty of ice time. It is encouraging that Detroit had no problem throwing Suter up on the top line and keeping him there during the short stint. The Wings are playing carefree hockey as there are zero expectations for them this season. This has allowed their young stars (see: Moritz Seider) to be able to thrive without the concern of a demotion due to their play.