First off, stick tap to Dobber, as one of his Holiday Ramblings gave me the idea for this poll. If you read that edition of the Ramblings, it's about players succeeding to a large extent – or, arguably, to any extent at all – due to fortunate circumstances, namely their linemates or their defensive pairing. I figured I'd put together a list of 20 of these lucky duck players and vote on which ones have it best, as in who are the biggest of these beneficiaries.

First off, a player being listed here doesn't necessarily mean he lacks talent in his own right. The idea is these are players whose production is being boosted due to the skater(s) with whom they play on a regular basis. Your task is to vote for the five biggest beneficiaries, which should be the five you believe would have the most negative effect on their scoring rate if suddenly they were no longer deployed as they've been so far this season. Since all 20 of the voting choices are skaters, the sole criteria on which to base your votes should be points.

With that out of the way, here are the 20 players, listed in alphabetical order. The link to cast your votes is at the end of the column.

Ivan Barbashev – From a player whose scoring rate had been in the 20s and 30s his entire career to now a 65+ point player? Something smells fishy, and it's not just his high SH%. Instead, it likely has to do with him holding down a spot in the potent St. Louis top-six thus far this season. Barbashev's IPPs are pretty decent, so he isn't just a pure passenger; but it's difficult to envision, given his past outputs and the type of game he plays, that his success isn't largely a by-product of his linemates.

Sam Bennett – Granted he's not producing anywhere near the rate he did after arriving at the end of last season. Still though, Bennett has played regularly with Jonathan Huberdeau, who's arguably a top ten if not top five forward in today's NHL. Yes, Bennett has the pedigree of being a former top draft pick and still is young enough to do well in his own right; however, one has to think he's bolstered by sharing the ice for the most part with Huberdeau.

Michael Bunting – If you look at the list of Bunting's most frequent linemates this season, it's all top Toronto forwards. Yet still he's not producing better than he did in limited action for the lowly Coyotes last season. Fortunately for him, Nick Ritchie didn't work out and Ondrej Kase is still very much a Band-Aid Boy, making it likely that Bunting will be able to stay tethered to the best of the best in Toronto. If he wasn't though, it's hard to imagine his point total not cratering.

Matt Duchene – It used to be to get the best from Duchene he had to be playing for a new deal, but this season he's just doing great without free agency on the horizon. Why might that be? Playing with Filip Forsberg and Mikael Granlund, Nashville's best forwards. If Duchene was being deployed as, for example, Ryan Johansen is, I suspect he'd be disappointing yet again.

Ryan Hartman – Yes, he was a former first round pick; but in his career to date he'd yet to do much more than Barbashev, that is until he took on the role of centering phenom Kirill Kaprizov. Now Hartman is seeing lots of ES and PP time, and probably is there to stay in view of not only how well he's done but also the physical presence he provides and the lack of other options aside from Marco Rossi, whom the Wild seem to want to pair with Kevin Fiala. If Hartman somehow was to be separated from Kaprizov though, it's difficult to envision his production not dropping like a stone.

Zach Hyman – Talk about living the life, Hyman went from playing most of last season with Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews to this year being centered by Connor McDavid. After a scorching start, Hyman's scoring slowed, so we might get to see how he does in the bottom six, although given what Edmonton is paying him plus the intangibles he brings, he may be safe from a demotion.

Boone Jenner – After decent early years, Jenner became a bottom six forward best known in fantasy circles for Hits plus FOW from the wing. But, Columbus had a paucity of centers, which incented them to use Jenner in that role, and lo-and-behold he's done well playing with Oliver Bjorkstrand and/or Patrik Laine. What would happen if that gig went bye-bye? Probably a whole lot of scoring disappointment along the lines of what Jenner had done in recent seasons.

Chris Kreider – Without even one season of 60-point output in his career, Kreider is scoring in droves this season. Why? Playing with Mika Zibanejad, as he had previously, but also getting over a minute more ice time per game than he had in recent campaigns. If he was separated from Zibs though, it's difficult to imagine him being much more than a big bodied third liner who could chip in with a point per every other game if he's lucky.

Gabriel Landeskog – Perhaps the most talented player on the list in his own right, it's still clear his stats are bolstered playing with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. Lucky for him he probably won't lose the gig, although for a time last season it did go to Andre Burakovsky, and predictably Landy didn't fare nearly as well.

Sonny Milano – On his way to being labeled a bust, Milano landed in Anaheim with expectations that likely couldn't have been lower. With the pressure finally off, and the opportunity to skate with young phenom Trevor Zegras, Milano is producing. If he was somehow separated from Zegras though, all bets likely would be off.

Ondrej Palat – After a promising early career, Palat had several seasons of more modest scoring, that is until he won the line lottery and Tampa gave what used to be Steven Stamkos' spot with Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov to him. I wouldn't go so far as to say their Zamboni driver could put up 60 points with a gig like that, but it's difficult to imagine Palat doing anywhere near as well as he has if he was earmarked for another line.

Joe Pavelski – In his first season in Dallas, Pavelski looked every bit his age. Then Pavelski was put on a line with two young elite players in Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson, and suddenly he's rejuvenated, which I'm sure is no coincidence.

Evan Rodrigues – Although Rodrigues stands to lose his plum gig playing with Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel, his consolation prize could be a returned Evgeni Malkin and Kasperi Kapanen. While Rodrigues looked to have been pulling his own weight, this is someone who'd only once before even posted point per every other game output, was never drafted, and is 28 years old. We might just be witnessing his 15 minutes of fame. Or he could end up like…..

Bryan Rust – For years Rust was thought of as a defensive-minded player, until suddenly he was given a chance to shine with more and better deployment. Still though, there's no way to tell the extent he's contributing to his own success, so there will always be doubts as to whether he could fare well if he didn't have such a great gig.

Chandler Stephenson – If this was last season, it'd be difficult to argue with picking Stephenson, who was centering the dynamic duo of Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone. But with Stephsenson having come into his own in 2021-22, it's no longer clear if he needs to be carried and perhaps is actually helping to make those around him better.

Ryan Strome – If there's one player in the past several seasons who's made a career out of getting the best out of his linemates, it's Artemi Panarin. Lo-and-behold, Strome, who was on perhaps his eighth life as an NHLer, suddenly becomes a force to be reckoned with just as he's gifted the role of centering Pararin. Probably not a coincidence.

Devon Toews – It's not just forwards who can luck out in terms of the player(s) with whom they share the ice; and if any d-man has hit the pairing lottery it's Toews, who's stapled to arguably the best fantasy defenseman there is in Cale Makar. Sure, Toews was a capable NHL rearguard as we saw in New York and then before he was placed with Makar, but the stats we're seeing from Toews this season almost assuredly are bolstered by the presence of Makar.

Carter Verhaeghe – Coming to Florida as a Tampa cast away with paltry expectations, Verhaeghe found his way onto the top line to play with Aleksander Barkov. What do you know – he suddenly finds a scoring touch. Go figure.

MacKenzie Weegar – After several seasons in the NHL without a hint of scoring ability, Weegar suddenly has warmed considerably over the past two seasons. Why could that be? Maybe due to playing with Aaron Eklbad, who's fast becoming one of the best all-around rearguards in the NHL and whose presence is almost assuredly helping pad Weegar's point totals.

Tom Wilson – It was long suspected that Wilson was more than a walking suspension waiting to happen. This was, after all, a former first round pick. But it wasn't until he was permitted to be in the top six and play with the likes of Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov and T.J. Oshie that Wilson started to post numbers in columns other than PIM and HIT. Take those players away, however, and it's not clear how Wilson would fare.

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There you have the 20 voting choices for this poll. Your task is to pick the five of them who are receiving the biggest boost, in terms of added points, by virtue of the good fortune of having their particular linemate(s) or defensive partner. Click here to cast your votes.

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Questions for Mailbag Column

My monthly mailbag column runs next week and I'm definitely still looking for questions. To get yours to me, you can either private message “rizzeedizzee” via the DobberHockey Forums or, instead, send an email to [email protected] with “Roos Mailbag” as the subject line.