In this week's Eastern Edge, we'll continue our discussion of how changes in deployment affected production this season. Be sure to check out part one, where we discussed Alex DeBrincat, Sam Reinhart and Bryan Rust.  

Travis Konecny

In his first season under the supervision of coach John Tortorella, Konecny was trusted with 20 minutes of ice time per game – a two-and-a-half-minute increase from the previous year. The extra opportunity fuelled more offense as Konecny went from a 54-point pace last season to an 83-point pace this year. It's important to mention that Konecny scored at a similar rate during the 2019-2020 campaign, when he posted a 76-point pace while skating just under 17 minutes a night. The extra ice time he saw this year may not have been necessary for him to score at a point-per-game pace, but it certainly didn't hurt. If nothing else, it gave him more opportunities to shoot the puck, which is reflected in the career-high 3.2 shots per game he posted this season.

Konecny was hindered by injuries this past season and ended up playing just 60 games. From my perspective, a player's production is often underappreciated when they miss significant action. Point totals are the most easily accessible measure of a player's performance in a given season. Missing time means finishing with a lower point total than the one you were on pace for. That lower point total places you lower on the scoring leaderboards than you would've been had you played a full season, resulting in less recognition than you might deserve. All this is to say that Konecny may not be treated like a point-per-game player during upcoming fantasy drafts, but he certainly has the potential to be.

Owen Tippett

Expectations are always high for a top-10 pick, and it was no different when Owen Tippett was taken 10^th overall by the Panthers in 2017. Given his pedigree, Tippett's early seasons – in which he scored around a 30-point pace – were relatively underwhelming. In all fairness, he was stuck in a limited role during those years, averaging 11 and a half minutes a night during the 2020-21 campaign and 13 and a half minutes in 2021-22. This past season, his first full year with the Flyers, Tippett enjoyed the greatest opportunity of his young career. He saw 17 and a half minutes of action, with a 51% share of Philadelphia's total power-play time. The extra ice time helped him post a career-high 52-point pace. With just 192 games of NHL experience, I think it's fair to say that Tippett still has room to grow. If he can maintain similar deployment next year, I think he has the potential to flirt with 60 points. Considering he also provides a good number of shots and hits, Tippett could be an underrated asset in multicategory leagues next season.

Martin Necas

During his sophomore season back in 2020-21, Necas posted a 63-point pace while skating 17 minutes a night. Both his opportunity and production decreased the following season, where he registered a 42-point pace and saw 16 minutes per game. Fortunately, he broke free from the downward trajectory and rose to new heights during the 2022-2023 campaign. Trusted with a career-high 18:25 per game, Necas scored at a 71-point pace this past season. After being stuck in a secondary power-play role during his first few years with the Hurricanes, he finally got a prominent role on the Hurricanes' top unit. Necas enjoyed a 59% share of Carolina's total time with the man advantage and led the team with 26-power-play points over 82 outings. To provide some perspective, he had 24 power-play points in 203 appearances prior to this season. Given his recent success with the man advantage, I'd expect him to continue seeing lots of power-play time next year.

Jake DeBrusk

DeBrusk captured our attention as he scored at a 50-point pace in his rookie season (2017-2018), seeing roughly 14 and a half minutes of action per game. With his strong play, he earned himself a bigger role in year two, averaging over 16 minutes per game and enjoying a 56% share of Boston's total time with the man advantage. Despite the increased opportunity, his production stayed the same. DeBrusk's Year Three role was similar to the one he played in Year Two, but his production fell slightly as he paced for just 44 points. Due to a lack of improvement, his role was reduced in years four and five, as he skated 15 minutes a night and saw less than a third of Boston's total power-play time. He scored at a 38-point pace over those two years and eventually requested a trade – a request which was rescinded when coach Bruce Cassidy was fired.

In his first year under new head coach Jim Montgomery, DeBrusk averaged a career-high 16:47 of action per game – which fuelled a career-high 64-point pace. Although he'd seen limited time with the man advantage in recent years, he was back to being a prominent piece of Boston's top unit this season. He enjoyed a 53% share of the Bruins' total PP time, which led to a career-high 0.22 power-play points per game. I think DeBrusk should see similar deployment again next season, though a potential Patrice Bergeron retirement could affect his production. DeBrusk spent most of his minutes beside Bergeron – one of the game's greatest two-way players – this year. Losing such a high quality linemate may have a negative effect on DeBrusk's production. I'd wait for more news about Bergeron's future before projecting DeBrusk's fantasy outlook for next year.