Let's suppose you have two teachers, identical in every way, except one's class is full of hard working, diligent students while the other is saddled with goof-offs and kids that don't study. Who comes across as being better at their job? To a non-informed observer, probably the first teacher. What I'm getting at is, in certain instances one's situation influences how people perceive them in comparison to others. This is definitely true in fantasy hockey, where, let's face it, some players are doing better than they likely should due to being deployed under extremely favorable conditions. Who has it best though? Let's find out…..

The 20 skaters below are ones I felt are likely performing as well as they are due as much, if not more so, to favorable circumstances as their own pure talent. Your task is to pick the five who you think are seeing the biggest percentagewise boost because of this. The key word in that sentence is percentagewise, meaning if a player is scoring at a 60-point-pace but you feel he'd only be producing at a 40-point rate if not as favorably deployed, then he is benefitting more so than a player who's scoring at a 70-point-pace but you feel should only be producing at a 50-point rate under less optimal circumstances, since although the first player has fewer points, his percentage benefit is higher. Or to look at it another way, imagine which five players would see the greatest drop – percentagewise – in scoring if their deployment suddenly became less ideal. Past results and future potential don't matter – this is based on the here and now.

The voting choices are listed below, in alphabetical order. A link to cast your votes will appear at the end of the column.

Brock Boeser

In looking at Boeser, the question is whether he's benefitting from more favorable deployment than in the past, or unsustainable luck (hello >20% SH%), or if he had this in him all along? It's tough to say, but I couldn't fault those who feel he's doing better than he should.

Michael Bunting

It used to be he was a beneficiary of playing on Toronto's top line. Now, his scoring is somehow up, despite a minute less TOI. It might have a lot to do with a spot on the top PP for the Canes, where he's tallied nearly half his points. Take him of PP1, and who knows how he'd fare.

Brent Burns

Turning 39 in March, Burns still keeps chugging along. But after a strong first campaign with the Hurricanes where he looked like he's found the fountain of youth, this season his scoring and his SOG rates are down, and, like Bunting, he's very reliant on PP scoring. Does he still have gas left in the tank, or is this just a case of him doing well because he's getting plum minutes?

Blake Coleman

Thrust into the top-six in hopes of Calgary finding someone who'd score, Coleman has done that, and is on his way to easily a career best scoring rate. But is he really this talented, or benefitting from his deployment? Tough to say, although at 32 it seems a bit late for a genuine breakout.

Charlie Coyle

A former first rounder, Coyle had never quite lived up to his potential. This season the Bs needed a center, so they turned to Coyle, and he's thrived. Still, how much of this is his own doing, versus benefitting from better minutes and linemates?

Brock Faber

Is Faber this good because he's this good, or because he's on a team which has no choice but to play him into the ground? He wasn't a major scorer before coming to the NHL, and he doesn't shoot much, so it's not wrong to suspect he's doing this well in large part due to the Wild having no other alternatives at the present time.

Shayne Gostisbehere

Mortiz Seider owners probably have Ghost voodoo dolls that they're trying to use to get him out of the line-up, since as it stands he's on the top PP, where he's garnered more than 60% of his points. On top of that, Ghost's SOG rate is down, and he's a minus player. Take him of that first unit and seemingly he'd have little to offer.

Brandon Hagel

Remember those few years when we kept saying Carter Verhaeghe was benefitting from how he was being used? Notice he's not among the choices, since he's now proven he's for real. Hagel might just be on his way to doing so also. But without PP time, he does seem to be a by-product of lining up with Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point.

Victor Hedman

We saw last season what Hedman did when deemphasized in favor of Mikhail Sergachev, and it wasn't pretty. Yes, Hedman might have been playing hurt; however, it did raise at least some doubt that he's been as good as he has based on ideal deployment, versus pure innate talent.

Filip Hronek

It used to be that Hronek was a safe bet for pretty much a point every other game. But last season he was playing better even before coming to Vancouver and he is just now hitting his breakout threshold. But if you isolate the 23 points he had in his first 23 games, since then he's had 18 in 32 contests, or a lot closer to his point per every other game past. It seems he didn't catch fire earlier in 2023-24, but the rising Vancouver tide lifted his boat…..a lot.

Zach Hyman

Looking at Hyman since he came to Edmonton, his first season he didn't see abundant PP time and killed a lot of penalties. Then in 2022-23 the team plugged him into the top six and on PP1, and he's been unstoppable. Yes, Hyman likely was better than he'd shown, but this much better? That might be a stretch.

Chris Kreider

Talk about an anomaly – Kreider broke out right around the time when rough tumble players like him usually start to decline. That's tough to reconcile, and might have a lot to do with him finally being a fixture in the top six and on PP1. Take those away, and I'm not even sure he'd be a point per every other game player.

Alexis Lafreniere

Amazingly, Laffy had seen his scoring rate increase each season yet hadn't even posted point per every other game output. That's how disappointing he'd been. Yet now he's found a spot in the top six and is shooting and scoring a whole lot more. I'd be more of a believer if I hadn't seen his lack of prior results.

Mike Matheson

Since coming to the Habs Matheson's ice time and scoring rate have gone through the roof. But is he as good as he's been, or is he, like Faber, benefitting from the Habs having no other viable option? Tough to say.

Valeri Nichushkin

Much like Hyman, it's that first year Nich had in Colorado that puts doubt in my mind, as it was not until he got time with the Avs' big guns that he produced. Take that away and who knows if Nich would even still be in the NHL the way he'd been trending before 2021-22.

Ryan O'Reilly

Now 33, ROR was showing his age last season for St. Louis. Toronto then opted to give him a top-six gig and he thrived. Lo and behold he's faring very well again, but for a Nashville team that doesn't really have another viable option for a top-line center.

Joe Pavelski

I have to preface this by saying I was vocal disbeliever in Pavelski years ago, and ate my words. But his numbers are down this season when, perhaps not coincidentally, he's spending less time with Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz at ES and on the PP. Pavelski remains skilled, but he is likely being carried at least somewhat at this point.

Brayden Point

When was Point's worst scoring output of the past five campaigns? You guessed it, 2020-21, where Nikita Kucherov was out for the entire regular season. Coincidence? I think not. Take Point off Kucherov's line and you probably get pretty much what we saw that season.

Yegor Sharangovich

In 2020-21, Sharangovich played alongside Jack Hughes for a good chunk of the season, on his way to 24 goals in 76 games. In 2022-23, Sharangovich was left to create his own magic, and to say it didn't happen would be a vast understatement. Now for 2023-24 he's playing in the top six again and even seeing PP time, and lo and behold he's doing better than ever. One can't help but think others are carrying him yet again.

Steven Stamkos

You're probably thinking that Stamkos is doing just fine for his age, still playing at or near a point per game level despite being 34. But he's no longer skating with Nikita Kucherov at 5×5, and in fact as I write this a whopping 28 of his 50 points have come on the PP. Take him off that top unit and the results might not be very pretty.

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If you own these players, I hope I haven't made you worried, although perhaps you should be. But the task at hand is to vote for which five of the 20 would see the biggest decline in scoring, percentagewise, if they received less favorable deployment. Please vote for exactly five. Click here to cast your votes.

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Questions for Mailbag Column

My monthly mailbag column runs next week and I have room to answer more 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.