Upon reading the title, if you felt that is was a familiar topic for me, well you're spot on. In fact, I ran the same poll nearly a year ago to this day, and I'm planning for it to be an annual offseason piece.

Although it's common for players to improve over time, it's rarer for gains to continue without some downs as well as ups. Yet some skaters have shown they're capable of doing solely better with each passing campaign. They're the focus of this poll.

Each of the 20 voting choices is either riding a current streak of three or more seasons of scoring rate (i.e., his 82-game scoring pace, not necessarily his actual point total) increases, or has been in the league for only three seasons but sported a better scoring rate in his second season than his first, and in his third than his second. My preference would've been not to include the latter group, but I wanted to have a full slate of 20 skaters from which to choose.

For whom should you vote? Each and every player you believe will see his streak continue by him achieving a better scoring rate in 2023-24 than he did in 2022-23. Here are the 20 choices, listed in alphabetical order with their scoring rate for 2022-23 plus the number of consecutive seasons, through 2022-23, of scoring rate increases, or an indication that they're one of those who's only played three seasons and had an increase in scoring rate every season so far. A link to cast your votes will be at the end of the column.

Rasmus Andersson (51-point scoring pace for 2022-23; five season scoring increase streak)

As a testament to how difficult it is to string together these streaks, Andersson is one of just four on the list with a streak of more than three seasons. Does he look like he'll become a big-time producer of points from the blueline? Probably not; however, despite the struggles of many of the Flames' skaters in 2022-23, Andersson managed to improve. Chances are he keeps his grip on a PP1 spot and favorable deployment, giving him a shot to extend his streak to six.

Pavel Buchnevich (87-point pace; six seasons)

All Buchnevich has done is improve every season of his career, having done so in 2022-23 despite an injury and the Blues subtracting David Perron and, later, Vladimir Tarasenko. While of course the streak will end, it's not unthinkable he could extend it to seven seasons.

Dylan Cozens (69-point pace; only been in the league for three seasons)

Although Cozens likely will remain second banana behind Tage Thompson (spoiler alert – he makes the list too) in terms of Buffalo pivots, just being on the vastly improved team and also staking out a coveted spot on its PP1 led Cozens to excellent production. With him ending his season right at his breakout threshold, he seems like a good bet to fare better yet again.

Vince Dunn (65-point pace; three seasons)

Many poolies always thought Dunn had this in him after he impressed early with the Blues and then was stuck behind others for several seasons. But in Seattle he finally got his shot to be "the guy" and thrived. The only question is, did he do so well as to rule out further improvement.

Joel Eriksson-Ek (64-point pace; five seasons)

Has he benefitted by the Wild having no money to spend on better centers? Perhaps; however, he has now played well enough to likely have a permanent home on PP1 and within the top six, making him a decent bet to stretch his already impressive streak to a half-dozen seasons.

Claude Giroux (79-point pace; three seasons)

The elder statesman on this list, Giroux thrived on Ottawa in 2022-23. But he also set a high in goals and sported the second-best shooting percentage of his long career. Still, with Josh Norris set to return, Giroux will play with either him or Tim Stutzle (spoiler alert – he makes the list as well) and alongside talented forwards on either PP1 or PP2. That might be enough to inch his production upward.

Brandon Hagel (65-point pace; three seasons)

Is he for real, or just the second coming of Ondrej Palat, who had a great early run playing with the best of the best on Tampa then faded nearly as quickly. Like Palat, Hagel plays a complete game, which could mean he gets put back with Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point to make that line more well-rounded, or push him to the second or even third line, which is where he played when he first arrived in Tampa at the end of 2021-22. He seems like the most feast or famine player on the list.

Barrett Hayton (43-point pace; three seasons)

If his play in the second half was any indication, Hayton should obliterate his 2022-23 scoring pace, as he was playing point per game hockey for more than a 12-game stretch at one stage and, on paper, is the most talented center for the Yotes. Still, it's not clear if he can do what he did over the course of an entire season, or at least not yet.

Jack Hughes (104-point pace; three seasons)

One of just two players on the list whose scoring pace topped the century mark, Hughes was on track to do even better before he slumped a bit upon the arrival of Timo Meier, even though the two didn't take the ice together too much. Is this the best we'll see from Hughes, or can he rise even further? Tough to say.

Adrian Kempe (66-point pace; four seasons)

Although LA spreads around ice time, Kempe has seemingly done enough to command a spot on the top line and PP1. With LA poised to improve as a team as more and more of its players come into their own, a rising tide could lift all boats, including Kempe's.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi (43-point pace; three seasons)

Has he come even remotely close to living up to his early draft spot? No; however, there are signs that he might be figuring things out. He's still young enough, and the Canes showed their commitment to him, that he should get the opportunity to better his rate from what it was in 2022-23.

Alexis Lafreniere (39-point pace; only been in the league for three seasons)

I almost didn't include Laffy because his scoring rate was below a point per every other game, making it seem almost a foregone conclusion that he'll best it in 2023-24. Then again, if he is truly a bust, perhaps he doesn't? It's a tough call on how he'll fare.

Mike Matheson (58-point pace; three seasons)

Although the Habs still struggled, Matheson showed the talent that got him a long deal very early in his career. There are seemingly no impediments for him to continue to get great deployment and be a PP1 staple.

Charlie McAvoy (64-point pace; three seasons)

Even though McAvoy shed PP minutes to Hampus Lindholm, the combination of his skill and the high scoring of the Bs allowed him to build on his prior production. The issue though is unless McAvoy reclaims the PP1 job, it's difficult to imagine things going more right than they did this past season, such that perhaps he can't improve upon his 2022-23 production rate.

Jason Robertson (109-point pace; three seasons)

With a season that firmly established Robertson as a premier winger in the NHL, conventional wisdom suggests he should be able to improve, especially with a lot of room to take on more ice time. But the Stars seem steadfast in not having him log tons of minutes; and his points per minute were bested by only Connor McDavid, making it questionable whether he can improve.

Tim Stutzle (95-point pace; only been in the league three seasons)

No question Stutzle broke out in a major way, helping elevate Ottawa's offense in the process. But that was without Josh Norris playing even ten games all season. With Norris set to be back at the start of 2023-24, will Stutzle's scoring rate drop, or could he be the Tage Thomspon to Norris' Dylan Cozens?

Nick Suzuki (66-point pace; three seasons)

Everything was going great for Suzuki, until Cole Caufield was lost for the season. But all that might have done is made it an easier bar for Suzuki to clear in order to improve in 2023-24, assuming he has a healthy Cole Caufield riding shotgun with him.

Tage Thompson (99-point page; three seasons)

Is Thompson a legit star, or did everything just go right for a season? If we look at the list of centers as tall or taller than him we find ones who never came close to performing at this level and many who fell victim to recurring injuries. For sure 2023-24 will tell us a lot about what the future might hold for Thomspon, both near and long term.

Brady Tkachuk (83-point pace; three seasons)

Although most don't foresee Tkachuk ascending to the heights of his big brother, a continued upward trajectory might be doable, what with Ottawa perhaps poised to do in 2023-24 what the Sabres did in 2022-23. Then again, maybe he follows an Evander Kane path and never quite ventures into truly elite scoring territory?

Alex Tuch (88-point pace; three seasons)

When the Jack Eichel trade happened, Peyton Krebs was the one who many thought would be the key piece coming to the Sabres. Yet it's Tuch who's become a big time point producer, despite being a Band Aid Boy. But has he hit his ceiling; and if he misses more time to injury does he risk losing his "spot" to one of the many capable Sabre youngsters?

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How many of these players will indeed continue their upward scoring trend? If 2022-23 was any indication, not as many as you'd think. But there are some new names here and a lot of players who seem like they might have not yet reached their ceiling. Let's see what your votes have to say. Remember that you should vote for any and all you think will score at a higher pace in the 2023-24 season. Click here to cast your votes.

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Questions for Mailbag Column

Next week's mailbag is already pretty full, but might have room for another question or two. To get your question to me, either private message "rizzeedizzee" via the DobberHockey Forums or email [email protected] with "Roos Mailbag" as the subject line.