Hello and welcome back to Geek of the Week! With the All-Star break upon us, I'd like to dive into some splits in this break over the last two seasons. Although it is not a halfway mark of the season, it seems to be a significant mark that splits the season into two. Players who are not all stars get some time off and may have some family vacation time planned, while the All-Stars can have some fun over the weekend. I'm going to bring up a few players who have had quite different paces before and after the All-Star break the past two seasons. This can possibly lend a hand at us predicting what they might do after this All-Star break. These splits are harder to find for peripheral stats, so I will be focusing on points.

Clayton Keller – Current Season Stats: 48 GP, 20 Goals, 25 Assists, 45 Points, 146 SOG

Last season, after posting 18 goals, 23 assists and 2.34 SOG per game in 50 games prior to the All-Star break, he turned up the heat posting 19 goals, 26 assists, and 3.3 SOG per game after the break. That is going from a 67-point season pace to a 115-point season pace, which is quite the difference. Keller had a similar story in the 2021-2022 season, going from a season pace of 69 points before the 2022 All-Star break to a 93-point pace after the break.

This season, he has had a better start to the season than the prior two starts, but he's not quite where he has been in his post-break numbers. His 3.05 SOG per game is respectable, but he is still under a point-per-game pace. Some signs point to a boost in production for him. In his last five games, he has six points and is averaging 3.6 SOG per game. Keller has shown to be an absolute star after the all-star break in prior seasons. I may be inquiring about Keller's trade price in a few of my leagues right now before he pops off.

Kevin Fiala – Current Season Stats: 47 GP, 12 Goals, 30 Assists, 42 Points, 122 SOG

Fiala's splits in the latter half of a season is not new. Two seasons ago, he posted 20 goals and 31 assists in the final 41 games after picking up 13 goals and 21 assists in the first 41 games. Last season, after having a point-per-game pace to start the season, with 53 points in his first 53 games, he picked up 19 points in his final 16 games.

Fiala's current point pace might have disappointed a few fantasy managers so far who expected at least a point-per-game from him. He is no stranger to the second-half surge. He should finish with 80+ points as he steps it up to finish the season. He is a great under-the-radar buy low candidate.

Roman Josi – Current Season Stats: 49 GP, 10 Goals, 32 Assists, 42 Points, 159 SOG

Josi is still quite a beast when it comes to defensive production. Though with the emergence of Quinn Hughes, Noah Dobson, and Evan Bouchard, he may be flying under the radar. He is still putting up a great point pace of 70 points, but does he have more to give?

Two seasons ago, he had an absolute monster season, finishing with 96 points! He started that season with 44 points in 44 games prior to the all-star break. After the break, he turned his superstar dial to the max to finish with 52 points in his final 36 games, a 118-point season pace.

Last season, he may have disappointed some managers who reached for him as he came back down to earth. He started the season with 41 points in 48 games, a 70-point pace (sound familiar?). After the break, he finished the season with 18 points in the final 19 games. With a current point pace of 70, I would be happy to buy relatively low and expect closer to a point-per game for Josi to finish the season.

Hope you enjoyed! See you next week.

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