The Man Advantage: Most Improved Power Plays

With a brief holiday break in the NHL schedule, we take time to look at the Top-5 most improved power-play teams this season, along with the players who have made that improvement possible.

1. Boston Bruins

What a turnaround it's been for the Bruins so far this season. After finishing ninth in the East last year - and missing the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons -- the Bruins have seemingly righted the ship. Perched in second place in the Atlantic, one point behind the Canadiens for the division lead, the Bruins have rediscovered their winning ways, and their power play has been a big reason why. Sitting atop the NHL's power-play standings with a 28.6 percent success rate, the B's boast the most improved PP squad this year, after finishing in 18th place last season (17.8 percent). At one point, the team actually opened the season with at least one PP goal in 16 of their first 20 games. The firepower has been spearheaded by a resurgent Patrice Bergeron, who is already sitting with a career-high 16 PP points after just 33 games, however, it hasn't been just a one man show. In addition to Bergeron's herculean efforts, there have been a number of other contributors, including David Krejci and Loui Eriksson, each with 11 PP points to date. Eriksson in particular is on pace for about 27 PPP's, which would top the career-high 25 points he posted five seasons ago in Dallas. Ryan Spooner is another who is exceeding expectations this year, with 10 PP points after scoring just five in 29 games a year ago. Spooner is a good example of a guy who sees fewer than 15 total minutes per game (13:48) as a third-line center, but a good chunk of that (2:44) comes as a member of the second PP unit. In other words, a good pickup candidate in deeper fantasy leagues.

2. Buffalo Sabres

Let's admit it -- the Sabres haven't been nearly as bad as we all thought they'd be this season. On the one hand, after finishing dead-last in the NHL last season in both the overall standings (23-51-8) and on the power play (13.4%), I suppose there was nowhere else to go but up. On the other hand, the turnaround has not come entirely by fluke, either. While the Sabres are still near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings (13th place; 14-16-4), they have jumped up to Top-10 status on the power play, currently sitting at #8 with a 20.9 percent success rate. Is it the Jack Eichel factor, you ask? Fair question, since last year's No. 2 overall draft pick was supposed to be the saviour of the franchise. And while Eichel may still turn out to be exactly that, so far this year it's been the Ryan O'Reilly show in Buffalo. Acquired in the offseason via trade with Colorado, O'Reilly has led the Sabres' offense - both in total points (29) and with the man advantage (13) -- after just 34 games. Meanwhile, you can't forget about blueliner Rasmus Ristolainen, who with 24 points in 34 games (including nine PP points), is making everyone forget about the departure of Tyler Myers in that trade with Winnipeg last season. Other contributors include Cody Franson (six PP points), who may finally have found a permanent home in Buffalo, and has a good shot at hitting the 30-point mark for just the third time in his career, along with Jamie McGinn (five PP points), who was a bottom-six player in Colorado, but has been seeing first-line duty recently with the Sabres.

3. Toronto Maple Leafs

Following last season's disastrous finish to the season, not to mention the loss of leading scorer Phil Kessel to free agency, not many observers picked the Leafs to rebound to semi-respectable status this year, even with the arrival of Hall-of-Fame caliber coach Mike Babcock. True, the Leafs are still third-last in the East, but at 12-14-2, they're just two wins away from .500 hockey, and they've jumped to No. 7 in the power-play standings, all the way from 26th last season. Furthermore, who would have thought that guys like James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak, who had formed such a reliable scoring line with Kessel the past few seasons, would each be on pace for 60-point campaigns -- including career-highs of 20-plus PP points -- without him? Who would have thought that a guy like Peter Holland would be on pace for roughly 20 PP points after scoring just five in the past three seasons combined? Ditto for Leo Komarov, who hasn't seen any meaningful time with the man advantage the past two seasons, but who is now averaging almost two minutes a night, and on pace for roughly 15 PP points -- nope, didn't see that one coming, either. Yes, the Leafs have been chock full of surprises this year, not the least of which is Dion Phaneuf, who is suddenly playing some of the best hockey of his career under Babcock, despite seeing less ice time. The Leaf captain has 18 points in 33 games (including seven on the PP), and is on pace for his first 40-plus point campaign in four seasons.

4. New York Rangers

It's hard to think of a team like the Rangers -- perennial powerhouse, first overall in the NHL last season, one win away from making the Stanley Cup Finals -- as needing improvement in any particular area. However, as good as the Rangers have been, they were pretty inept on the PP last year, ranking 21st overall in the league (16.8 percent) during the regular season. That's all changed this year (21.6 percent, fifth overall), as the team finally seems to have found their PP mojo. Which players have shown the most improvement on an individual level? Try Mats Zuccarello, on pace for 20 PP points after scoring just six a year ago. Then there's Dan Boyle, who could also finish with 20-plus PP points after registering just eight in 65 games last season. Also on the blue line, team captain Ryan McDonagh has a good shot at posting a record 18-20 man advantage points this season after registering 12 and 13 points the previous two seasons, respectively. Derick Brassard, who has been a model of consistency on the PP (18 points in each of the last two seasons), continues to lead the team with 10 points through 36 games and could top 20 points for the first time in his career. Meanwhile, Keith Yandle, who was used to being the lead dog in Phoenix before the Rangers acquired him late last season, has regressed, having relinquished the first-line QB role to Boyle. He's only on pace for about 18 points this season, but still provides the Rangers a terrific second-line point man and remains one of the key factors behind the team's PP turnaround this season.

5. Nashville Predators

The Preds are a tough team to figure out. Last season they were one of the stronger teams in the league, finishing second in the Central Division and third in the West. However, they were pretty mediocre on the power play, finishing 25th overall (16.2 percent). This season, they've dropped to sixth in the Central (granted, it's a tough division with teams like DAL, STL and CHI all ahead of them) and fifth in the West, but they've brought their power play all the way up to 10th overall (20.9 percent). The heart and soul of the Preds' PP attack continues to be their two blue line studs -- Shea Weber and Roman Josi, both on pace for roughly 35 points after posting just 15 apiece last year. How dominant have these two been overall? The Preds have scored 24 PP goals this year; with 15 and 14 PP points respectively, Weber and Josi have been in on roughly 60% of them. Only 17 players in the entire league have chipped in on more than 58 percent of their team's PP goals this year, so these two guys are in elite company. Who else is worth mentioning in Nashville? Oh yeah -- Filip Forsberg continues to develop into an elite power-play scorer, with 11 points in 34 games. That's a 25-plus point pace, after recording 19 last season. Finally, James Neal is finally looking more and more like the 55-60 point power forward the Preds thought they were getting when they acquired him from the Penguins following the 2013-14 season. With 22 points in 34 games, he should easily top the 37 points he posted last year. On the power play, he had a mere four points all last season, but he's already up to seven so far this year. He won't hit the career-high 26 he posted in his last year with the Pens, but he should fall somewhere in the 15-18 range given his current pace, and that'll be plenty for the Preds to keep doing what they're doing.