What is up with 2017 Sid?

Coming into 2017 the league was at Crosby's mercy. He could do no wrong and seemed to score from all sorts of angles without any difficulty. He was keeping McDavid company despite having fewer games played and was on course for a potential Art Ross and Rocket Richard double. Since 2017 rolled in he has struggled and not looked like the same player.

Before this year Crosby was sitting at 26 goals and 16 assists through 32 games putting him at a 1.31 Points per Game pace. So far in 2017 he has added just 4 goals and 14 assists in 16 games, which is a 1.13 Points per Game pace. That is a drop of 13.74% in production. He has nearly the same number of assists in those 16 games but that is somewhat distorted due to the 4 point and 3 point games Crosby had against Washington and Boston which included and accounted for 35% of his assists in 2017.

Crosby's biggest change in this year compared to the last is his drop off in goal scoring. He was a street ahead at the top of the Rocket Richard standings beforehand but since his gap has shrunk and he is just one ahead of a resurgent Jeff Carter. Alex Ovechkin is only 4 back in 7th place. Crosby has in 2017 a 9.5% Shot percentage compared to a rate of 23% in 2016. Crosby's career average is 14.7% and I would expect him to improve going forward. Other players are closing in though so he needs to go back to what was working if possible.

As mentioned above, Crosby has kept his assist play going but he has had to deal with a number of changes to his lines this year as the Penguins have had a number of injuries to their key players that have required the lines to constantly be shuffled. From memory he has played with Kunitz, Cullen, Hornqvist, Rust, Sheary, Guentzel and Wilson already. Sheary seemed to have a lot of chemistry with Crosby before he got hit with an injury. Kunitz, to me at least, is no longer a top six player which has meant his left wing from becoming a revolving door.

One of the ideas is that Crosby is just spent physically and, possibly mentally. Perhaps he needs a break. It might sound ridiculous as he is a professional athlete but aside form the off season he hasn't had a real break from hockey in a while. The Penguins went all the way to the Stanley Cup Final, he played in the World Cup of Hockey and has played 48 games this season. The Penguins have a few day gaps between the two coming games so hopefully he can get some rest. I don't think he is hiding an injury as I think that would be far more obvious.

Whatever is wrong with him is slightly concerning but it says a lot about Crosby that concerning is a 1.13 Points per Game pace. Hopefully he can rebound and get his 1000th point against the Canucks and push on.