What seems like a lifetime ago, I wrote about the myth of depth as it regards to the San Jose Sharks. After losing Logan Couture (the first time) and Paul Martin, the Sharks stuttered and hit a bit of a skid. That highlighted how important the forward (and Martin, of course) are to San Jose — but not as much as his return did.
Since Couture returned to the Sharks on December 30 the team has drastically improved its possession game. Just compare the possession numbers for San Jose leading up to December 30 and compare them to the Sharks' numbers following it.