Some Vegas Golden Knights fans wrote off Ivan Barbashev after he suffered an upper-body injury on December 15 against the Minnesota Wild. Before the injury, he scored 15 goals and 15 assists. Afterwards? Eight goals and 13 assists.
Talk about a major dropoff.
However, that's in the past because Barbashev's off to another terrific start. This season, he has four goals and seven assists in 12 games. The Russian winger's on pace for 27 goals and 48 assists, good for 75 points. All three would be career-highs if he stays healthy and maintains that pace.
But that's the thing.