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Whether it's in daily or season-long fantasy, owners are trained to follow ice time in search of value. While the two are often directly tied together, exceptions always exist with several factors combining to handicap production. Here are five players grossly underperforming despite ranking near the league leaders in average TOI (advanced statistics courtesy of Corsica.Hockey):
Colorado Avalanche LW Gabriel Landeskog
The Avalanche captain ranks 30th among NHL forwards in average ice time, logging 19:15 per game. This isn't an ideal situation for a forward from the team with the league's worst goal differential at minus-75. Landeskog has bounced between the Avalanche's first and second lines, with his most common linemates at 5v5 being C Nathan MacKinnon and RW Mikko Rantanen.
The three have a positive Corsi For rating, as do all but one of Landeskog's line combos with at least 50 minutes played together. Still, this most common threesome is expected to be outscored 2.46 to 2.01 per 60 minutes of 5v5. Landeskog is shooting less than in years past, and he's on pace for full-season lows in hits and blocked shots. It's a sunken season for the captain and his team.
Vancouver Canucks D Alexander Edler
Edler ranks 20th in average TOI at 24:06 per game. He plays mostly on the second power-play unit, but he has just four power-play units on the year, including both of his goals. He has added a meager nine assists at even strength, just two of which were primary.
The lack of production isn't shocking with the Canucks ranking 27th in goals scored. Edler has upped his totals in both hits and blocked shots but with roughly two per game of each he still isn't being a difference maker.
Florida Panthers RW Reilly Smith
Smith is a surprising name ranking 33rd in average ice time among forwards at 19:08 per game. It's an average he has fallen short of in each of his past five games, as the returns of C Aleksander Barkov and LW Jonathan Huberdeau cut into his ice time and offensive opportunity.
Smith starts an equal 32.56 percent of his shifts in the offensive and defensive zones, even though he has a much more lopsided 40.56 percent finish in the offensive end to just 32.31 on defense.
Smith recorded a moderate 31 penalty minutes last season, but he has dropped to just eight through 53 games this year. He's hitting and blocking shots at similar rates to last season, with neither contribution really moving the needle in any fantasy format.
Ottawa Senators D Cody Ceci
Ceci ranks 28th among all NHL skaters and is second to Erik Karlsson among Senators defenders with 23:15 of ice time per game. He has played on the second power-play unit for much of the season, but he has failed to pick up a single point with the man advantage.
Ceci is useful for blocked shots but it's not near enough production to warrant a roster spot in any format. After showing some progression with back-to-back 20-points seasons, he'll fall well short of the mark in 2016-17, despite defense partner Dion Phaneuf already having eight goals and 23 points.
(Photos courtesy Action Images)
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