Productive Role Players

from Darren Eliot of Sports Illustrated, Everyone knows the importance of role players to a team’s overall success. We don’t talk about them much—especially at this time of year as we load up our fantasy teams with offensive talent. But after the great response to the piece here a few weeks ago that focused on Pittsburgh’s Max Talbot, I dug a little deeper to see who were the five most productive players in limited minutes.... With that in mind, here are my top five role-player contributors: 5. Kyle Brodziak, Wild Playing just 12:43 per game, Brodziak netted 11 goals—three of which were game-winners. He won 51.6% of his face-offs and over his two seasons in Edmonton, exhibited remarkable consistency. He signed with the Wild for this season, but a change of scenery shouldn’t effect his night-in, night-out unsung contributions. more