At the end of last season, a lot of people in the NHL community thought Artemi Panarin would fall off a bit. Analysts believed his Calder Trophy-winning season only occurred because his linemate, Patrick Kane, was off the charts. There was no way Panarin could keep performing the way he did in 2015-16 for the Chicago Blackhawks.
However, he proved most people wrong. Once again, his line stayed together throughout the majority of the year, and thrived while doing so. He was one of three players on the Blackhawks to skate in all 82 games. While he didn’t surpass his point total from his rookie season, the Bread Man was still second on the team in scoring for two years in a row.