Signing Artemi Panarin was a concern for the Chicago Blackhawks organization and fans since this summer. To the surprise of many people, the team was able to come to terms with the 25 year old right before the new year, while he was on his highs. He was averaging 1 point per game, but since then the young star's production has dropped off severely.
In the 37 games preceding his extension, he had 15 goals and 22 assists for a 1 PPG average. Since December 29th he has only 2 goals and 4 assists in 12 games which comes out to only .50 PPG for that period.
He is also only getting 2 SOG every game which is down from 2.5. The number doesn't seem drastic but it's getting worse as he has only taken 5 SOG in the last 5 games.
He and his linemates, Patrick Kane and Artem Anisimov, have been the targets of better defensive match-ups but they haven't even been producing on the power play. The team has only scored on 16% of power plays in the last 12 games and are only 15th in the NHL all season.
I don't think there's room to panic about his re-signing but the Blackhawks need all the production they can from the young winger. The team has been strapped for scoring all season while playing in 30 one goal games (18-7-5). Every point is crucial as the Blackhawks will be in a race for the Western Conference with the Minnesota Wild the rest of the season.
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