Before this season started, Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno talked at length about getting his own play, and the play of his team, back on track.
"I did a lot of self-reflecting," Foligno said. "You look at our club and the reason why I felt like I struggled a bit is that I didn't play to my characteristics, to my attributes. You've got to play to your identity - and our identity is going to be a fast, hard-working tenacious group. That's my identity to a 'T.' When I play like that, my skill and my attributes come out.
"I need to be the guy at the forefront leading that. I'm looking forward to that challenge and that opportunity."
Through the first 10 games of the season, it's fair to say Foligno has accepted and met that challenge head on.
With the Blue Jackets at 5-3-2 through a tough opening stretch, Foligno's four goals and eight assists are good enough for 12th in the NHL and a shared spot as the team leader in points with linemate Alex Wennberg. Foligno is also the leader in primary points (goals plus first assists) on the team (10). In even strength play, Foligno is second on the team in both total and primary points.
Foligno is already one-third of the way to his point total from the entire 2015-16 campaign, and has accomplished this while drawing the same amount of ice time as last season (16:53 per game in 2015-16 and 16:56 this season).
The scoring becomes more impressive when considering who he's done it against: Foligno's level of competition faced has increased year-over-year. The two charts below from hockeyviz.com illustrate the competition Foligno faced last season compared to this year; the red line marks "average" ice time for each forward and defenseman based on their place in the lineup. The red bars indicate Foligno's time on ice within the lineup.
Feature: Foligno taking charge offensively
Captain and his linemates are contributing regular offense and driving play
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