On the Fly: 4 players to watch in the 2nd half

On the Fly, theScore's NHL roundtable series, continues. This week, editors Justin Cuthbert and Ian McLaren identify four players to keep your eyes on during the second half of the season.

Penguins' Phil Kessel

McLaren: When the Pittsburgh Penguins pulled off a deal for Phil Kessel last summer, many envisioned 35-40 goals (at least) for a winger who'd be upgrading his set-up man from Tyler Bozak to either Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin.

Through 44 games, however, Kessel is stuck on 12 goals, and is on pace for his least productive season since his second year in the league.

A trade for Carl Hagelin gives the Penguins a speedy winger more suited to compliment Kessel's game, and a two-assist effort in a win over Carolina on Sunday is hopefully a sign of things to come in terms of getting more involved in the offense.

The Penguins are somehow out of the playoff picture, and need their key offseason addition to play a huge part in their resurgence.

Islanders' John Tavares

Cuthbert: What's up with John Tavares?

The Art Ross Trophy runner-up from a season ago is outside the top 50 scorers through 50 percent of the New York Islanders' schedule. He's got three goals in his last 19 games, three in total on the power play, and his point-per-game average is down 22 percent from his career mark.

Because of his perplexing struggles, Tavares is unlikely to compete for a scoring title, and instead post one of his career-worst seasons. But let's be real: He's going to ignite eventually.

And whenever he does, he may just launch the Islanders, who are holding down second place in the Metropolitan Division despite Kyle Okposo leading the team in scoring.

Oilers' Connor McDavid

McLaren: Remember this guy? After breaking his clavicle on Nov. 3, the Edmonton Oilers' rookie phenom is expected to make his return following the All-Star break.

Prior to the injury, McDavid had five goals and seven assists in his first 13 games as a pro, and appeared well on his way to living up to the hype - and earning the Calder Trophy, to boot.

But when he does come back, it'll likely be too late for him to both salvage the Oilers' season, and make a strong enough case to take Rookie of the Year honors away from Chicago Blackhawks wonderkid Artemi Panarin.

McDavid should, however, infuse a measure of hope into an Edmonton fan base staring down the possibility of yet another last-place finish, and give the hockey world something to talk about other than John Scott.

Canucks' Bo Horvat

Cuthbert: It's a crucial second half of the season for Bo Horvat, and the second-year man has approached it as such.

Horvat has broken out of a 27-game scoring drought in a massive way, scoring six goals and nine points over the last seven games, and shooting up to fifth in team scoring in the process. It isn't necessarily a feather in his cap considering the Canucks' imbalanced offense (and the fact that he only has 19 points), but it's certainly a step in the right direction.

Possessing speed, strength, and touch, Horvat has all the tools to provide the Canucks with the secondary offense they need to take some of the weight of the shoulders of the Sedins.

If he can excite Radim Vrbata and extract some offense from Sven Baertschi, Vancouver may be able to find its footing in the feeble Pacific Division, and carve out another postseason appearance during their competitive rebuild.

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