5 players that haven't reaped the benefits of NHL's scoring increase

One quarter into the 2017-18 NHL season and the league appears to have achieved what it most desired: more goals.

Thanks to stricter penalty rules, among other factors, goal scoring has gone up 12.4 percent from last season, with the current average at 6.1 tallies per game.

It's the highest mark at this point of the calendar since the 2005-06 season, but for some, the league-wide upward trend hasn't yielded the same results. Here are five players proven to be statistical anomalies so far:

Brent Burns, Sharks

After his 29-goal, Norris Trophy-winning output from last season, it's flat-out dumbfounding that Burns hasn't been able to find the back of the net once in his first 19 games.

Burns is still shooting quite a bit (82 on goal so far), but hasn't been able to break through for a Sharks team that ranks dead last with 46 goals for.

Jonathan Drouin, Canadiens

Drouin, by no means, has not been the biggest of the Canadiens' problems at the quarter mark of a disastrous season, but his production leaves something to be desired in his first season with his hometown team.

In fairness, Drouin ranks second on the Habs with 13 points overall, but considering his trade counterpart, Mikhail Sergachev, has five goals and 14 points so far as a rookie, it's reasonable to expect a little more.

Alexander Wennberg, Blue Jackets

A 59-point contract year resulted in a fresh six-year, $29.4-million extension for Wennberg in the offseason, but he has yet to live up to the price tag.

Though Wennberg's missed the Blue Jackets' three most recent games due to injury, he has just one goal on the season and hasn't lit the lamp in his last 14 contests. That $4.9-million cap hit will be hard to justify for Columbus unless he starts to be much more productive.

Bryan Little, Jets

While the high-flying Jets have managed the sixth-most goals in the NHL, Little has been one of Winnipeg's few offensive disappointments with just two goals through his first 20 games.

Little is deployed on a talented second line, and can usually be counted on for about 20 goals per season when healthy, but he'll need a sharp turnaround to reach what's expected of him.

Sam Bennett, Flames

After signing a $3.9-million bridge deal in September, Bennett's miserable production at the quarter mark has shown the Flames may have dodged a bullet by avoiding anything long term.

Bennett started the season with a 15-game pointless drought, and has only mustered one goal and two assists since. If anyone doesn't believe there's more goals to go around this year, it's him.

(Photos Courtesy: Getty Images)

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