Veteran Bryan Little a quietly crucial piece of Jets' offense

If you're looking to dissect the Winnipeg Jets' offensive resurgence this season, starting with Mark Scheifele and Patrik Laine is a good bet. But don't discount the value of the team's veterans, because a few of their more weathered names have been invaluable for the surging club.

Bryan Little, in particular, has stepped up with a career-best effort for Winnipeg in 2016-17.

The veteran is fresh off a seven-game point streak that saw him rack up seven goals and 11 total points over the latter half of January. All in all, he's amassed 14 goals and 28 points through 32 games for Winnipeg, those totals ranking fifth and sixth among Jets skaters, respectively.

This impressive production marks a notable step forward for Little. The 29-year-old has five 20-goal seasons on his resume, but is currently scoring at the highest goals per game pace of his career (0.44). His overall scoring pace is similarly a career-high, with Little rolling along at a rate of 0.88 points per game.

The wily veteran's production has earned him a plum gig as of late, skating between star wingers Laine and Nikolaj Ehlers.

According to head coach Paul Maurice, the line assignment speaks to Little's growing value for the club.

"We don't hear much about him around the league or his importance," Maurice told The Canadian Press recently. "But he's been so important to us - power play, faceoffs. Every time I put him with the two young players, their game settles right down.

"He has a great calming effect on them in terms of what they feel they need to try to get accomplished every time they touch the puck."

That steadiness has led to some exceptional numbers for Little himself this season. While he's a top-six scorer on the team in terms of straight goal and point counts, he ranks much higher when that production is measured against his ice-time.

Little, in fact, ranks third on the team in points per 60 minutes, behind only Scheifele and Laine, and second in goals per 60 minutes, behind only Laine.

He doesn't come cheap, but as of right now, the former first-round draft pick is living up to every penny of his $4.7-million annual cap hit.