5 players who reached new heights in 2016

The 2016 calendar year meant big things for many NHL players, but these five saw their stars rise more precipitously than most:

Brent Burns

Maybe you purchased stock in Burns, when he was a rangy "tweener" with the screwball personality and dreams of growing the gnarliest of beards - and finding the right fit for his hockey career.

If so, 2016 was the payoff.

Not a single player boosted his status and enhanced his exposure this year quite like the San Jose Sharks rover. He was the best defender in the world over the last 12 months, and because no subject is more interesting, or could provide a better interview, he might have been the most written about, too.

But beyond sartorial choices at All-Star weekend, the military-grade backpack stuffed with the essentials, his fascination in all things, and other eccentricities that make for good reading, it's Burns' impact that made him a must-see attraction this year. Just a handful of superstar forwards recorded more points than Burns' 100 in 2016.

Mark Scheifele

When we look back on the Winnipeg Jets in 2016, what will immediately come to mind is Patrik Laine, the prized sniper bagged in the NHL draft.

But the Jets discovered more than their elite finisher - they discovered they had a true No. 1 center, too.

Scheifele broke out late last season after he was upgraded to the top-line center role, scoring 17 times and accruing a league-best 29 primary points over the final eight weeks. His increased production carried over into the 2016-17 campaign, as he was neck-and-neck with Connor McDavid for the NHL scoring lead entering December before picking up an injury.

Sandwiched between his scoring runs, Scheifele inked a max-term contract with the Jets.

Artemi Panarin

Oh, the chicken and the egg: Was it that Panarin scored a top-10 finish in scoring because of Patrick Kane, or was it that Kane won the Hart Trophy because he had Panarin at his side?

Nevertheless, Panarin is a genuine superstar in his own right. The shifty wing scored 19 goals and 43 assists in the first four months of 2016 to finish among the NHL's elite scorers in his rookie season, and cash in the incentives built into his contract.

And so far this year he's outshone Kane, sitting fifth in league scoring with 15 goals and 28 points.

David Pastrnak

Crosby, Pastrnak, Ovechkin: the top goal rates in all situations in 2016.

It's been a meteoric rise for Pastrnak, the 20-year-old Boston Bruins sniper who, when he wasn't injured, was often nailed to the bench last year. He's now tied for second in the NHL with 19 goals, and has made better use of his ice than any player (save for Sid, of course), when speaking solely in terms of goal scoring.

Cam Talbot

There are two reasons the Edmonton Oilers find themselves in the thick of a division race for the first time at this point in a season since, well, what feels like forever. Connor McDavid's one, and Talbot's the other.

Talbot was indispensably terrific in 2016. In the face of more shots and more high-danger scoring chances than any other goalie, Talbot's maintained higher than a .920 save percentage.

His Goals Saved Above Average (at stat that offers a relative comparison to the league average) is tops in the NHL.

- Advanced data courtesy corsica.hockey