Player Review: Jakob Silfverberg

By AJ Manderichio AnaheimDucks.com

As part of the AnaheimDucks.com annual Player Reviews, we will be featuring a different Ducks player throughout the coming weeks, in numerical uniform number order. Each review will include key stats, a highlight and an outlook for 2016-17.

It’s no secret Jakob Silfverberg helped turn around a bleak start to the 2015-16 season for the Ducks.

Unfortunately for him, it started later than he envisioned.

Silfverberg’s adversity began before the puck officially dropped to start the season. Raffi Torres charged the Swedish right wing during the final preseason game, delivering an illegal hit to the head as Silfverberg skated into Sharks territory. Torres received a 41-game suspension for the vicious hit, and though Silfverberg didn’t miss a game, it affected his early-season production.

He managed just six points (3g/3a) through his first 36 games, an abysmal total for a player used to consistently producing in a top-six role.

Like many of his teammates, his season turned when the calendar hit January 1.

Silfverberg poured pucks into the net with regularity, recording 17 goals over the final 45 games. March was especially kind to him, as he posted 10 goals – and 13 points – in 15 games. He finished the season with a flourish, scoring 11 goals in his final 15 games, the most in the NHL. Alexander Ovechkin finished second, with nine.

He wrapped up his prolific second half with 33 points, averaging almost a point-per-game as the Ducks clinched the Pacific Division crown for a fourth …

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