Written Option: Write 200 words about your team's top performing player or players. How good are they compared to other top performing players in the league? Must include at least 3 stats from the SIM.

If I was writing this a week ago I’d be telling you how Bar Downski would be the Raider’s top player. How he was one of the lone bright spots on a team full of rookies that was showing them the way. Well he was traded, so he’s out of the running. Instead the attention turns to the rookies, more specifically Yannick Berger, the team’s top rookie (and one of the best rookies in the league), as the top player on the team. He has been the top center for the Raiders, originally on a line with Bar Downski and Kevin Hamilton, but now flanked by fellow rookies Geoff Higgins and Konstantin Kostoyevskiy. Right now, Berger leads all rookies in points, with 27 on the season. He is also 9th among all centers in points, showing that he is hanging around with the best of them. An underrated stat is the short-handed goals statistic, it doesn’t happen often, but it can be a boost to the penalty kill if you can score one, and Berger has done exactly that, he is tied for the lead with 2 short-handed goals this season. This shows he has the ability to turn a penalty kill into points, and put the team down on what should be a chance for them to gain ground, or extend leads. A statistic that Berger could do better in is face-off percentage, which right now he has a percentage of 48.91. Now, part of this can be explained by him being thrust into first line center duties, facing guys who have much more experience and quite simply are better. So while Yannick hasn’t been the best center in the league (he’s a rookie facing 2nd and even 3rd year guys, so it’s going to be hard for him to claim the best center spot, but the best rookie spot is a much more realistic goal for the center out of Austria. (323 words)