Michael Grabner has 42 goals (seven shorthanded), 23 assists and 65 points in 102 games as a New York Islander. He's an absolutely lethal penalty killer, and his speed gives opposing defenders panic attacks on a nightly basis.

There is a long list of good NHL players who unwittingly gift-wrapped breakaways for him thanks to their failure to anticipate Austrian Warp Speed.

If only he converted those breakaways at a Pavel Bure rate instead of a average or sub-average NHLer's rate, the Gremlin would be an outright superstar. Instead, he's just a really fine NHL player, one of the best waiver claims in recent NHL history, and holding the second spot on our Top 25 Islanders Under 25 list.

How is Grabner doing this year? Pretty well, although his line struggled early -- earning Kyle Okposo a week in the press box -- and the role he excelled in toward the end of last season, as a lethal 1-2 PK tandem with Frans Nielsen, was blocked a bit by Jay Pandolfo of all people. Pandolfo's injury has allowed Grabner a little more PK time in recent games, which is good for both the goose and the Grabner.

Grabner's aggregate usage totals last year are tempered by his easing into the lineup in the first half, and his downright explosion in the second half. Nonetheless, here are how his averages are lining up this season vs. last season:

Those are per game rates/TOI, except the shot total (through 76 games last year, 26 so far this year). He's getting slightly fewer shots per game this year despite increased per-game ice time in all phases.

His shooting percentage is still pretty high, which bears watching because it: 1) could still fall back to a true Grabner "norm," whatever that norm may be, or 2) could remain that high as long as he keeps getting so many breakaway chances. (Even though Grabner has a rep for not converting his breakaways, unless he's missing nine out of 10 -- I doubt that he is -- then it can be cause for a higher than normal NHL shooting percentage.)