Is Sidney Crosby regressing?

It is no surprise that Sidney Crosby had a really rough start to the season, but has he really lost his touch as some would suggest? I say no, that's insane and here's why:

Even in one of the 'worst' seasons of his career Crosby has scored over 30 goals, is fifth in the NHL in points, ninth in goals and 12th in assists. He averages 1.33 points per game in his career, but he is only (only being used loosely) averaging 1.04 points per game in the 2015-16 season.

Crosby's numbers are down a little but this year, but I think I know why. The short answer is unsuitability. The Penguins have had two different head coaches this year and Crosby hasn't had
the same wingers on his line almost all year.

Dan Bylsma coached Sidney for most of his career and he was on a line with Pascal Dupree and Chris Kunitz for a number of year.

This year the Penguins fired their then head coach Mike Johnston and brought in Mike Sullivan. Sidney also hasn't had a consistent line at all. He's played with Kunitz, Phil Kessel, Carl Hagelin and Patric Hornqvist, among others, in a large number of different  combinations. With different coaches and a revolving door of wingers, any player would struggle to find consistency.

Lately we have seen Crosby start to return to his old form and I think it's because he's had enough time to get used to what Sullivan's system and how his line-mates play. So Sidney Crosby is not regressing, not yet at least.

Top Ten Outfields in Baseball

*This list is based off the 2016 RotoChamp.com player projections.

1. Colorado Rockies 

The Rockies have a somewhat unfair offensive advantage playing at Coors Field, but the outfield of Charlie Blackmon, Carlos Gonzales and Gerardo Parra still top this list. Colorado shipped Corey Dickerson off to the Rays and signed Parra to fill his spot this off-season. RotoChamp projects great production out of all three of them in 2016. Blackmon is projected to hit .281 with 16 HR and 73 RBI, CarGo to hit .272 with 32 HR and 85 RBI and Parra to hit .288 with 14 HR and 62 RBI. 

2. Washington Nationals

Headlined by the reigning NL MVP the Nationals outfield of Bryce Harper, Ben Revere and Jayson Werth are the runners up on this list. Harper is projected to have another amazing year, hitting .313, 36 HR, and 101 RBI. Revere is projected to bat .336 with two home runs and 53 RBI and Werth to hit .268 with 14 HR and 51 RBI.

3. Pittsburgh Pirates

Speed and defense is the name of the game for Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco in the Bucs' outfield and they are very good at both. They are projected to steal a combined 75 bases and Marte and McCutchen are previous Gold-Glove winners. McCutchen is projected to hit .301 with 24 HR and 86 RBI, Marte to bat .287 with 16 HR and 72 RBI and Polanco to hit .255 with 10 HR and 60 RBI.

4. Miami Marlins

When healthy, Giancarlo Stanton is the purest power hitter in the game, paired with Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna the Marlin's outfielders come in fourth on the list. Stanton is projected to mash to the tune of a .273 average with 40 HR and 97 RBI, Yelich to hit .292 with 8 HR and 61 RBI and Ozuna to hit .263 with 15 HR and 62 RBI.

5. San Francisco Giants

It's an even numbered year so the Giants will probably win the World Series, but in terms of this list they only come in fifth. Denard Span, Hunter Pence and Gregor Blanco will all be very solid both offensively and defensively. The projections have Span hitting .285 with 5 HR and 47 RBI, Pence .275 with 20 HR and 74 RBI and Blanco .277 with 4 HR and 33 RBI.

6. Chicago Cubs

With the big acquisition of Jayson Heyward in the off-season and their sneaky resigning of Dexter Fowler the Cubs really tried to add talent this winter. Paired with Kyle Schwarber who it looks like will be moving to the outfield full time the Cubs come in sixth on this list. Heyward is project to lead the group with a .281 average, 13 HR and 63 RBI, Fowler is projected to hit .264 with 12 HR and 51 RBI and Schwarber to hit .257 with 25 HR and 74 RBI.

7. Los Angeles Dodgers

How good the Dodgers outfield will end up being is going to depend on if Joc Peterson and Yasiel Puig can play up to their full potentials. Along with veteran Andre Ethier this goupr has the potential to justify being ranked seventh on this list. Peterson is projected to hit .222 with 27 HR and 73 RBI, Puig to hit .283 with 18 HR and 70 RBI and Ethier to hit .282 with 10 HR and 45 RBI.

8. Los Angeles Angels

 You knew the team that has Mike Trout was going to make this list. Trout and Cole Calhoun power the Angels outfield to eighth on the list, while Daniel Nava kind of holds them back. Trout is projected to mash in 2016 with a .297 average, 35 HR and 102 RBI, Calhoun to hit .264 with 22 HR and 77 RBI and Nava to bat .244 with 3 HR and 21 RBI.

9. Arizona Diamondbacks

The Diamondbacks added a ton of talent this off-season, but their out-field lacks any one standout player to rank higher than ninth on this list. A.J. Pollock, David Peralta and Yasmany Tomas are all solid players, but none of them are really a superstar. Pollock is projected to hit .300 to go along with 16 HR and 71 RBI, Peralta to hit .297 with 14 HR and 64 RBI and Tomas to hit .269 with 7 HR and 37 RBI.

10. New York Mets

The Mets have the opposite problem as the Arizona, they have a top-tier talent in Yoenis Cespedes but a couple of average guys flanking him in Curtis Granderson and Michael Conforto. Cespedes is projected to hit .278 with 29 HR and 92 RBI, Granderson to hit .245 with 23 HR and 74 RBI and Conforto to bat .269 with 18 HR and 70 RBI.

Full projections for every MLB team can be found at http://rotochamp.com/default.aspx.