Before Dec. 1, the Carolina Hurricanes had the 30th ranked power play amongst all teams in the NHL with just a 13.7% success rate and only 10 total goals scored.

Despite all the talent that the team has on the roster, they just couldn't figure out how to convert.

However, since Dec. 1, Carolina has been the 4th best team on the man advantage with a 27.2% success rate and 28 total goals scored.

While there could be a myriad of reasons why things have turned so drastically, there's been one constant that was missing prior to that Dec. 1 date: Jordan Staal being implemented on the top unit.

Staal, 37, is in the midst of one of his most productive seasons in years.

The Hurricanes captain has 15 goals and 26 points so far this year, including three power play goals, the most he's had in a season since 2020-21.

And of those 15 goals, 12 have been either tying or go-ahead goals.

"He does a lot of things for us," said Sebastian Aho. "Of course you want to see everyone score and feel good about their games, but obviously he's been scoring some big goals for us as of late, the whole year really. I don't think he really changes how he plays, whether he scores or not, but it's obviously great to see him on the scoresheet. He earns those goals."

While the increased production is definitely big, his biggest contribution has actually been in an area where he's always been one of the most reliable presences: in the faceoff dot.

Staal is 53.55% in faceoffs for his career, which is the 22nd best mark amongst all players with at least 1,000 career draws.

But for the year, Staal has won the fourth most draws in the league, with 599 faceoff wins (he's 55.7% on the year).

While winning draws at any time can be big, it's the fact that he's now winning draws on the man advantage which has helped add an additional element for the Hurricanes.

"He's been incredible and a big reason, I think, why our power play is doing as well as it has been," said Seth Jarvis. "Starting with the puck and letting us run our plays and giving us a chance to score right away."

Staal has won 69% of his faceoffs while on the man advantage, a significantly higher percentage than the Canes' normal two power play centermen in Sebastian Aho (54.57%) and Logan Stankoven (44%).

Winning those opening, offensive zone draws is so crucial to running plays, getting into sets and just overall generating offense. 

"When you can snap them back, you can run your plays," said Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour. "That's what we were alluding to early in the year on why we put him out there. We were kind of missing that and you've seen, really, since he's been in there, a lot of occasions where that's happened. Why not keep using him because he's been very effective."

If you lose the draw, odds are the pucks heading out of the zone, which chews the clock and allows the opposition to set up at the blueline and attempt to lock-down the zone.

Starting with the puck is just so critical and you can see just how much of a difference it makes if you just look at the team's power play before and after the insertion of Staal.

Add that all on top of his role as the team's shutdown centerman, tasked with PK1 responsibilities and the hardest matchups night in and night out and it's easy to see just how valuable the captain has been this season.

"To me, I love that he's doing it because now we're talking about him," Brind'Amour said. "He's kind of a guy we've talked a lot about this year, which is good, because it's well deserved, but even when he's not scoring and it's not going in, his game is the same and it still really has the same impact with the way he plays for us. There's a reason why he's our captain and it's not just because he's now scoring. No, that's how he goes about his business to do that and how he prepares to play at 37. That says it all for me."

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