Putting scoring accomplishments in context can be quite challenging in the NHL, because the league has undergone so many changes.
For instance, when Wayne Gretzky scored 92 goals in the 1981-82 season, the league averaged 8.02 goals per game; compare that to the current situation, where teams combine for just 5.56 goals per game.
That brings us to San Jose Sharks defenseman Brent Burns. Burns is currently third in the NHL, with 64 points, and the two players he is behind -- Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid -- are the world's best hockey player and the heir apparent to that title, respectively.
So when we're trying to put Burns' torrid scoring pace in perspective, there are two approaches we can take: Adjust for era by using league averages, or compare him to his peers in the post-2004 lockout era.
Let's take a look at both.
Burns vs. his peers
San Jose's top defenseman has 64 points in his first 60 games, which puts him on pace for 87 points this season. That would be the highest point total by a defenseman since the lockout, and five points ahead of Ottawa Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson, who scored 82 in 82 games last season.
With 27 goals, Burns is only four away from the best mark of the past decade, a mark currently held by Mike Green, who scored 31 goals with the Washington Capitals in 2008-09. Only 12 of Green's goals came at 5-on-5, compared to 20 this season for Burns. Credit to Green however, in that his 31-goal season was produced in just 68 games. In fact, Green produced points at the same per-game pace as Burns currently is on (1.07).
What makes the Sharks' offensive dynamo different than Green and many of the other top scoring defensemen is that his team is merely an average offensive group. San Jose ranks 15th in 5-on-5 points per 60 minutes this season.
The difference between the Sharks' scoring prowess with and without Burns is 1.52 goals per 60 minutes at even strength -- by far the NHL's best mark this season, and the best since the stat came into existence in 2007-08. Compare that to Green in 2008-09, who gave the Capitals a 0.82 goal bump, and Karlsson last season, who was on ice for 0.78 more goals per 60 even-strength minutes.
Burns' individual even-strength scoring is unmatched among defensemen with a one-quarter of the season remaining. He has produced more 5-on-5 goals than any blueliner since the 2005-06 season with 20, and only McDavid has more even-strength points than Burns this season.
While the 31-year-old defenseman has always been a terrific offensive producer, why is he doing so well this season? In part, it's because Burns is shooting the puck more than any other blueliner, and it isn't a very close race. In fact, he is taking the most shot attempts per 60 minutes of any forward or defenseman with 20.5, and leads the next best defender Dougie Hamilton by 4.9 shots per 60.
Increasing Burns' shot attempts has played a big role in pumping up his scoring totals. In seven seasons with the Minnesota Wild, the well-groomed defenseman topped out at 2.49 shots on goal per game, in 2008-09. Even after the Sharks moved Burns back to defense after two seasons as a forward, he put only 2.99 shots on goal per game, but since Pete DeBoer took over as head coach in 2015-16, the veteran scorer has averaged 4.30 and 4.03 per contest.
Burns' highest shooting percentage for a full season was 10.0 percent (that includes the time when he played forward); this season, 11.2 percent of his shots are finding their way into the back of the net.
Burns vs. the all-time greats
If the Sharks' superstar ramps up his pace and reaches 90 points, how will that compare to the likes of Bobby Orr and Paul Coffey, who combine to own all 10 of the highest scoring seasons by NHL defensemen?
Well, let's just say that old school fans would be happy to find out that Burns' overall production as well as his relative dominance isn't anywhere close. When Orr notched 37 goals and 102 assists during the 1970-71 season, the next best defenseman, J.C. Tremblay, notched 63 points and took 270 fewer shots on goal.
The gap between Coffey's best season and the competition was similarly jaw-dropping. Skating for the Edmonton Oilers in 1985-86, Coffey's 138 points topped the next-highest defensemen scorers -- Mark Howe and Larry Robinson -- by 56 points.
Hockey Reference has a statistic called "offensive point shares," which works to estimate how many standings points a player's scoring was worth. This number works as an era and team adjustment. Here's how Burns' 2016-17 season (so far) matches up against the best seasons for a defenseman:
So it's possible that Burns could sneak into the top 10 offensive seasons for a defenseman since Orr debuted, and have the best season of anyone since Coffey in 1985-86.
Since the lockout, Burns, Karlsson and Green have dominated the point production from defensemen, racking up nine of the 10 best offensive point-share seasons, with the only exception being Sheldon Souray's 2006-07.
How many awards will he win this season?
Withholding the Norris Trophy from elite scoring defensemen is a fairly new phenomenon. Orr won the award as the league's best defenseman every season that his offensive point shares were in the top 10 all time, and Coffey won it two of his three best seasons.
But in Green's two best seasons, he finished second in Norris voting. Karlsson's point-per-game 2015-16 was not rewarded, as voters chose Drew Doughty instead.
While nobody will mistake Burns for Scott Stevens in the defensive zone, he might still deserve credit for his overall defensive impact by simply having the puck more often than opponents. Burns is 21st among blueliners in relative Corsi, improving his team's shot differential by 3.7 percentage points. He also sports a 63.8 goals for percentage, ranking eighth overall.
With numbers like those, Burns deserves to be in the discussion for the Hart Trophy as league MVP. Orr won it three times and Coffey ranked fourth in the voting twice, so there is precedent for a historically great scoring season from a defenseman translating into consideration as the league's most valuable player.