I think he is pacing himself. He has started slow in previous years. To me it seems like when he is "on" he drives the net much more and plays with more grit and is greedy with respect to wanting to score. When he is playing more perimeter and doing more drop/blind passes, that shows to me that he is not as engaged or determined.
The fact that we have seen this before from Sid on multiple occasions tells me that it is by design and is more mental. Not that he doesn't want to do well, but that there is a strategy in place to try and keep him healthy and as fresh as possible for when the games matter most. Probably at the direction of his personal trainers and the Pens trainers. The regular season is a grind.
The unfortunate part for the Pens is that many of the players will follow Sids lead and as a result the whole team can look off and lethargic. Compounding the problem is that the team couldn't keep its depth and other vets from the previous couple of years, and we are lacking quality centers to eat more minutes.
I think Sid will turn it on after Christmas.
