Yea, even elite players go through ups and downs throughout the season and their careers, Petey's "struggles" is a little more frequent than I like but in the grand scheme of things its nothing special or unique. Only the generational players stays at a consistent level year in year out (although, even Ovi had a couple "down" seasons).
However, any players paid as a top 10 players will have elevated expectations, it just comes with the pay. I don't have too much gripes with EP's production this season as he is still out-producing his current contract, but starting next season, he will get less of a leash from me. You know he is capable of being a top 5 forwards, he has shown that he can put it together for extended stretches. He just have to avoid these extended cold streaks that he can get on once in awhile. Petey's linemates might not be ideal but he still have Hughes on the backend, and JTM/Boeser on the PP and occasional line mates, that is much more than what other guys (like Pasta and Panarin) has to work with. Heck, even Matthews had less (Domi and Bertuzzi) recently than what Petey got right now (Boeser and Hog). Petey was able to score 100+ with a rookie Kuzmenko and an injured Mikheyev last season, I'm sure he can produce at that level again with Hoglander and Boeser/Garland/whoever.