We’re entering the second half of the NHL season, the All-Star break is coming to a close, and now the real fun is about to start.

It’s been an exhilarating start to the year, however, and we’d be remiss if we didn’t go through what’s been a jam-packed season to date.

A panel consisting of experts from Yahoo Sports NHL’s staff came up with their predictions, favourite storylines and other topics that have captivated their attention so far through 2019-20.

What has been your favourite storyline?

Arun Srinivasan: Don Cherry's firing from Sportsnet was long overdue and provided some imminent, if only temporary relief for hockey fans disenfranchised from the sport's core demographic.

From an on-ice perspective, the NHL's young talent boom being on full display has been the best storyline. Cale Makar has established himself as a staff favourite, Quinn Hughes has all the qualities you'd expect from a modern defenceman and we often forget that Connor McDavid just turned 23 this month. Nathan MacKinnon, Auston Matthews, David Pastrnak and Jack Eichel among others have continued to establish themselves as the faces of the league and none of them have celebrated their 25th birthday yet.

Ailish Forfar: Maybe “favourite” isn’t the right word here, but my most intriguing storyline would be the rise of players speaking up and the shift towards holding the league/coaches/teams accountable for wrongdoings. This season could mark a big step forward in truly making hockey for everyone one day.

Thomas Williams: For me, it has to be the Pittsburgh Penguins refusing to lose, despite losing their stars to significant injuries through the first half of the season. Forwards like Zach Anton-Reese becoming one of the best defensive forwards in the NHL, and Bryan Rust producing at a full-season pace of 100 points, is unreal. The Penguins will never die.

Ashley Hufford: 3-on-3 OT! 3-on-3 has made overtime more dramatic, more highlight-worthy, and just more fun. You can't look away and when the buzzer rings to go to a shootout, the players, coaches and fans are all disappointed. Everybody wants more, so come on, NHL, give us the 10-minute 3-on-3 OT we deserve.

Also, we can thank OT for giving us the soundbite of the season courtesy of Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice: “It’s a free-for-all of fecal matter. It’s a s—show out there, and that’s great.”

Stan Temming: Noel Acciari's scoring stats so far this season. The guy's got 18 goals and just three assists in his first 46 games. Should have known he'd be a likely candidate for the NHL's 2019-20 Cy Young Award, though. He scored 10 goals and only had one assist in 60 games with the Bruins two years ago.

Andrew Zuber: Hope you didn't pay for goaltending! Here are some of the names in the top-10 in save percentage and their salaries: Tristan Jarry ($675K), Darcy Kuemper ($1.84M), Elvis Merzlikins ($874K), Ilya Samsonov ($925K), Pavel Francouz ($950K).

Not only is there some young unknown and drastically underpaid talent at the top of the leaderboard, some of the highest paid goaltenders in the league have struggled mightily. Carey Price ($10.5M) is 30th in save percentage, Sergei Bobrovsky ($10.5) is 47th, and Braden Holtby ($6.1M) is 49th.

Of the top-10 highest paid goalies in the NHL, only Tuukka Rask has delivered top-10 numbers, with Connor Hellebuyck and Corey Crawford sneaking inside the top-30. Jordan Binnington's mid-season explosion onto the scene and into the Stanley Cup Final last season probably has a few GM's wondering if there isn't a cheaper option hiding somewhere in their organization that can give them a lot of performance for very little cost. And those teams with a sizeable chunk of their cap space tied up in net have put themselves at a disadvantage out of the gate to try to build their team.

Kyle Cantlon: The fact that Alex Ovechkin has a somewhat legitimate chance to catch Wayne Gretzky for the all-time goal-scoring crown when all is said and done is mind blowing to me. This chase to 894 has me smitten.

Which team has been the most disappointing?

View photos It's been a nightmare year for P.K Subban and the New Jersey Devils. (Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports) More

Story continues