Usually it was McDavid hitting the ice
People seem to forget that 5 on 5 offense for the Hitmen ran through Jake. The only solid teammates he had were Jake Bean and Travis Sanheim, both d men, which required him to be very aware of plays developing behind him. He has no problem with awareness. What he's struggled with in the AHL and NHL is a more static cycle game (i.e. the Sedin's playstyle). The nuances of endlessly shifting your position to remain open for those guys is a skill. But on the rush, Jake has never had trouble receiving passes, creating lanes and hitting a trailer. His playstyle is the direction this club (and much of the NHL) are heading. And we saw that in the last 20 games he played he looked like a force.
Good young players don't suddenly emerge when there team is playing opponents battling hard for playoff spots. It's the most difficult play of the season, conditioning is often an issue and it can be hard to keep up. For Jake to have shown how much he was developing at that time says loads of good things for his future.