I believe that much of what you are observing is because Scheif has fundamentally made adjustments to the way that he wants to play the game - with the change becoming noticeable shortly after he returned from the World Cup last year. I believe that he watched/ played with other elite offensive centers, and decided that upon return he should play more of a "finisher" role, and rely more on his teammates to "retrieve pucks" and do the heavy lifting in the corners and behind the net. He therefore now positions himself differently - breaking off from cycles more quickly for the passout opportunity and genereally playing higherup than he did before. Unfortunately, few of the offensively elite centers he watched so carefully and now emulates had a commitment to strong defensive play when without the puck, especially in the defensive zone, and Scheif has followed suit.
This may expain why he likes playing with Wheeler so much this year as opposed to our younguns late last year.