Consistency and overall play

[Aposiopesis]

As I do a lot of editing for my own pleasure, I'm fairly comfortable with the workings of the game. However, there's a question that's really been bothering me (outside of a ridiculous amount of testing) and I've decided to appeal here for help.

Here's what I know...

Work rate: In addition to affecting development, work rate determines how active a player is on each shift (what he does with that activity depends on other attributes such as aggression and bravery)

Determination: As best as I can tell, this is the all-around clutch-o-meter. It measures a players drive to succeed in whatever it is he does, on and off the ice. I think this contrasts with work rate whereas in with a high work rate but low determination, a guy is 'doing stuff' just for the sake of 'doing stuff', somewhat aimlessly, whereas with a player with low work rate and high determination, a player doesn't have a high amount of activity on the ice, but when he does do something, he puts his all into the action with a very specific drive. Effort vs activity, I guess.

Influence: The effect a player has on his teammates/linemates. By my estimation, a captain's influence has an effect on the entire team, whereas a non-captain only affects the players he's on the ice with. Or it may not affect at all if he's not captain, not 100% there. If low enough, this can have a negative effect on teammates.. or at least, an a effect that's so lacking in positives that higher options make them seem negative.

Important Matches (hidden): Playoff version of consistency, the perceived playoff clutchness. High determination + high important matches (significantly higher than consistency) = Johan Franzen, for instance.

Consistency: This is the one I'm not entirely certain about. I know it affects a players level of play from day to day, game to game. What I'm not certain about is whether it affects overall play or offensive production. Which one it is could have a significant effect on how I edit players (and how I choose them for lineups as well).

To offer a working example, I'll bring in another Red Wing: Dan Cleary. At this point in his career, Dan Cleary is very defensively responsible. Decent anticipation, high positioning and checking. He rarely takes a shift off (excellent work rate), and he's reasonably determined (pretty good determination, above average if nothing else). He also has decent offensive tools.

On the other hand, his offensive production tends to come in bunches and be very "off" sometimes, even though his overall effort and defensive game stays on. This happens more than his tools and work rate can account for. So let's say I give Cleary these stats:

18 positioning
18 checking
18 work rate
14 determination
10 consistency

Let's say that mediocre consistency kicks in during a game and he has a poor one. Does it affect his overall play, despite his work rate and defensive skills, or does it just affect his offensive production?

For a more extreme example, let's make a radically inconsistent Pseudo-Datsyuk:

High work rate
High determination
Most offensive tools 18+
Most defensive tools 18+
Consistency 4

Is this a player who shows up defensively almost all the time (because of good skills at such and high work rate/determination), but may go on huge scoring droughts because of his consistency (then lights it up the next few games because of his offensive skills, when he uses them), or is this is a player who just overall craps the bed on a regular basis?

If consistency affects everything, then how does one go about building a player that's defensively consistent and a hard worker but offensively consistent (despite tools) without artificially lowering said offensive tools? Am I correct in my theory that consistency is primarily a modifier of offensive production relative to skills (since after all, work rate and determination affect effort and activity)?