Below are a handful of stats that will be helping me make some close decisions as I’m drafting, whether it’s player who shoots a lot (or misses a lot) a player who has a ton of power play time on ice or even a team who tends to win more despite being outshot.
Enjoy!
1) I want to start with this because it’s an important fact: 2015-16 NHL Season regular season goals: 6,672. 2016-17 goals: 6,802. 2017-18 goals: 7,256. At some point surely this will hit its peak but that is a 9% increase in goals over 2 years.
2) Over the last three years: Pittsburgh is offensively one of the top five teams each year.
3) Vancouver is one of the bottom five teams each year over the last 3 seasons.
4) The ONLY other team who has consistently landed in the top five or bottom five each of the last five years – the Buffalo Sabres have been in the bottom five.
5) On the defensive side, only Anaheim has been a top five in fewest goals the last three years
6) If you expand the field to the top six you can include the Los Angeles Kings
7) The five teams with the most wins over the last three years: Capitals (160), Penguins (145), Lightning (142), Blues (139) and Sharks (137)
8) Five teams with the fewest wins over the last three years excluding Vegas: Red Wings (104), Avalanche (104), Coyotes (94), Sabres (93), Canucks (92).
9) A list of the top scorers over the last three years: Alex Ovechkin (132 goals), Vladimir Tarasenko (112 goals), Brad Marchand (110 goals), Nikita Kucherov (109 goals), Sidney Crosby (109 goals), Patrick Kane (107 goals), Jamie Benn (103 goals), Tyler Seguin (99 goals) and John Tavares (98 goals)
10) A list of the top assists over the last three years: Erik Karlsson (173 assists), Connor McDavid (169), Blake Wheeler (168), Patrick Kane (164), Nicklas Backstrom (163), Ryan Getzlaf (158), Claude Giroux (157), Sidney Crosby (154) and Evgeny Kuznetsov (153).
11) Only two names repeated on both lists, we all know Sidney Crosby is elite but how high is Patrick Kane on your master list after a down season in 2017-2018?
12) PIM leaders over the last three seasons: Tom Wilson (483 PIM), Cody McLeod (394), Michael Haley (388), Antoine Roussel (364) and Dustin Byfuglien (348)
13) Power play goals leaders over the last three seasons: Alex Ovechkin (53 ppg), Wayne Simmonds (40), Jamie Benn (38), Brayden Schenn (36) and Evgeni Malkin (36)
14) Wayne Simmonds played hurt through almost all of last season and should rebound this year with James van Riemsdyk to help out on Philadelphia’s power play this year
15) Power Play time on ice leaders: Alex Ovechkin (989), Brent Burns (932), Oliver Ekman-Larsson (929), Erik Karlsson (900) and Claude Giroux (892).
16) These five teams have had the most power play opportunities over the last three seasons: Tampa Bay Lightning (827), Philadelphia Flyers (818), Colorado Avalanche (801), Calgary Flames (796) and Winnipeg Jets (795)
17) These five, the fewest (ignoring Vegas): Carolina Hurricanes (708), Anaheim Ducks (707), New York Rangers (700), Edmonton Oilers (692) and Columbus Blue Jackets (686).
18) Breaking it down by minor penalties: the Anaheim Ducks have been penalized with the most minor penalties over the last three seasons, the Hurricanes have been penalized the least. The Philadelphia Flyers have drawn the most minor penalties; the Hurricanes have drawn the fewest.
19) Plus/Minus leaders over the last three seasons: Brad Marchand (+64), John Manson (+59), Ryan Ellis (+56), Victor Hedman (+56) and Drew Doughty (+55)
Every year I do my top 5 favourite non Leafs lost and every year Tavares and Zetterberg headline. One is retired and the other is now a Leaf. So here is my new top 5 non Leafs -
— King Henry the 9th (@DrCoolSexy) September 24, 2018
1. Drew Doughty
2. Anze Kopitar
3. Ryan Getzlaf
4. Ilya Kovalchuk
5. Duncan Keith
20) Only one non-defenseman on that list.
21) The Worst Plus/Minus players over the last three seasons: Justin Faulk (-66), Tyson Barrie (-65), Matt Duchene (-64), Oliver Edman-Larsson (-59) and Rasmus Ristolainen (-55) and additionally four of those five players were on teams with the fewest wins over the last three years (no surprise there)
22) Again, only one non-defenseman on that list. Additionally four of those five players were on teams with the fewest wins over the last three years at some point (no surprise there),
23) Zach Smith leads the league in Short Handed Goals over the last three years with 9, Andrew Cogliano, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Victor Arvidsson and Brad Marchand all have 8.
24) Players with the most shots over the last three years: Alex Ovechkin (1,066), Brent Burns (1,005), Tyler Seguin (914), Vladimir Tarasenko (884) and Patrick Kane (864).
25) Among players with at least 50 goals scored over the last three years, Paul Byron leads the league in shooting percentage (20.3%) followed by Patrick Laine (18%), Mark Scheifele (17.5%) Artem Anisimov (17.4%) and Evgeni Malkin (17.2%)
Mark Scheifele explains how he wants to be the Tom Brady of the NHL. MORE @ https://t.co/J4M9XUxvUE pic.twitter.com/tf9kVcSK3y
— BarDown (@BarDown) September 28, 2018
26) ATOI leaders over the last three years: Erik Karlsson (avg 27:34 Mins per game), Ryan Suter (27:27), Drew Doughty (27:20), Rasmus Ristolainen (26:04) and Kris Letang (25:58).
27) All of the ATOI leaders aforementioned have at least 20 goals, 100 assists (so 120 total points), 100 PIM and 60 power play points over the last three seasons
28) Rasmus Ristolainen who is the arguable worst among those defensemen will have 2018 #1 overall pick Rasmus Dahlin to help with the Buffalo Sabres defensive depth this year
Rasmus Ristolainen leading the stretch. pic.twitter.com/ptrJudVGF2
— Bill Hoppe (@BillHoppeNHL) September 26, 2018
29) Points per game leaders (minimum 50 points) over the last three seasons: Connor McDavid (1.22), Evgeni Malkin (1.16), Sidney Crosby (1.11), Patrick Kane (1.10), Nikita Kucherov (1.09)
30) I think the previous tidbit is something that should really help you suss out who you might want early in your draft. To help with this, the remainder of the top ten: Brad Marchand (1.03), Mathew Barzal (1.01), Steven Stamkos (0.99) and Jamie Benn (0.98)
31) Mathew Barzal lost John Tavares who went to Toronto in the offseason
32) Mathew is also leading the league in assists this preseason. Sure it’s preseason but let’s look at the co-leaders in assists….
33) Mitch Marner and Connor McDavid. I think Barzal could be a top ten of fifteen player in points this season. The Islanders will surely be all in on giving him every chance.
34) Mathew scored more points in his rookie season (85) then these rookies (all entered the last 3 years): Artemi Panarin, Auston Matthews, Patrik Laine, William Nylander, Mitch Marner, Jack Eichel, Nico Hischier and Connor McDavid (who only played 45 games)
35) Hits leaders over the last three seasons: Mark Borowiecki (861), Matt Martin (812), Radko Gudas (754), Tom Wilson (742 and Luke Schenn (739).
Blocked Shots: Kris Russell (646), Alec Martinez (555), Mark Giordano (538), Francois Beauchemin (533) and Dan Girardi (516).
36) This stat was interesting to me: most giveaways in the last three seasons: Brent Burn (379) and Erik Karlsson (288), will this be a subtle stat that hurts San Jose?
37) Most takeaways over the last three seasons: Mark Stone (283), Jeff Skinner (235), Connor McDavid (220) Jaccob Slavin (214) and Mats Zuccarello (184). How is there only one defenseman on this list??
Mark Stone: I love it in Ottawa, I want to be here going forwardhttps://t.co/GWFy2R2knR
— TSN 1200 (@TSN1200) September 19, 2018
38) Faceoff wins leaders over the last three seasons: Ryan O’Reilly (3,337), Patrice Bergeron (3,003), Sidney Crosby (2,854), Anze Kopitar (2,825) and Mikko Koivu (2,734)
39) Ryan O’Reilly set the all-time record in face-offs won last season with Buffalo.
40) Top five goalies in GAA (minimum 100 games played) over the last three seasons: Antti Raanta (2.25), John Gibson (2.26), Jonathan Quick (2.30), Ben Bishop (2.33) and Sergei Bobrovsky (2.35) – Devan Dubnyk is sixth since I’m always big on him.
41) Top five in save percentage (minimum of 100 games played) over the last three seasons – Antti Raanta (.926 sv%), John Gibson (.924%), Corey Crawford (.923%), Sergei Bobrovsky (.922) and Roberto Luongo (.922)
42) Wins – Braden Holtby (124 wins), Devan Dubnyk (107), Pekka Rinne (107), Tuukka Rask (102) and Martin Jones (102).
Shootouts – Tuukka Rask (15), Dubnyk (15), Rinne (15), Gibson (14) and Bobrovsky (13)
43) The two goalies that sit multiple of those four different leaderboards: Sergei Bobrovsky (on three of them), Gibson (3 of them), Raanta (2), Dubnyk (2) and Rinne (2).
44) Goalies with the most saves over the last three seasons: Cam Talbot (5,305), Henrik Lundqvist (5,152), Devan Dubnyk (5,004), Frederik Andersen (4,910) and Pekka Rinne (4,902).
Goalies with the most games played: Talbot (196), Dubnyk (192), Martin Jones (190), Rinne (186) and Lundqvist (185).
45) Shot types leaders over the last three seasons:
- Shots Deflected: Joe Pavelski (53)
- Slap Shot: Duncan Keith (364),
- Snapshot: Taylor Hall (246),
- Wrist Shot: Vladimir Tarasenko (656),
- Wrap arounds: Evander Kane (30),
- Backhand: Jeff Skinner (123),
- Tipped shot: Anders Lee (101).
- Missed shots: Alex Ovechkin (479) followed by Brent Burns, Erik Karlsson, Vladimir Tarasenko and Filip Forsberg.
46) Teams winning when outshooting their opponent over last three years: Penguins, Bruins and Capitals. Teams losing when outshooting their opponent: Hurricanes, Kings and Blue Jackets
47) Teams winning when being outshot by opponent: Rangers, Lightning, Maple Leafs. Teams losing when outshot: Avalanche, Coyotes and Canucks
48) Five best shooting teams over the last 3 seasons: Capitals (10.4%), Golden Knights (10%), Lightning (9.9%), Wild (9.8%) and Rangers (9.8%). Five worst: Red Wings (8.5%), Canadiens (8.4%), Canucks (8.3%), Hurricanes (8.2%) and Sabres (8%).
49) The Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, San Jose Sharks lead the league in second assists awarded over the last three seasons
50) The Devils, Sabres and Canucks are the lowest (the variance between Pittsburgh and New Jersey is 181 or 0.73 assists per game.)
Best of luck!