Travis Boyd is extremely low-key. He’s a bottom-six ninja.
By the Numbers
| 24 | games played |
| 11.8 | time on ice per game |
| 3 | goals |
| 7 | assists |
| 54.7 | 5-on-5 shot-attempt percentage, adjusted |
| 52.4 | 5-on-5 expected goal percentage, adjusted |
| 75.6 | 5-on-5 goal percentage, adjusted |
Visualization by HockeyViz
About this visualization: This series of charts made by Micah Blake McCurdy of hockeyviz.com shows lots of information for the player over the season. A short description of each chart:
- Most common teammates during 5-on-5
- Ice time per game, split up by game state
- 5-on-5 adjusted shot attempts by the team (black) and opponents (red)
- 5-on-5 adjusted shooting percentage by the team (black) and opponents (red)
- Individual scoring events by the player
- 5-on-5 adjusted offensive (black) and defensive (red) zone starts
Peter’s Take
I’m going to level with you. There’s not a ton to say about Travis Boyd. He was a part-time player for the Caps in 2019-20, most often slotting in when Nic Dowd or another center was unavailable. But when he did hit the ice, the 26-year-old had exemplary results, including the highest on-ice goal percentage on the team (15 for the Cap, just 5 for opponents).
If Boyd has an offensive style, I’d call it Beaglian. low volume, but highly dangerous.
He’s a low-event player, but when he goes, he goes to the net. Here are his shot locations from hockeyviz.
Which means I’m contractually obligated to say “just shoot more, 4head,” but it’s never that simple. It’s not like Boyd is one encouraging tap on the shoulder away from becoming a double-digit scorer. Still, it couldn’t hurt.
And from a coach’s perspective, I expect the attitude would be the opposite. While Boyd had good on-ice percentages of all types, he didn’t slow the pace of the game down nearly as much as other bottom-six Caps forwards, which may speak to a modest difference in his playstyle. The general attitude towards bottom-liners is that you can’t depend on them to win so they better not lose a game for you. That typically happens by grinding the game down so that fewer events happen at the end of the rink, and Boyd doesn’t do that as well as Dowd and company. Maybe that’s a good thing?
Boyd is a restricted free agent this summer. For a cap-strapped team, it’s not a guarantee that he will be back. But he’s a useful player with unrealized potential. I don’t know what his asking price will be, but it wouldn’t break the bank. I’d like to see more from him.
Boyd on RMNB
- Boyd started last season in the AHL, where he tore the joint up, notching player of the week.
- Big ups to Boyd for doing our Instagram filter. You’ll never guess who he got.
- Boyd bought his girlfriend a lovely TKO painting.
- Boyd filled in on the third line when Backstrom got hurt in the playoffs. That series was a tire fire, but it’s not like it was Boyd’s fault.
- Finally, this goal counted, ha:
Your Turn
Do you want Boyd back? What would you like to see him change in his game?
Read more: Japers Rink
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