We’re almost done with the twenty-games-in series. I have one more treat in store, but before that I want to play a game.
I’ve gone through every active-ish player for the Washington Capitals and pulled one stat that helps me understand their season so far. A couple of these surprised me; a couple of them might surprise you. One or two should enrage you. I hope a few of them grow our shared appreciation for some guys. I’ve tried to keep my commentary to a minimum, though my stats selections should suggest my feelings on a lot of these.
Beck Malenstyn
41: On-ice shot-attempt percentage of the Beck-Dowd-Hathaway line in 34 minutes together. Dowd and Hathaway have done 10 points better with a different winger.
Nicolas Aube-Kubel
8:46: NAK’s average ice time in his four games played
Aliaksei Protas
Plus-8.1: Change to Washington’s on-ice shot attempt percentage when Protas is on the ice, highest on the team
Lucas Johansen
One: Games played
Alexander Alexeyev
11: Total minutes played this season
Joe Snively
12: Snively’s average ice time in his five games played
Garnet Hathaway
35: Penalty minutes, highest on the team by nearly 20 minutes. The Caps have been beaten on the penalty kill 11 times when Hathaway is off the ice and and five times when he is on the ice.
Matt Irwin
51.6: Opponent attempts per hour when Irwin is on the ice, the lowest rate among all Caps defenders.
Sonny Milano
1st: Milano’s rank in five-on-five points per hour, 2.9
Nic Dowd
1.1: Dowd’s goals above replacement (GAR) at shorthanded defense, best on the team
Lars Eller
Minus-11: Eller’s combined impact to Washington’s offense and defense, according HockeyViz
Anthony Mantha
Seven: Games Mantha has gone without a goal, dating back to November 11
Marcus Johansson
Plus-43: Improvement in percentage points to Washington’s power-play expected-goal rate when Johansson is on the ice
Conor Sheary
2nd: Sheary’s rank in goals among all Caps over the last three seasons (40). He is 45 goals behind Ovechkin and three above Wilson.
TJ Oshie
Nine: Games missed to injury this season. Oshie missed 38 games last season. He missed three combined games in the two seasons before that.
Connor Brown
67: Total minutes played as a Washington Capitals before his injury
Trevor van Riemsdyk
Minus-6: TVR’s impact (percentage points) on opponent offense. (Negative is good.)
Dylan Strome
3.2: Strome’s goals above replacement, highest among top-six forwards. I dunno. It’s hard to describe quiet competence.
Evgeny Kuznetsov
Minus-70: Percentage change in Kuznetsov’s five-on-five goal rate since last season. His overall point rate is actually up; he leads the team in assists.
Erik Gustafsson
Minus-5.3: The difference between Gustafsson’s on-ice shot-attempt percentage (54.6) and on-ice expected-goal percentage (49.3). This is the largest gap among Capitals defenders.
Martin Fehervary
5.6: Fehervary’s goals above replacement (GAR) according to Evolving-Hockey, a team high. I cannot wrap my head around this one at all.
Nick Jensen
56.3: Jensen’s on-ice shot attempt percentage in his 69 minutes with Orlov. Jensen has been 49.3 without Orlov.
Alex Ovechkin
Ten: Goals until Ovechkin ties Gordie Howe. I considered other stats about Ovechkin’s offense, but this is the one that seems to matters the most. Take from that what you will.
Dmitry Orlov
22: Days since Orlov’s lower-body injury.
John Carlson
14.4: Rate of opponent high-danger chances per hour, worst on Washington and 144th out of 155 NHL defenders with at least 240 minutes played.
Darcy Kuemper
Plus-3.4: Goals saved above expected, ranked 11th of 31 goalies who have played 10 games.
Charlie Lindgren
Minus-1.1: Goals saved above expected, i.e. he has allowed one more goal than expected, ranked 46th of 69 goalies who have played five game
Now let’s fight about it in comments.
Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB
