One of the main reasons the Columbus Blue Jackets made the playoffs this season is due to its depth. In year’s past the team would never get the production from their 3rd and 4th lines necessary to relieve the pressure off of their main scorers. This year with only Ryan Johansen stepping up to have an elite year the scoring had to be doled out by a multitude of players. One of the best surprises was Mark Letestu’s continued production.
After being the leading goal scorer during the 2012/13 season he wasn’t expected to put up similar numbers especially after being demoted to the fourth line. He was the jack of all trades during that season often seeing time on the top line. He was even seen as the ambassador from the coaches office to the dressing room. His time got cut down this season by about a minute and a half. All signs pointed to heavy regression but in typical Letestu fashion he was a pleasant surprise.
While putting together this player review I thought that one of the most important components of making the playoffs was a strong fourth line. I decided to look at each team that made the playoffs, specifically the fourth line center that played the position during this playoff season and how they performed over the course of this past regular season. Some had only started to play the position coming into the playoffs and oddly enough those teams had some early exits that coincided with their lack of perceived depth. Lets take a look at the player usage chart courtesy of Extra Skater:
The first part of this chart that jumps off of the page is in regards to overall performance by Letestu. He is perfectly average in his deployment, his starts hover right around 50% and compared to the other playoff qualifying fourth line centers he is right around the average for QoC at 27.6%. There is absolutely nothing wrong with him being an average 4th line center, but luckily he isn’t deployed like one. Lets look a little deeper into Letestu’s advanced stats:
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The only players on this list that outscored Letestu were Mike Richards and Nick Bonino. Bonino easily had the highest shooting percentage of the bunch and may see some regression, meanwhile Richards wasn’t seeing 4th line duties until late into the season and because of this it has skewed his numbers slightly. Letestu is also in the top half of this group for CF% rel which bodes well for a fairly strong possession team. Putting Letestu on the ice doesn’t put the Jackets in a bad position when trying to deploy his players which is all you can ask of a fourth liner. His special teams also show how great of a value he is to the team, in power play ice time he is only beat out by Bonino and Richards once again, playing 22% of the power play minutes available. He also played 39.8% of the available penalty kill minutes which was good for sixth out of the sixteen playoff qualifiers.
Letestu in short was an absolute monster for the CBJ and their special teams. While some beat him out in separate categories no one was as well rounded as Mark Letestu, being in the top half of nearly every statistical category measured in this small study, which no other player can lay claim to. His cost effectiveness also makes him a great value as well, his main competitors for best fourth line center this past year are paid a fair sum more than him. Bonino will be making 1.9 million dollars annually and Richards will be making 5.75 million this upcoming season(to be fair Richards is reportedly a candidate for a compliance buyout or trade due to his salary), while Letestu commands a 1.25 million dollar salary.
The value the Blue Jackets are currently getting from Mark Letestu is almost unparalleled in today’s NHL. In an age where overpaying players is en vogue, they have found a strong player to anchor their fourth line at a reasonable price. Letestu has played two career years in a row now and with his contract expiring after this upcoming season his play this year could be critical for contract negotiations on both sides of the table.
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