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It’s very easy to look at a chart of individual player statistics (goals, points, etc.) and see who is contributing to the team’s production. However, are those statistics based on their own production, or as a result of them being on the ice more than others. In other words, how efficient is each player in using their time on the ice for production.
One basic way to do that is to look at their production with a time factor. The most common factor is the length of a regulation game, 60 minutes. When you look at each player’s statistics in a “per 60” format, you see their production while they are on the ice.
As a disclosure, this analysis will look at total time on ice, not just even strength time. It is true that more offensive productivity will come on the powerplay than at even strength and less productivity can be expected on the penalty kill. Therefore, players with more powerplay time would be expected to have increased productivity in an analysis like this, while those that kill penalties may be negatively affected in the scoring analyses.
Are the overall scoring leaders on the team also the most efficient, or are there players that aren’t getting as much ice time producing more regularly? Here’s a look at offensive production per 60 minutes of ice time for all of the Sabres skaters.
FUN NOTE: All of the charts in this piece are sortable by any column… so sort away.
[table id=31 /]It may surprise you to see that the team leader in Points per 60 to this point in the season is Tim Schaller. However, that is most likely due to a very small sample size, he hasn’t yet even reached 60:00 of total ice time.
Taking Schaller out of the occasion, Jamie McGinn is actually the Sabres player with the highest point production per 60:00. You may not have expected that. McGinn has been relegated primarily to 3rd or 4th line duty for the majority of the season, but when he has been on the ice, he has produced fairly well. Interestingly enough, as I was typing this piece, tonight’s Sabres lines came out and McGinn has been moved up to the 2nd line to ride shotgun with Jack Eichel. Coach Dan Bylsma must like what he sees out of him enough to give him that promotion. His point production per ice time may have something to do with that.
On the negative side, last year’s All-Star representative and the team captain have been a disappointment. Zemgus Girgensons has the lowest points per 60 minutes of all forwards at 0.70, while Brian Gionta isn’t much better (1.14 points per 60).
In terms of actually putting the puck in the net, the Sabres’ last two first round draft picks, Eichel and Reinhart have been the most efficient. That may not come as a huge surprise, but in third place is Jamie McGinn again. You may not have expected that. Marcus Foligno, and again Brian Gionta bring up the rear of the train in goals per 60.
Let’s look at shot production per 60 minutes:
[table id=36 /]Evander Kane dominates in these categories. That shouldn’t be a surprise. The energetic forward excels at taking the puck to the net and creating offense. For my money, he’s been the most dangerous player on the ice in the majority of the games he has played in. His goal number might not be where we want them to be just yet, but as long as he stays healthy and continues his high speed, heavy style of hockey, he’ll score plenty of goals and put up a good number of points.
Jack Eichel also does a good job of both generating shots and getting them on net. He’s always looking for his shot. Then again, if I had shot like he does, I would be too.
Marcus Foligno’s 6.30 shot attempts and 2.44 shots on goal per 60 minutes aren’t good. I know that his value is much greater than his offensive output, but those numbers need to come up. I bet the coaching staff has shared that same concern with him, and I’m sure Marcus himself agrees.
Let’s take a look at some of the peripheral stats, or as the NHL likes to call them, real time stats:
[table id=37 /]It should come as no surprise to see Josh Gorges at the top of the blocked shots per 60 list. He’s regularly among the league leaders in blocked shots. That’s what he does best. He’s a defensive defenseman who prides himself on keeping his opponent away from his net. He’s not afraid to sacrifice his body to turn away a scoring chance for the other team.
When it comes to giveaways, Mike Weber and Tyler Ennis could start a bakery together (turnover machines). Everybody knows that Ennis holds the puck to long and it does often end up in the possession of the other team. Mike Weber however is an interesting name to see at the top of this list. Over the last couple years, Weber has been horrendous in terms of possession numbers, but this year he has actually seen a tremendous improvement in those metrics. He’s still turning the puck over, as evidenced by his team high of 2.50 giveaways per 60 minutes, but apparently those turnovers aren’t leading to offensive chances as much as in the past.
On the other hand, David Legwand has yet to be credited with a giveaway this season. Pretty impressive for a guy that has played in 22 games and has been on the ice for over 200 minutes. His ice time per game isn’t impressive and he isn’t going to score 40 goals a year, but at least when he is out there he is taking care of the puck.
Looking at these stats, we finally see Marcus Foligno’s value. He leads the team in takeaways per 60 minutes with just over 2, and he leads all forwards not named Tim Schaller (who has only played a handful of games) in blocked shots per 60. He has developed into a reliable shutdown winger that picks his opponent’s pocket on a regular basis. Foligno may not turn out to be a top 6 forward like his father or brother, but he’s a guy that any team in the NHL would take on their squad. He plays a very important bottom 6 role. Having said that, I’d still like to see him generate more offense.
For all of your Sabres stats nuggets in 140 characters or less, follow me on Twitter at @SabresStats.
LET’S GO BUFFALO!
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