I was looking at penalty differentials today actually, over a 5 year period.
The largest differential in the league in each of the past 5 seasons.
16-17. Diff 1.4
17-18. Diff 1.7
18-19. Diff 1.9
19-20. Diff 1.7
20-21. Diff 3.7
Toronto’s Differentials
16-17. 0.3
17-18. 0.1
18-19. 0.6
19-20. 0.0
20-21. 3.4
Toronto’s opponents are averaging 3.4 minutes more on the PP per game. This is the 3rd largest gap in the league after St.Louis and Buffalo at 3.7 (Though they both see more PP time than their opponents)
The actual numbers. PIM/G - oPIM/G
Winnipeg 8.7/11.7
Buffalo 4.9/8.6
Toronto 10.6/7.2
Soooo
Top 3 Negative Hits Differential/Games Played followed by Penalty Minute differential/Games played:
1. Toronto: -8.556 (3.4 minutes less on the PP per game than their opponents)
2. Winnipeg: -6.286 (3 minutes more on the PP per game than their opponents)
3. Buffalo: -5.250 (3.7 minutes more on the PP per game than their opponents)
I know we have to talk about how much impact hits even have on penalties and its way too early to be running these numbers but I love the conspiracy theories they are feeding!