Line Combos: Our PP Woes

[Paul4587]

Given how bad our PP has been the past few years I decided this deserved its own thread. We have gone through countless coaches and PP coaches in recent times but nothing has worked. This year we have 1 PP goal in 10 games. Last year we were 24th on the PP and in 2017-18 we were 23rd. We haven't had a top 10 PP since 2015-16 when Vatanen still had two good shoulders and Perry was still an elite net front presence and 30 goal scorer.

Some of the issue is how players are being used but given multiple different coaches seem to keep players in the same roles I'm not sure that is going to change. Most of the issues would appear to be the personnel - we desperately need a PP QB and a forward capable of and actually using a one timer.

I ran the 5 on 4 PP numbers for the whole of the NHL from the beginning of the 2017-18 season to the current season and thought I would share our guys numbers over that time. Some of the players data includes their time spent with other teams and I used a minimum sample size of 80 5 on 4 PP minutes. 404 NHL players played at least 80 minutes over that time period and I have put our guys league wide rank in the last column in terms of total points per 60 minutes (which is also how they are ranked).

Here are the numbers - there is a lot of info so hopefully the table is readable.

Player	TOI	G	A	P	First Assists	Primary Points	Shots	Shot attempts	iFF	Shots blocked	% of SA blocked	iSCF	iHDCF	Rebounds Created	G/60	A/60	P/60	Prim P/60	NHL rank in P/60 (out of 404)
Nick Ritchie	150	3	9	12	7	10	30	54	44	10	19%	42	32	6	1.20	3.61	4.81	4.01	86
Rickard Rakell	381	13	16	29	10	23	93	152	123	29	19%	81	25	8	2.05	2.52	4.57	3.62	111
Troy Terry	80	2	4	6	2	4	6	16	9	7	44%	6	2	1	1.49	2.99	4.48	2.99	117
Ryan Getzlaf	340	2	22	24	10	12	57	123	91	32	26%	34	8	5	0.35	3.88	4.23	2.12	140
Devin Shore	249	4	12	16	7	11	29	54	43	11	20%	41	20	8	0.96	2.89	3.85	2.65	169
Jakob Silfverberg	298	5	14	19	8	13	38	79	59	20	25%	55	28	6	1.01	2.82	3.82	2.62	171
Hampus Lindholm	223	4	10	14	6	10	41	82	58	24	29%	14	4	8	1.08	2.70	3.77	2.70	177
Adam Henrique	401	14	11	25	5	19	60	106	89	17	16%	81	51	5	2.10	1.65	3.74	2.84	183
Michael Del Zotto	87	0	5	5	1	1	12	19	13	6	32%	4	0	0	0.00	3.44	3.44	0.69	218
Brandon Montour	320	6	12	18	3	9	48	99	71	28	28%	38	8	4	1.12	2.25	3.37	1.69	227
Daniel Sprong	89	2	3	5	1	3	25	38	31	7	18%	10	2	4	1.34	2.02	3.36	2.02	229
Cam Fowler	327	2	14	16	3	5	57	133	76	57	43%	35	3	15	0.37	2.57	2.94	0.92	281
Ondrej Kase	172	2	5	7	0	2	27	42	33	9	21%	30	13	2	0.70	1.74	2.44	0.70	327
Ryan Kesler	163	3	2	5	2	5	25	46	39	7	15%	35	26	3	1.10	0.73	1.84	1.84	371

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Some things that stand out that surprised me are how effective Ritchie is in front of the net on the PP when he's actually given that opportunity and how good Rakell's numbers are comparative to the rest of the team - I've never noticed him to be a particularly great PP player. Kase is nowhere near as effective on the PP as he is 5 on 5 which doesn't surprise me that much but it's worth noting he produces the least of any of our PP regulars besides Kesler who is done. To probably no ones surprise Cam gets by far the most shots blocked, both in terms of the raw total and percentage of his attempts. He also creates by far the most rebounds when his shot does get through though.

Obviously the data isn't perfect but it's worth throwing out there to discuss. If anyone doesn't know what a particular column means or has any other data they want from around the league let me know and I'll try put it together. FWIW league wide the top 5 producers on the PP are Hall, Kucherov, Kessel, Marner and Pastrnak. Morgan Rielly is the top defender but he racks up a shitload of secondary assists (not surprising given who he plays with), his primary point production is nowhere near as good.

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[CrazyDuck4u]

Biggest issue is not enough puck movement, None of our defensemen know how to get the puck through, Walk the line.. Get the puck through, And besides Ritchie, nobody crashed the net.. Its slow and to the outside., Thats why it doest work.

 

[Ducks in a row]

IMO Steel should to be on our top power play unit

 

[Ducks DVM]

I think the Terry-Fowler unit actually moves the puck very well, Rakell just hasn’t been hitting the net well. I also think that Getzlaf isn’t being put on the point on his unit, and has been both moving around and shooting more.

The issue to me this year seems to be more a lack of players who can actually shoot without settling the puck. They should have easily another 3-4 goals if they could do that with the setups that have been created.

Edit - nice work collating all the data @Paul4587

 

[Ducks DVM]

IMO Steel should to be on our top power play unit

The Getzlaf line is usually out first, and Steel is on it.

 

[Ducks in a row]

The Getzlaf line is usually out first, and Steel is on it.

I know and I hope he stays on the top unit.

 

[Paul4587]

Biggest issue is not enough puck movement, None of our defensemen know how to get the puck through, Walk the line.. Get the puck through, And besides Ritchie, nobody crashed the net.. Its slow and to the outside., Thats why it doest work.

I agree lack of puck movement hurts us. We need Getzlaf to have the puck on his stick as little as possible as he’s the most guilty of trying to slow everything down too much. Terry does as well but not to the same extent.

I think a bigger issue is the complete lack of a shooting threat to get the puck to. Getz is unwilling to shoot, Fowler has a muffin, Rakell has a good wrist shot but has to be within close range for it to be effective, Terry isn’t overly willing and plays more on the right half wall where he’s not a threat, Silfverberg can’t get his shot through traffic and Henrique doesn’t pose any serious threat. Nothing from Steel I’ve seen so far indicates he can blast one timers from the half wall either.

 

[MilesNewton]

Biggest issue is not enough puck movement, None of our defensemen know how to get the puck through, Walk the line.. Get the puck through, And besides Ritchie, nobody crashed the net.. Its slow and to the outside., Thats why it doest work.

Your right no one crashes the net. Zero deflections at all not sure why coaches have such difficulty with this.

 

[MilesNewton]

Del Zotto on the PP I still don't understand that move.

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

I don't like making excuses, but I do think Eakins is using the regular season to continue evaluating a boatload of things. I believe there will come a time (soon I hope) where he will utilize players somewhat differently on the PP. Getz practicing one timers tells us the team knows what some of the problems are. I know people have criticized Ricky's one timer as muffinesque, but the key to the one timer is getting it off before defenders and goalies have time to react. (Along with a little accuracy.) When you have half a net or more to shoot at is there really any difference between a 95mph and 85mph shot?

At times Cam has done a little floating a la Scotty. Even his muffin can be lethal when shooting at an empty. Finding a seam in the D can be a useful tool when you have an extra man.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I just can't see a new coach sticking with the old failed formula all year. I don't the Eakins will.

 

[Ducks DVM]

Your right no one crashes the net. Zero deflections at all not sure why coaches have such difficulty with this.

They aren’t playing for deflections. They’re playing for cross ice passes and shots from the circles into hopefully open nets. We don’t have Burns and Karlsson back there.

We also don’t have Ovechkin or Selanne though, which is why they aren’t scoring.

 

[Paul4587]

The Getzlaf line is usually out first, and Steel is on it.

Eakins seems to be splitting the time almost straight down the middle at 50:50. Which is a carryover from the Murray regime where he broke up the first unit and started using them more evenly.

 

[MilesNewton]

They aren’t playing for deflections. They’re playing for cross ice passes and shots from the circles into hopefully open nets. We don’t have Burns and Karlsson back there.

We also don’t have Ovechkin or Selanne though, which is why they aren’t scoring.

Well that's going to be a huge problem. Anyone in SD to bring up to help wit this.

 

[Paul4587]

Del Zotto on the PP I still don't understand that move.

Seems like every coach in the league makes personnel decisions that nobody can understand. Seeing MDZ being used on the PP in 2019 is questionable but it’s not as bad as watching two different coaches play Bieksa 21 minutes per night and use him as a regular on the PP.

 

[Ducks DVM]

Well that's going to be a huge problem. Anyone in SD to bring up to help wit this.

Sprong, but I think they want him to be better overall before bringing him up.

It’s a retooling year. I don’t expect any panic moves or short term bandaids.

 

[Ducks DVM]

Seems like every coach in the league makes personnel decisions that nobody can understand. Seeing MDZ being used on the PP in 2019 is questionable but it’s not as bad as watching two different coaches play Bieksa 21 minutes per night and use him as a regular on the PP.

Someone said that using the same two D on the PP allows for them to have two rested pairs to follow the PP, and always have Lindholm Manson available. I think that’s probably it. Getting Guhle back will probably be the end of MDZ on the PP.

 

[DigiDuck]

For all the talk of not having a one-time threat, I think everyone's glossing over the fact that this team can't complete a pass to save their life. Even when set up, the passing through seams is atrocious and often the receiver has to adjust to corral it. And then there's the fumbling of the puck...

 

[Deuce22]

OK, so according to the data Ritchie is our most productive forward on the PP. So we should trade him, bench him, bury him on the 4th line. Terry and Fowler are both having over 40% of their shots blocked. That is ridiculous. Lindholm scores about 3 times the goals, collects more assists, and gets 14% more shots through than Fowler. Yet, Cam is our main PP D and Hampus sits for Del Zotto. Getzlaf and Terry shouldn't be on the same PP as they both want to pass first. Data is depressing in this case.

 

[TheGoodShepard1]

If we ever found a true PP QB, I wouldn’t be opposed to having Rakell play a Pavelski-type role where he wanders around the high slot tipping picks. Certainly has the hands for it.

 

[Paul4587]

OK, so according to the data Ritchie is our most productive forward on the PP. So we should trade him, bench him, bury him on the 4th line. Terry and Fowler are both having over 40% of their shots blocked. That is ridiculous. Lindholm scores about 3 times the goals, collects more assists, and gets 14% more shots through than Fowler. Yet, Cam is our main PP D and Hampus sits for Del Zotto. Getzlaf and Terry shouldn't be on the same PP as they both want to pass first. Data is depressing in this case.

Ritchie is surprising good around and behind the net, especially in terms of playmaking. He needs to shoot more but his vision around the net is very good.

In regards to Terry I think the sample size is too small to see if the shots blocked thing is an issue or not. I wanted to include him in the data which is why I chose 80 minutes as the cutoff which is still probably too low but it does show that he’s pretty productive so far with the man advantage.

 

[Deuce22]

Ritchie is surprising good around and behind the net, especially in terms of playmaking. He needs to shoot more but his vision around the net is very good.

In regards to Terry I think the sample size is too small to see if the shots blocked thing is an issue or not. I wanted to include him in the data which is why I chose 80 minutes as the cutoff which is still probably too low but it does show that he’s pretty productive so far with the man advantage.

I agree about Terry. His gifts are in puck possession and passing and can be a part of a good PP. I think Ducks main need is a high caliber shooter from the point.

 

[DigiDuck]

One of the most concerning aspects for me is there's no creativity. No deception. It's just them passing around the box until someone either loses/passes it out of the zone, or shoots it into a body. They don't seem to have any set plays that force the PKrs into bad positions or open up lanes. No one's willing to battle for inside position or look for rebounds if a shot does get through. It used to be they struggled against high pressure kills, but now the teams that don't pressure just collapse and wait for the Ducks to mishandle a puck. They aren't forcing opponents to expend any energy killing the penalty.

 

[Ducks in a row]

Got a power play goal tonight assisted by Ritchie and Steel. Hopefully we can build on this and get some more power play goals.

 

[Anaheim4ever]

Sprong, but I think they want him to be better overall before bringing him up.

It’s a retooling year. I don’t expect any panic moves or short term bandaids.

It sucks because they do need Sprong to become a better overall player but at the same time he changes the dynamic of the power play for the Ducks.
Just him being on the PP creates more openings for other players to score because the other team will be looking at Sprong to shoot.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

I feel like when we have good puck movement, and zone control at times and then fowler randomly shoots it into a shinguard.... or getz does something dumb... they seem to get impatient and force things

I wouldnt mind trying something like

Ritchie steel rakell
Fowler terry