Here's my plus-minus based analysis of the players up for voting who starred in the NHL since 1968. I've added some special teams numbers as well.
These don't include playoffs, intangibles, and others, and can't be taken as the final word, but can hopefully provide some information in certain areas.
Stat Glossary:
$ESGF/G - even-strength goals for per game, adjusted for scoring level. Higher is better.
$ESGA/G - even-strength goals against per game, adjusted for scoring level. Lower is better.
R-ON - Player's even-strength on-ice goal ratio (ESGF/ESGA). Should be higher than R-OFF.
R-OFF - Player's even-strength off-ice goal ratio (ESGF/ESGA).
XEV+/- - Players expected EV+/-, based on off-ice results.
EV+/- - Even-strength plus-minus, adjusted for scoring level.
AEV+/- - Adjusted even-strength plus-minus. =(EV+/-) - (XEV+/-). If you look at just one number, make it this one.
/82 - Adjusted even-strength plus-minus per season.
SH% - . Percentage of team's PPGA the player was on the ice for. Measures a players role in killing penalties, but not effectiveness.
PP% - Percentage of team's PPGF the player was on the ice for. Measures a players role on the power play, but not effectiveness.
$PPP - Scoring-adjusted power play points per game.
$ESP - Scoring-adjusted even-strength points per game.
Joe Sakic
Player | Year | Seasons | $ESGF/G | $ESGA/G | R-ON | R-OFF | XEV+/- | EV+/- |
AEV+/-
|
/82
|
SH%
| PP% |
$PPP/G
| $ESP/G
Joe Sakic | 89-94 | 5.67 | 0.88 | 1.02 | 0.86 | 0.74 | -92 | -65 |
26
|
5
|
30%
| 82% |
0.40
| 0.73
Joe Sakic | 95-01 | 6.17 | 1.16 | 0.80 | 1.45 | 1.20 | 65 | 182 |
117
|
19
|
26%
| 84% |
0.58
| 0.91
Joe Sakic | 02-09 | 5.41 | 1.00 | 0.83 | 1.21 | 1.11 | 30 | 77 |
48
|
9
|
19%
| 70% |
0.45
| 0.81
Joe Sakic | 89-09 | 17.25 | 1.02 | 0.88 | 1.16 | 1.00 | 3 | 194 |
191
|
11
|
25%
| 79% |
0.48
| 0.82
Steve Yzerman
Player | Year | Seasons | $ESGF/G | $ESGA/G | R-ON | R-OFF | XEV+/- | EV+/- |
AEV+/-
|
/82
|
SH%
| PP% |
$PPP/G
| $ESP/G
Steve Yzerman | 84-87 | 3.64 | 0.80 | 0.90 | 0.89 | 0.83 | -33 | -29 |
3
|
1
|
9%
| 73% |
0.36
| 0.58
Steve Yzerman | 88-94 | 6.47 | 1.20 | 1.03 | 1.17 | 1.08 | 33 | 93 |
60
|
9
|
47%
| 75% |
0.40
| 0.98
Steve Yzerman | 95-02 | 7.08 | 0.95 | 0.70 | 1.35 | 1.24 | 71 | 142 |
71
|
10
|
42%
| 69% |
0.44
| 0.70
Steve Yzerman | 03-06 | 1.85 | 0.74 | 0.56 | 1.32 | 1.34 | 21 | 28 |
7
|
4
|
23%
| 34% |
0.23
| 0.53
Steve Yzerman | 84-06 | 19.03 | 0.99 | 0.84 | 1.18 | 1.10 | 92 | 233 |
141
|
7
|
35%
| 69% |
0.39
| 0.75
Brief Sakic-Yzerman comparison
During Yzerman's 1988-1994 years, he was a huge even-strength scorer, better than Sakic ever was. However, he was also on the ice for far more goals allowed than Sakic was at his peak, even after adjusting for scoring level and teammates. This suggests that either Yzerman was a worse defensive player or he was getting a ton of ice time to put up those points. I suspect both are true to some degree.
Anyway, 1988-1994 Yzerman was a great offensive player, 1995-2002 Yzerman was a great defensive player, but there wasn't any overlap. In comparison, Sakic was able to be a top scorer and get Selke consideration at the same time. Sakic was also a significantly better power play scorer. Yzerman played a bigger role on the penalty kill. Both had playoff success.
I have Sakic ahead, as he was a more dominant even-strength player at his best, and has a special-teams edge also.
Larry Robinson
Player | Year | Seasons | $ESGF/G | $ESGA/G | R-ON | R-OFF | XEV+/- | EV+/- |
AEV+/-
|
/82
|
SH%
| PP% |
$PPP/G
| $ESP/G
Larry Robinson | 73-76 | 3.46 | 1.21 | 0.71 | 1.69 | 1.52 | 80 | 140 |
60
|
17
|
31%
| 15% |
0.06
| 0.40
Larry Robinson | 77-82 | 5.40 | 1.67 | 0.86 | 1.93 | 1.60 | 184 | 356 |
172
|
32
|
59%
| 65% |
0.30
| 0.58
Larry Robinson | 83-89 | 6.20 | 1.16 | 0.82 | 1.41 | 1.08 | 29 | 170 |
142
|
23
|
42%
| 63% |
0.28
| 0.36
Larry Robinson | 90-92 | 2.28 | 1.04 | 0.87 | 1.19 | 1.13 | 15 | 30 |
15
|
7
|
40%
| 27% |
0.10
| 0.29
Larry Robinson | 73-92 | 17.34 | 1.31 | 0.82 | 1.60 | 1.34 | 307 | 696 |
389
|
22
|
45%
| 49% |
0.22
| 0.43
Larry Robinson was a dominant even-strength player, as evidenced by his great plus-minuses. Even on great teams he stood out in this regard.
He wasn't a highly productive power play quarterback like all the defencemen who have already been voted in have been. Most of his scoring came at even-strength.
Brad Park
Player | Year | Seasons | $ESGF/G | $ESGA/G | R-ON | R-OFF | XEV+/- | EV+/- |
AEV+/-
|
/82
|
SH%
| PP% |
$PPP/G
| $ESP/G
Brad Park | 69-71 | 2.37 | 1.21 | 0.82 | 1.47 | 1.22 | 28 | 76 |
48
|
20
|
30%
| 64% |
0.28
| 0.38
Brad Park | 72-79 | 6.63 | 1.48 | 0.94 | 1.58 | 1.24 | 100 | 294 |
194
|
29
|
51%
| 89% |
0.43
| 0.59
Brad Park | 80-85 | 5.10 | 0.86 | 0.78 | 1.09 | 1.12 | 27 | 30 |
3
|
1
|
38%
| 77% |
0.34
| 0.28
Brad Park | 78-87 | 14.10 | 1.21 | 0.86 | 1.40 | 1.20 | 155 | 400 |
245
|
17
|
43%
| 81% |
0.37
| 0.44
Brad Park was just a terrific all-around defenceman for the better part of a decade. He was a real impact player at even-strength, played big minutes on the penalty kill, and was very productive on the power play. He probably wasn't the best in any area, even in the non-Orr division - Robinson was better at even-strength, Potvin better on the PP, Serge Savard probably better on the PK - but few could match the total package. The only drawback is that he starred in a diluted era.
The last few years of his career were similar to the last few years of Ray Bourque's - still playing a major role on special teams, but no longer a dominant force at even-strength.
Chris Chelios
Player | Year | Seasons | $ESGF/G | $ESGA/G | R-ON | R-OFF | XEV+/- | EV+/- |
AEV+/-
|
/82
|
SH%
| PP% |
$PPP/G
| $ESP/G
Chris Chelios | 84-87 | 2.48 | 0.92 | 0.89 | 1.03 | 1.14 | 17 | 5 |
-12
|
-5
|
45%
| 61% |
0.34
| 0.29
Chris Chelios | 88-97 | 9.28 | 1.09 | 0.78 | 1.40 | 1.22 | 99 | 236 |
137
|
15
|
60%
| 79% |
0.37
| 0.38
Chris Chelios | 98-02 | 4.15 | 1.15 | 0.89 | 1.28 | 1.00 | 1 | 86 |
86
|
21
|
61%
| 42% |
0.18
| 0.37
Chris Chelios | 03-09 | 4.68 | 0.69 | 0.60 | 1.15 | 1.39 | 57 | 35 |
-22
|
-5
|
56%
| 6% |
0.01
| 0.21
Chris Chelios | 84-09 | 20.59 | 0.99 | 0.78 | 1.28 | 1.18 | 173 | 362 |
189
|
9
|
58%
| 52% |
0.24
| 0.33
Chelios was a very good defender for about 15 years. For the first 10 of those he was very good at even-strength and on the power play, if not at the level of a Ray Bourque. His power play contributions dropped off later in his career, but he was still very good at even-strength until his 40s.
Probably Chelios's biggest plus is his penalty killing. He played huge minutes killing penalties on Montreal, Chicago, and Detroit, all of which had top penalty kills. From 1987-88 to 1992-93. his team was top-3 on the penalty kill in 5 out of 6 years.
Paul Coffey
Player | Year | Seasons | $ESGF/G | $ESGA/G | R-ON | R-OFF | XEV+/- | EV+/- |
AEV+/-
|
/82
|
SH%
| PP% |
$PPP/G
| $ESP/G
Paul Coffey | 81 | 0.93 | 0.90 | 0.84 | 1.07 | 0.99 | -1 | 4 |
5
|
5
|
8%
| 29% |
0.10
| 0.27
Paul Coffey | 82-87 | 5.73 | 1.52 | 1.03 | 1.47 | 1.39 | 137 | 228 |
90
|
16
|
34%
| 83% |
0.43
| 0.73
Paul Coffey | 88-95 | 7.10 | 1.32 | 1.16 | 1.14 | 1.10 | 47 | 94 |
46
|
7
|
29%
| 87% |
0.51
| 0.55
Paul Coffey | 96-01 | 4.04 | 1.00 | 0.91 | 1.10 | 1.19 | 38 | 31 |
-7
|
-2
|
21%
| 68% |
0.32
| 0.37
Paul Coffey | 81-01 | 17.79 | 1.29 | 1.04 | 1.23 | 1.21 | 222 | 357 |
135
|
8
|
28%
| 79% |
0.42
| 0.55
Paul Coffey's best attribute was undoubtedly his even-strength scoring. However, he traded off defensive play to achieve that, so his net even-strength results were never great. Also, when you consider that unlike the other defensemen on this list, he was not the top option for a defensive-zone faceoff, his even-strength results are less impressive.
He was a great PP quarterback, to his credit. However, he wasn't as dominant here as he was an even-strength scorer - his PP scoring was no better than Al MacInnis, Denis Potvin, Brian Leetch, or Ray Bourque.
He also played a smaller role on the penalty kill than any other defender up for voting to this point has.
Vyacheslav Fetisov
Player | Year | Seasons | $ESGF/G | $ESGA/G | R-ON | R-OFF | XEV+/- | EV+/- |
AEV+/-
|
/82
|
SH%
| PP% |
$PPP/G
| $ESP/G
Vyacheslav Fetisov | 90-94 | 4.14 | 0.85 | 0.72 | 1.19 | 1.16 | 27 | 46 |
18
|
4
|
38%
| 28% |
0.08
| 0.28
Vyacheslav Fetisov | 95-98 | 2.70 | 1.01 | 0.63 | 1.59 | 1.30 | 33 | 83 |
50
|
18
|
10%
| 25% |
0.14
| 0.42
Vyacheslav Fetisov | 90-98 | 6.84 | 0.91 | 0.69 | 1.34 | 1.21 | 61 | 129 |
68
|
10
|
27%
| 27% |
0.10
| 0.34
These numbers are here mostly for completeness sake. His case rests on his Soviet league years.
Unlike the other defensemen here, he was not a #1 defenseman in his 30s.