Here are my numbers and analysis for the players who played since the 1967 expansion. They rest on the idea that there are three separate phases of the game of hockey - even-strength play, power play, and penalty killing - and these should be evaluated separately.
These don't include playoffs or intangibles 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.
Tim Horton
Player | Year | Seasons | $ESGF/G | $ESGA/G | R-ON | R-OFF | XEV+/- | EV+/- |
AEV+/-
|
/82
|
SH%
| PP% |
$PPP/G
| $ESP/G
Tim Horton | 68-69 | 1.91 | 1.38 | 1.15 | 1.20 | 1.07 | 9 | 37 |
28
|
14.42885974
|
63%
| 51% |
0.13
| 0.39
Tim Horton | 70-74 | 4.13 | 1.08 | 0.96 | 1.13 | 1.03 | 7 | 41 |
34
|
8.353875571
|
58%
| 19% |
0.05
| 0.22
Tim Horton | 68-74 | 6.03 | 1.18 | 1.02 | 1.15 | 1.04 | 16 | 78 |
62
|
10.27305122
|
60%
| 29% |
0.08
| 0.27
Horton's first two years post-expansion were among his three first-team all-star selections. During these years he played huge minutes at even strength, with good numbers, and also played big minutes on the Leafs' league-best penalty kill. He also played a regular role on the power play. In his forties, his even-strength and power play role diminished, but he remained a key penalty killer. Obviously, these numbers don't cover most of his career.
Jari Kurri
Player | Year | Seasons | $ESGF/G | $ESGA/G | R-ON | R-OFF | XEV+/- | EV+/- |
AEV+/-
|
/82
|
SH%
| PP% |
$PPP/G
| $ESP/G
Jari Kurri | 81-83 | 2.83 | 1.10 | 0.69 | 1.60 | 1.16 | 22 | 95 |
74
|
26
|
12%
| 41% |
0.22
| 0.77
Jari Kurri | 84-88 | 4.68 | 1.36 | 0.87 | 1.57 | 1.31 | 81 | 190 |
108
|
23
|
24%
| 57% |
0.33
| 0.96
Jari Kurri | 89-95 | 5.57 | 0.84 | 0.90 | 0.93 | 0.95 | -14 | -28 |
-14
|
-2
|
31%
| 58% |
0.36
| 0.57
Jari Kurri | 96-98 | 2.72 | 0.56 | 0.65 | 0.85 | 1.07 | 6 | -22 |
-28
|
-10
|
33%
| 30% |
0.14
| 0.37
Jari Kurri | 81-98 | 15.79 | 0.99 | 0.81 | 1.22 | 1.12 | 95 | 236 |
140
|
9
|
26%
| 52% |
0.29
| 0.75
Kurri's prime was obviously heavily influenced by his linemate Gretzky, but he brought substantial contributions on his own also.
First, Kurri was a contributor on the penalty kill and on the power play. He was a threat to score on the penalty kill - the numbers aren't included in this table but he scored 39 goals and 41 assists over his career while shorthanded. On the power play, he was actually not terribly productive, mostly because he never played big minutes. Edmonton's strategy was always to ride Gretzky and Coffey and cycle through everyone else on the PP.
At even strength, Kurri had excellent numbers during his years in Edmonton. These numbers are obviously influenced by Gretzky to some degree, especially his excellent even-strength scoring. However, Kurri brought strong defense and skills to the table himself, so he likely deserves some of the credit for these numbers. His post-Edmonton even-strength numbers are average, but that was typical of over-30 players at the time.
Peter Forsberg
Player | Year | Seasons | $ESGF/G | $ESGA/G | R-ON | R-OFF | XEV+/- | EV+/- |
AEV+/-
|
/82
|
SH%
| PP% |
$PPP/G
| $ESP/G
Peter Forsberg | 95-97 | 2.77 | 1.12 | 0.68 | 1.66 | 1.25 | 32 | 101 |
69
|
25
|
36%
| 59% |
0.43
| 0.92
Peter Forsberg | 98-01 | 3.32 | 1.09 | 0.72 | 1.52 | 1.09 | 15 | 101 |
86
|
26
|
28%
| 77% |
0.55
| 0.90
Peter Forsberg | 03-08 | 2.93 | 1.25 | 0.58 | 2.16 | 0.92 | -12 | 161 |
173
|
59
|
2%
| 75% |
0.52
| 1.00
Peter Forsberg | 95-08 | 9.02 | 1.15 | 0.66 | 1.74 | 1.08 | 34 | 362 |
328
|
36
|
22%
| 71% |
0.51
| 0.94
Forsberg was hands down the best player of this group and it's not even close. Yes, he had a short career, so you could argue that he had less career value than others, but he dominated like few players have.
His even-strength numbers are superb. Among post-expansion forwards, only Gretzky, Lemieux, Jagr, Lafleur, and Esposito were better even-strength scorers in their prime. Forsberg was on the ice for many fewer (scoring adjusted) goals against than any of them except for Lafleur, suggesting that he was either a strong defensive player (whether by backchecking or by puck possession) or he was scoring his points in fewer minutes.
He was also an excellent power play scorer. After adjusting for scoring level, his power play scoring is among the best post-expansion, behind Lemieux, Esposito and Gretzky and similar to Lafleur, Dionne, Bossy, and Sakic.
He killed penalties in his earlier years in the league also.
Henri Richard
Player | Year | Seasons | $ESGF/G | $ESGA/G | R-ON | R-OFF | XEV+/- | EV+/- |
AEV+/-
|
/82
|
SH%
| PP% |
$PPP/G
| $ESP/G
Henri Richard | 68-70 | 2.39 | 1.00 | 0.67 | 1.50 | 1.23 | 23 | 65 |
42
|
18
|
2%
| 20% |
0.13
| 0.71
Henri Richard | 71-75 | 3.99 | 0.77 | 0.57 | 1.36 | 1.48 | 60 | 76 |
15
|
4
|
3%
| 7% |
0.06
| 0.61
Henri Richard | 68-75 | 6.38 | 0.89 | 0.62 | 1.43 | 1.35 | 84 | 141 |
57
|
9
|
3%
| 12% |
0.08
| 0.65
This covers the post-prime portion of Henri Richard's career. He was still a fine player at even-strength, but not as good as he had been in the late '50s and the '60s.
Henri Richard is a difficult player to rate, with a unique career shape. Because he was on excellent teams his whole career, he played a different role than the other players up for voting so far. Almost all his contribution came at even-strength, with very little on special teams. However, he was the Canadiens top option and most productive forward at even strength during his prime. In fact, he was as productive as any player in the league at even strength during those years.
Here are the top even-strength scorers in the NHL from 1955-56 (when Richard broke in as a 19 year old) to 1966-67, a 12 year period.
Player | Years | GP | Pts | ESG | ESA | ESP | PPG | PPA | PPP |
ESP/G
| PPP/G
Richard | 56-67 | 764 | 710 | 222 | 343 | 565 | 41 | 97 | 138 |
0.74
| 0.18
Howe | 56-67 | 826 | 920 | 245 | 330 | 575 | 120 | 192 | 312 |
0.70
| 0.38
Beliveau | 56-67 | 745 | 830 | 217 | 300 | 517 | 126 | 181 | 307 |
0.69
| 0.41
Bathgate | 56-67 | 811 | 825 | 232 | 326 | 558 | 55 | 205 | 260 |
0.69
| 0.32
Ullman | 56-67 | 817 | 703 | 233 | 290 | 523 | 55 | 102 | 157 |
0.64
| 0.19
Delvecchio | 56-67 | 816 | 691 | 191 | 267 | 458 | 65 | 144 | 209 |
0.56
| 0.26
This table doesn't cover Gordie Howe's prime, and doesn't include Mikita and Hull who starred during the latter part of this period. Still, it's very impressive that Henri Richard was (probably) the best player in the league at even-strength over a 12 year period.
