A Year of Watching Dan Boyle on the Power Play

[Thirty One]

Zachary tracked every minute of Dan Boyle's powerplay time in 2013-14 and shared the results:

A Year of Watching Dan Boyle on the Power Play/

It’s no secret that most of Dan Boyle’s appeal is his power play prowess, having quarterbacked a number of elite units in San Jose and Tampa Bay. That said, he has entered the decline phase of his career, likely due to his advanced age and the concussion he sustained last October.

Jared has already postulated that the perception of Dan Boyle’s decline is overblown and perhaps the fault of a dip in the Sharks’ shooting percentage on the power play, while noting that his shot-based metrics were as strong as ever in 13/14. This contradiction is a reason why I thought going to the video and generating the data that comes as a result of this project would be helpful in determining if Boyle still has enough juice to improve a Rangers’ power play that suffered through an 0-36 drought during the playoffs and is losing Brad Richards.

Click to read more...

 

[ecemleafs]

you got a tl;dr version?

 

[silverfish]

Very insightful. Thanks for sharing, BB/-31-!

 

[Thirty One]

you got a tl;dr version?

I'd read the "Other Observations":

Boyle is very sure-handed with the puck. He rarely misplays the puck and his passes are almost always right on the tape. I didn’t think he was turnover prone, something that happened to him 24 times on the man advantage.

For years we have seen a lot of standing around on the Rangers’ power play, and that’s an area where I think Boyle will help. He makes quicker decisions with the puck than we’re accustomed to seeing from guys like Brad Richards or Derek Stepan.

The combination of sure-handedness and quick puck movement make Boyle a solid power play piece, but at the same time, I rarely saw the flash or razzle-dazzle I was expecting from a guy with six 50-point seasons on the resume. Rarely did I turn to my brother sitting next me and say, “You gotta check out this pass.”

Despite his reputation as a power play quarterback, I didn’t necessarily get the sense that the Sharks power play ran through Boyle. There was a ton of talent on the Sharks first unit (and Boyle is no doubt a part of that), but it seemed more often than not he simply kept the line moving for the Thorntons and Pavelskis of the world rather than being the “go-to-guy.” An example of this would be the long stretches where Boyle wasn’t one of the last couple of players to touch the puck before a scoring chance.

A couple more positives: I thought Boyle was pretty mobile in the offensive zone, or at least wasn’t relegated to the point. When he was on the top of his game with the man advantage and generating scoring chances, he would slip into soft spots in the defensive coverage by sneaking into the slot or operating from behind the net. Additionally, just by virtue of being right-handed Boyle gives the Rangers power play a different and sorely needed dimension.

Another negative: Boyle owns a decent shot and mixes it up nicely with an equal dosage of one-timers, slap shots, and wrist shots, but he wasn’t too impressive at consistently getting his shot through to the net.

A miscellaneous note: There are a couple of events that I kept track of but don’t really hold much value on their own. One is how many times he kept the puck in the zone on a clearing attempt (that I felt he had a reasonable chance of keeping in). I deemed there to be 65 such clearing attempts, and Boyle kept the puck in 36 of those times (55%).

 

[NYRangers09]

Cool read! Dont know if you are the guy who put in all the hard work, but if you were, thanks!

 

[pld459666]

Zachary tracked every minute of Dan Boyle's powerplay time in 2013-14 and shared the results:

A Year of Watching Dan Boyle on the Power Play/

Great job.

Nice write up.

still my excitement is tempered.

Until I can see tangible results (meaning making the PP consistently dangerous...for the opposing team) I can't really get amped up.

The article was nice in that it didn't just pump the guy up. It was very even in nature.

I would love to see him do the same thing for Brad Richards and see how much of an improvement we can expect, if we get any improvement at all.

 

[ecemleafs]

just the fact that hes a righty will be huge too. its amazing how few high end right handed shooters there are in the NHL.

 

[Thirty One]

just the fact that hes a righty will be huge too. its amazing how few high end right handed shooters there are in the NHL.

I keep going back to what AV's PP coach in Vancouver said:

When you’re trying to run a power play with five left shots, which we were forced to do a lot this year, you’re really swimming upstream. Seventy-seven per cent of the power-play goals are scored with at least two right shots, so that tells you a lot right there. Not to say there are exceptions to the rule, but when you have five left shots, or even four, your chances of scoring are diminished.

Teams are so fast to get into the shot lanes these days that if you can’t take one-timers, if you aren’t in position to take one-touch passes and move the puck quickly to shooters and shoot off the pass, you’re at a big disadvantage. That was something we were dealing with this year.

Kesler and Bieksa were injured for most of the year. Salo and Samuelsson left for Florida.

 

[KreiMeARiver*]

Finishers gotta finish

...and I mean someone not named MSL

 

[Fletch]

sounds like if he's healthy from his concussion, and if he remains healthy, he should help the PP and he should help get the puck up ice. The one negative about missing the net on the PP may not be a negative...who on the Rangers will be in front to deflect the puck or get to the rebound in front of the net anyways?

 

[Bleed Ranger Blue]

I think Boyle, at least for this season, will be an upgrade over Stralman.

 

[THE BIG WHISTLE]

sounds like if he's healthy from his concussion, and if he remains healthy, he should help the PP and he should help get the puck up ice. The one negative about missing the net on the PP may not be a negative...who on the Rangers will be in front to deflect the puck or get to the rebound in front of the net anyways?

Have you ever heard of a guy named Chris Kreider

 

[offdacrossbar]

dan boyle will make a big difference. a right handed shot up top helps. alot.

boyle knows what to do with the puck and where to be at the pp point when he has it. he isnt a static player. he moves around and he usually makes the proper play with the puck.

we havent had that kind of player in forever.

i expect the pp to look more settled and efficient this season.

 

[NickyFotiu]

If Boyle has any juice left it should be exciting to watch him on the PP with guys like McD, Kreider, Zooks, Stepan and company.

 

[NickyFotiu]

Have you ever heard of a guy named Chris Kreider

Awesome screen name and avatar!

 

[Zuccarello Awesome*]

dan boyle will make a big difference. a right handed shot up top helps. alot.

boyle knows what to do with the puck and where to be at the pp point when he has it. he isnt a static player. he moves around and he usually makes the proper play with the puck.

we havent had that kind of player in forever.

i expect the pp to look more settled and efficient this season.

I agree.

However, my concern is that at even strength, he won't be able to keep up with the faster offensive players in the conference, especially if he's paired with Staal.

Perhaps

McDonagh Boyle
Staal Girardi
Moore Klein

would be a better balance.

The advanced stat boys who have concluded that Girardi is holding McDonagh back will be fine with it, and Staal and Girardi were our #1 pair at one point.

 

[Zuccarello Awesome*]

If Boyle has any juice left it should be exciting to watch him on the PP with guys like McD, Kreider, Zooks, Stepan and company.

Yup. Those you mentioned and MSL should benefit the most from Boyle's quick, decisive passing/shooting.

 

[bscharf]

Zachary tracked every minute of Dan Boyle's powerplay time in 2013-14 and shared the results:

A Year of Watching Dan Boyle on the Power Play/

This article is fantastic. Thank you for sharing!

 

[Steve Kournianos]

24 turnovers on the PP as a point man over a full season ranks where?

82 games. 3-5 PP mins a game. 24 turnovers.

If a team has 200+ PP opps in a season, 24 turnovers is a drop in the bucket.

I want him to set up shots.

 

[Fletch]

24 turnovers on the PP as a point man over a full season ranks where?

82 games. 3-5 PP mins a game. 24 turnovers.

If a team has 200+ PP opps in a season, 24 turnovers is a drop in the bucket.

I want him to set up shots.

I was wondering the same, and what do they count as a turnover. If it's 24 errand passes that lead to breakaways and odd-man rushes, then that number may not be all too impressive. Always been wary of hits, turnovers and giveaways as a stat. Never seemed to jive with what you see in the game. But again, is it good or bad when ranking it?

 

[Fletch]

24 turnovers on the PP as a point man over a full season ranks where?

82 games. 3-5 PP mins a game. 24 turnovers.

If a team has 200+ PP opps in a season, 24 turnovers is a drop in the bucket.

I want him to set up shots.

San Jose had 291 PP opportunites.

 

[offdacrossbar]

I agree.

However, my concern is that at even strength, he won't be able to keep up with the faster offensive players in the conference, especially if he's paired with Staal.

Perhaps

McDonagh Boyle
Staal Girardi
Moore Klein

would be a better balance.

The advanced stat boys who have concluded that Girardi is holding McDonagh back will be fine with it, and Staal and Girardi were our #1 pair at one point.

his 5on5 mins should be sheltered or atleast minimized. hell require matchup attention.

dont like boyle paired with mcd at all. we dont want boyle logging 30 min nights against top lines and playing all the pp mins he can handle.

i prefer this with more balanced minutes. all 3 pairs have good ying and yang.

mcd girardi - true shut down pair. good balance and girardi allows mcd to be more creative and aggressive. mcd has norris skills. he needs to free wheel and create. girardi needs to defend.

stall boyle- staal is mainly a defensive guy now and boyle needs staals wheels to help cover for his lack of foot speed. boyle cant do too much at even strength so he needs to be conservative. hell earn his paycheck man up.

moore klein- this pair is poised to make a jump this season. moore showed more puck confidence and can be more involved offensively, klein can log more minutes as he was under utilized last year. this should be a very solid 3rd pair.

i actually like this defense alot. stralman is gone and he was very good, but i dont see a huge dropoff with 3 pairs configured like this.

more worried about goal scoring from the forwards.....

 

[Steve Kournianos]

San Jose had 291 PP opportunites.

That's like one turnover every what, one turnover every 11-12 ops?

Felt like Richards and Stepan had one or two a PP last season.

I'm not expecting Boyle to be Karlsson. I want him to set up Macdonaghs bomb. Richards seemed to have a problem with that over the course of the season, especially the playoffs.

 

[Fletch]

his 5on5 mins should be sheltered or atleast minimized. hell require matchup attention.

dont like boyle paired with mcd at all. we dont want boyle logging 30 min nights against top lines and playing all the pp mins he can handle.

i prefer this with more balanced minutes. all 3 pairs have good ying and yang.

mcd girardi - true shut down pair. good balance and girardi allows mcd to be more creative and aggressive. mcd has norris skills. he needs to free wheel and create. girardi needs to defend.

stall boyle- staal is mainly a defensive guy now and boyle needs staals wheels to help cover for his lack of foot speed. boyle cant do too much at even strength so he needs to be conservative. hell earn his paycheck man up.

moore klein- this pair is poised to make a jump this season. moore showed more puck confidence and can be more involved offensively, klein can log more minutes as he was under utilized last year. this should be a very solid 3rd pair.

i actually like this defense alot. stralman is gone and he was very good, but i dont see a huge dropoff with 3 pairs configured like this.

more worried about goal scoring from the forwards.....

think he's been getting around 21/22 minutes per night. I'd assume he'll be around there, perhaps a bit lower but not dramatically lower. I'd further assume he'd slip into Stralman's slot with Staal at ES. I think his PK killing time is done, so Klein will have to step-up in that regard, and perhaps Klein will also play some ES with Staal (I mean, if they're going to kill penalties together, perhaps a couple minutes here and there at even strength are also in order since the more they play together, the better they will play).

 

[Fletch]

That's like one turnover every what, one turnover every 11-12 ops?

Felt like Richards and Stepan had one or two a PP last season.

I'm not expecting Boyle to be Karlsson. I want him to set up Macdonaghs bomb. Richards seemed to have a problem with that over the course of the season, especially the playoffs.

doesn't seem like a lot, although I am picturing a crappy pass across ice and a breakaway, and that would seem like a lot of breakaways, or maybe not (what, 1 every 3/4 games?). I dunno, maybe it isn't a lot for a guy out there for 270 minutes.