Pavels Dog
Registered User
Good post, there could be something there.In the past couple of seasons there has been some rule-changes that should affect scoring, and also who does the scoring.
In an attempt to make goalie interference etc. easier to rule they have tinkered with the goalie interference rule over the past seasons with the effect that it's more difficult to score those greasy "net-front battle" goals than it was a few years ago.
Similarly to what the NHL did a few years ago, for the 20-21 season there was a big change in how the refs called interference, they have been much more stringent about calling interference (especially stick-infractions). At the beginning of the season this lead to A LOT of PP opportunities, and a lot more 5 vs 3 PP opportunities.
Something we can see easily from the data is that Powerplays has become much more efficient this season, which means that players that regularly get PP time will see an increase in their production.
Something that isn't as easy to dig out from the data (would require some effort) is that due to the more stringent interference rulings we should see an increased production of the "skilled" players. The guys that try to deke through 4 players and then set up a free team mate should have been able to do so more easily in the 20-21 season than what they did before.
So if I were to guess, which is supported by MBHs numbers, is that we should see a more differentiated point distribution where players that rely on skill and get PP time should produce more, whereas the 4th liners that rely on greasy goals should produce less.
But I'm not sure leaguewide scoring is that much higher to influence how we should look at an individual players' numbers. Especially when looking at how Berggren was the offensive driver on his line and didn't get the top icetime on his team.