I was looking at our PK % on NHL.com today.
We're at 22nd at 78.9%.
Boston is the worst at 71.7%.
Anaheim is the best at 90.5%.
So we're 7.2% better than the worst and 11.6% worse than the best.
The best and worst are seperated by 18.8%
81.1% would be right smack in the middle of the best and the worst.
I think it's fair to say we need to at least be doing a little bit better on the PK.
Do you guy think we have the right group of players to have a good PK?
Taking a look at who's played big PK minutes for us so far.
Lestesnu has played 49:11 on the PK so far.
1 giveaway
1 takeaway
2 shots on goal
1 missed shot
2 blocked shots
22W/32L in the faceoff circle (40.07%)
Ignoring the faceoff stats, that looks incredibly unproductive for our leader in minutes on the PK. Add that in with his horrid faceoff win % and he's looking like a gong show.
Klefbom is second at 45:55 on the PK.
9 blocked shots
1 giveaway
When Klefbom was in the AHL people talked about him a hard hitter and I think we need the coaching staff into getting him into being a little more aggressive.
His 9 blocked shots are best on the team... but I think that's a given considering he plays so many more minutes on the PK than all of the other d-men.
guys below Klefbom for blocked shots:
Gryba - 5
Fayne - 4
Hendricks, Hopkins, Schultz, Paka(Has only played 1:14 on the PK) and Davidson (Has only played 11:15 on the PK) - 3
Short handed shots leaders are Mcdavid, Lander and Hendricks at 3. Amazing Mcdavid is only 18 years old and he's tied for the lead in shorthanded shots while playing 8:23 on the PK over 8 games. He's also got a hit and a takeaway. 0 for 2 in the faceoff circle. Pretty sure we're going to get used to seeing him on the PK a lot in the future.
Gryba leads our team in hits on the PK. 2 hits over the course of 26:32. I can understand that you want our d-men to stay in position most of the time on the PK, but there's a chance to hit guys when the PK has yet to set up and you'd think that someone would have more than 2 hits by now.
Hopkins leads the team in takeaways on the PK with 4 over the course of 24:15. He's also got 3 blocked shots and he's got 3 wins and 4 loses in the faceoff circle. I'm willing to live with those numbers considering all of the situations that Hopkins plays in.
We don't have anyone who's been a wiz in the faceoff circle, and I'm sure an improved faceoff winning percentage would lead to our PK percentage being significantly better.
I hope Nurse can come along in the defensive department a little faster, because he's only played 8:31 over 8 games on the PK and he's got the size and athleticism to become a valued asset on the PK.
Sekera has only played 31:58 on the PK. For a guy with his level of experience and also taking his positional play into account you'd think that he'd be playing more on the PK.
Taylor Hall has played a whopping 34 seconds on the PK. I'm not blaming him for anything, but it would mean a lot to the team if he learned how to put his speed to use on the PK. Same goes with Yakupov.
I think our biggest problem is on the face-off circle. Nobody at 50%.
How might you fix the PK (assuming you believe it to be broken.)
We're at 22nd at 78.9%.
Boston is the worst at 71.7%.
Anaheim is the best at 90.5%.
So we're 7.2% better than the worst and 11.6% worse than the best.
The best and worst are seperated by 18.8%
81.1% would be right smack in the middle of the best and the worst.
I think it's fair to say we need to at least be doing a little bit better on the PK.
Do you guy think we have the right group of players to have a good PK?
Taking a look at who's played big PK minutes for us so far.
Lestesnu has played 49:11 on the PK so far.
1 giveaway
1 takeaway
2 shots on goal
1 missed shot
2 blocked shots
22W/32L in the faceoff circle (40.07%)
Ignoring the faceoff stats, that looks incredibly unproductive for our leader in minutes on the PK. Add that in with his horrid faceoff win % and he's looking like a gong show.
Klefbom is second at 45:55 on the PK.
9 blocked shots
1 giveaway
When Klefbom was in the AHL people talked about him a hard hitter and I think we need the coaching staff into getting him into being a little more aggressive.
His 9 blocked shots are best on the team... but I think that's a given considering he plays so many more minutes on the PK than all of the other d-men.
guys below Klefbom for blocked shots:
Gryba - 5
Fayne - 4
Hendricks, Hopkins, Schultz, Paka(Has only played 1:14 on the PK) and Davidson (Has only played 11:15 on the PK) - 3
Short handed shots leaders are Mcdavid, Lander and Hendricks at 3. Amazing Mcdavid is only 18 years old and he's tied for the lead in shorthanded shots while playing 8:23 on the PK over 8 games. He's also got a hit and a takeaway. 0 for 2 in the faceoff circle. Pretty sure we're going to get used to seeing him on the PK a lot in the future.
Gryba leads our team in hits on the PK. 2 hits over the course of 26:32. I can understand that you want our d-men to stay in position most of the time on the PK, but there's a chance to hit guys when the PK has yet to set up and you'd think that someone would have more than 2 hits by now.
Hopkins leads the team in takeaways on the PK with 4 over the course of 24:15. He's also got 3 blocked shots and he's got 3 wins and 4 loses in the faceoff circle. I'm willing to live with those numbers considering all of the situations that Hopkins plays in.
We don't have anyone who's been a wiz in the faceoff circle, and I'm sure an improved faceoff winning percentage would lead to our PK percentage being significantly better.
I hope Nurse can come along in the defensive department a little faster, because he's only played 8:31 over 8 games on the PK and he's got the size and athleticism to become a valued asset on the PK.
Sekera has only played 31:58 on the PK. For a guy with his level of experience and also taking his positional play into account you'd think that he'd be playing more on the PK.
Taylor Hall has played a whopping 34 seconds on the PK. I'm not blaming him for anything, but it would mean a lot to the team if he learned how to put his speed to use on the PK. Same goes with Yakupov.
I think our biggest problem is on the face-off circle. Nobody at 50%.
How might you fix the PK (assuming you believe it to be broken.)