Theres some distortion here as well. If you want to gauge a coaching trust level indicator the most plain is minutes played. Obviously if Drai is being whipped like a horse to play 25mins a lot, and Nuge is more around 20 mins it suggests which player is the more adaptable, and favored player. I think toi speaks loudly to that, and a lot of coaches feel that its indicative as well. The real indication of trust from a coach is whether you get MORE or less shifts and toi in general. My own take from minutes played and usage is that every coach we've had here respects Drai's contribution quite a lot and as much as they trust any player here.
I won't respond point by point to your Corsi stats because you already know I figure that these are derivative and not entirely substantiated stats. The object of hockey is to score goals and prevent goals. It isn't to take volumes of pointless shots or prevent every harmless one. RNH would have elevated Corsi numbers simply on the basis of there being no shot he doesn't like. The amazing thing is he's taken the same amount of sog as Drai yet Leon has scored 20 more goals. That in itself would suggest not all shots are equal in respect of the two players. Nuge also misses the net more. So the total shot attempts Nuge takes might even be higher than the 2nd highest goal scorer in hockey.
What I tend to give more creedence to is on ice GF/GA/60mins, as well as raw score data. Situational, etc. I prefer looking at goal numbers vs shot numbers. I've explained why lots of times.
Aside from that of course I watch all the games and observe respective coverage in all zones. I've observed Nuge coverage so much at times it seems as if it consists of standing right by a goal scorer, just standing there within arm length defending air. So often Nuge is right next to a goal scorer, standing there, and doesn't impede in any way.
In a recent game Stone is right in front of the net alongside Nuge. He takes one whack at the puck, doesn't score, gets a rebound, and pots it home. The sequence takes maybe 2 secs, Nuge just standing there, he Knows Stone is there, I suspect he knows he can't prevent Stone from positiing even if he tried so he DOESN"T EVEN TOUCH HIM. Nuge doesn't even move towards Stone until the goal is scored. I should jot down footnotes on how often this occurs with Nuge.
Nuge has high GA/60mins relative to what he produces. While one expects elite producers to have high GA, and both McD and DRai also do, in Nuge's case the high GA is had without the pts generation that would supercede or even excuse that. Nuge is -16 and in todays NHL of matching strength to strength he does have some easy minutes at times. Especially when the team divides up Centers. If McD has his own line, Drai has his own line, and Nuge has his opponents obviously commit better resource to stopping Drai, the 2nd highest goal scorer in the whole league, and of course they would. If you want to argue that provide a clear rational for it not being the case.
Similarly on first unit PP McD and Drai get primary marking and coverage focus and absorb much more of the punishment. Nuge, in turn, is often left unmarked because teams overly commit to McDrai coverage. So Nuge should do very well with that. Unfortunately Nuge isn't potting enough PP goals or pts that would reflect him not being covered alongside two of the most premier players in the game.
Finally, as I've stated, and I'll state it again because its accurate, McD + Nuge w/o Drai have negative goal differential in EV play. This is a concern, is it not? How can a team win when it so often has 2 Centers playing together and the pair are not even outscoring EV?
