There's two ways to look at the data - secondary assists as a percentage of total assists, and secondary assists as a percentage of total points. I have data from 2008 to 2019, regular season only, and ES only.
Before someone accuses me of being biased because I'm only presenting ES data - I simply don't have the PP scoring data in a format that's usable. If someone else wants to look into that, I'd encourage it.
TABLE 1 - secondary assists as a percentage of total assists (top 50 ES scorers)
Player | G | 1A | 2A | TOTAL | |
Evgeni Malkin | 228 | 234 | 105 | 567 | 31.0% |
Sidney Crosby | 261 | 260 | 132 | 653 | 33.7% |
Daniel Sedin | 182 | 195 | 101 | 478 | 34.1% |
Phil Kessel | 242 | 180 | 94 | 516 | 34.3% |
Blake Wheeler | 189 | 198 | 105 | 492 | 34.7% |
Patrick Kane | 256 | 246 | 131 | 633 | 34.7% |
David Krejci | 146 | 210 | 114 | 470 | 35.2% |
Jakub Voracek | 145 | 183 | 101 | 429 | 35.6% |
Alex Ovechkin | 347 | 184 | 103 | 634 | 35.9% |
Jonathan Toews | 230 | 185 | 105 | 520 | 36.2% |
Henrik Zetterberg | 163 | 188 | 107 | 458 | 36.3% |
Eric Staal | 222 | 190 | 111 | 523 | 36.9% |
Joe Thornton | 131 | 236 | 142 | 509 | 37.6% |
Mike Ribeiro | 112 | 171 | 103 | 386 | 37.6% |
Claude Giroux | 157 | 181 | 114 | 452 | 38.6% |
Patrice Bergeron | 174 | 155 | 98 | 427 | 38.7% |
Anze Kopitar | 200 | 197 | 125 | 522 | 38.8% |
Jason Pominville | 185 | 156 | 102 | 443 | 39.5% |
Paul Stastny | 149 | 163 | 109 | 421 | 40.1% |
Milan Lucic | 159 | 143 | 96 | 398 | 40.2% |
Ryan Getzlaf | 158 | 233 | 160 | 551 | 40.7% |
Zach Parise | 213 | 137 | 95 | 445 | 40.9% |
Nicklas Backstrom | 157 | 211 | 147 | 515 | 41.1% |
Martin St. Louis | 153 | 143 | 104 | 400 | 42.1% |
Loui Eriksson | 169 | 134 | 109 | 412 | 44.9% |
Henrik Sedin | 117 | 215 | 176 | 508 | 45.0% |
David Backes | 167 | 117 | 105 | 389 | 47.3% |
Mikko Koivu | 120 | 131 | 126 | 377 | 49.0% |
Justin Williams | 151 | 118 | 115 | 384 | 49.4% |
Jamie Benn | 195 | 131 | 131 | 457 | 50.0% |
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If you're looking at secondary assists as a percentage of total assists, Crosby actually has the 2nd lowest percentage out of the top 50 ES scorers during that period. If you compare Crosby's actual production compared to the group average, he got around 20 fewer secondary assists (and therefore 20 more primary assists), relative to what we'd expect.
TABLE 2 - secondary assists as a percentage of total points (top 50 ES scorers)
Player | G | 1A | 2A | TOTAL | |
Alex Ovechkin | 347 | 184 | 103 | 634 | 16.2% |
Phil Kessel | 242 | 180 | 94 | 516 | 18.2% |
Evgeni Malkin | 228 | 234 | 105 | 567 | 18.5% |
Jonathan Toews | 230 | 185 | 105 | 520 | 20.2% |
Sidney Crosby | 261 | 260 | 132 | 653 | 20.2% |
Patrick Kane | 256 | 246 | 131 | 633 | 20.7% |
Daniel Sedin | 182 | 195 | 101 | 478 | 21.1% |
Eric Staal | 222 | 190 | 111 | 523 | 21.2% |
Blake Wheeler | 189 | 198 | 105 | 492 | 21.3% |
Zach Parise | 213 | 137 | 95 | 445 | 21.3% |
Patrice Bergeron | 174 | 155 | 98 | 427 | 23.0% |
Jason Pominville | 185 | 156 | 102 | 443 | 23.0% |
Henrik Zetterberg | 163 | 188 | 107 | 458 | 23.4% |
Jakub Voracek | 145 | 183 | 101 | 429 | 23.5% |
Anze Kopitar | 200 | 197 | 125 | 522 | 23.9% |
Milan Lucic | 159 | 143 | 96 | 398 | 24.1% |
David Krejci | 146 | 210 | 114 | 470 | 24.3% |
Claude Giroux | 157 | 181 | 114 | 452 | 25.2% |
Paul Stastny | 149 | 163 | 109 | 421 | 25.9% |
Martin St. Louis | 153 | 143 | 104 | 400 | 26.0% |
Loui Eriksson | 169 | 134 | 109 | 412 | 26.5% |
Mike Ribeiro | 112 | 171 | 103 | 386 | 26.7% |
David Backes | 167 | 117 | 105 | 389 | 27.0% |
Joe Thornton | 131 | 236 | 142 | 509 | 27.9% |
Nicklas Backstrom | 157 | 211 | 147 | 515 | 28.5% |
Jamie Benn | 195 | 131 | 131 | 457 | 28.7% |
Ryan Getzlaf | 158 | 233 | 160 | 551 | 29.0% |
Justin Williams | 151 | 118 | 115 | 384 | 29.9% |
Mikko Koivu | 120 | 131 | 126 | 377 | 33.4% |
Henrik Sedin | 117 | 215 | 176 | 508 | 34.6% |
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Goal-scorers tend to do better based on this metric, and playmakers do worse (hence Ovechkin in 1st, while Henrik Sedin is in last). This makes sense, since a higher (lower) percentage of Ovechkin's (Sedin's) points are from goals, his reliance on assists, both primary and secondary, is lower (higher).
Crosby still has the 5th lowest reliance on secondary assists during this period (again, among top 50 ES scorers over the past 11 seasons). Compared to the group average, Crosby scored 12 extra goals, 13 extra primary assists, and 26 fewer secondary assists.