Really? What should we go off of "feeler" stats. Like "**** no" to trading Mantha. And not wanting Panarin because, reasons?
No. And we shouldn’t discount all advanced stats. But I mean, does it really tell you anything at all that “if a team has a better goal differential, it will relate to more wins than a shot differential”? I mean, that is common knowledge that scoring more goals than you surrender leads to wins.
Why possession stats and Corsi and the like came into vogue is that the team who controls the puck more often is generally more skilled and will win more than they lose. And it is like I said about the Caps playing a series against Jimmy Howard and against Jonathan Bernier. The Caps are not a better or worse team because they would score more against Bernier.
Shot differential stats show which team of 5 guys has the puck on their stick and is driving the offense more often and ignores the effect of a goaltender’s play.
And lastly, advanced stats are mostly used to give a “most likely outcome” kind of answer. Many times they are used as definitive answers in discussions when they are just a portion of what is truly happening.
Like in the Tampa series that went 7, the Wings were muddying the tracks and smothering Tyler Johnson until Glenny got injured and they put Datsyuk on Johnson. By all advanced metrics, Glendening usually grades out terribly and Datsyuk very well, but in that situation, one guy was a wet blanket and the other a statue that let a guy blow past multiple times