NHL 2015-16 points average by position

[Loner]

For fun, I've calculated the average points by position for the 2015-2016 season. This is far from being scientific, but it gives an idea. The fourth line points total is low, especially at the wing, since most teams rotate lots of players at those positions. The average is calculated by blindly taking the top X players at a position ordered by total points.

All forwards
First Line - 60.41
Second Line - 40.21
Third Line - 24.66
Fourth Line - 13.08

Defense
First pairing - 40.57
Second paring - 19.27
Third pairing - 10.40

Center
First Line - 64.50
Second Line - 48.17
Third Line - 37.10
Fourth Line - 24.50

Left Wing
First Line - 56.53
Second Line - 33.73
Third Line - 16.43
Fourth Line - 6.83

Right wing
First Line - 57.10
Second Line - 33.50
Third Line - 17.70
Fourth Line - 6.40

I've also prorated points total for habs players and look at how they compared:

Max Pacioretty - 64 pts - Better than average first line winger
Alex Galchenyuk - 56 pts - Below Average first liner center
Tomas Plekanec - 54 pts - Below Average first liner center
Andrei Markov - 44 pts - Better than average first pairing defensemen
Brendan Gallagher - 62 pts - Better than average first line winger
David Desharnais - 37 pts - Average third line center (below average without PP)
Nathan Beaulieu - 24 pts - Better than average second pairing defensemen
Torrey Mitchell - 22 pts - Average fourth liner center
Paul Byron - 24 pts - Better than average third line winger
Sven Andrighetto - 32 pts - Average second line winger
Jeff Petry - 26 pts - Better than average second pairing defensemen
Alexei Emelin - 14 pts - Average third pairing defensemen
Mark Barberio - 27 pts - Better than average second pairing defensemen
Phillip Danault - 16 pts - Below average fourth line center
Brian Flynn - 15 pts - Better than average fourth line winger
Daniel Carr - 32 pts - Average second line winger
Greg Pateryn - 15 pts - Better than average third pairing defensemen
Andrew Shaw - 34 pts - Average second line winger
Shea Weber - 54 pts - Higher than average first pairing defensemen

It's definitely doesn't show the whole story, even if Barberio produce at a better rate than the average second pairing defensemen doesn't mean he's one

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[Lshap]

Good guidelines. Thanks for the work!

 

[Talks to Goalposts]

There is a major issue with the calculation for centers, the Nhl.com tracking for forward positions is grossly inadequate resulting in too many players getting counted as centermen.


You can see this most promiprominently in the third line spot, the real average for third centers isn't close to 37, meanwhile the average 3Rd winger is much better than 18 points.

 

[Loner]

I actually used stats compiled from a variety of source at www.hockeyabstract.com.

It's not at all perfect and only should only be used as a general guideline. I agree that third line center are not producing as much, I was surprised by those results. Like I said, wingers on the bottom line rotate a lots with many ahler and young players playing only a small part of the season.

 

[yianik]

Thanks for the info. The numbers are ugly. Puts things in perspective

 

[tooji]

This is why I don't see the hate for pleks. His production makes him a very high end second line center. With chucky hopefully playing a full year as 1C he should easily pass the 60 pt mark.