Player Discussion Tyler Motte: Quick, Closes Gaps. Tenacious, Shutdown Player. 5th in NHL in SH TOI (F); 43rd in PP GA

[Blade Paradigm]

Tyler Motte's preseason performance thus far seems to have surprised most onlookers. Those who were introduced to him months ago when he was packaged with Jussi Jokinen as part of the Thomas Vanek trade thought he was a throw-in minor-league player. Motte, a fourth-round pick in 2013, made his debut as a 21-year-old two seasons ago with the Chicago Blackhawks. He played 33 NHL games that year. The following year, he played 46 NHL games, split between Columbus and Vancouver.

He is now 23 years old and looking to secure a full-time NHL roster position -- so far, he has made a very strong case to start the 2018-19 season with the Canucks.

Motte is unlike a lot of the bottom-six forwards we've seen play for the Canucks in recent years. He does not seem like he will ever be a significant offensive contributor. What he brings in spades, however, is intelligent positioning and tenacious fore-checking. As a player in a two-way energy role, Motte excels with great anticipation of where the puck will be, great quickness, and a heavy, gritty game along the boards. His skill set allows him to clog opposition lanes on a consistent basis, force opposition turnovers, and position himself to always put pressure on the opponent. He was impressive as a penalty killer last season and knows how to close his distance on the opponent to force their hand and force errors from them. This is exactly what the Canucks have lacked from their bottom six for years.

This team has seen quite a few grinders over the years who have skated around aimlessly and contributed nothing. There is a difference between a bottom-six player with mediocre hockey IQ and a smart bottom-six contributor. Tyler Motte has, thus far, been a breath of fresh air for those of us who have seen too little from the bottom six in recent years.

Update (November 18, 2018):

After 20 games, he has faded. His level of consistency has started to waver, although when he is focused he can be effective.

He is a defense-only player. He won't score points, but can be highly-useful at pressuring the opposition and forcing his opponent to move pucks prematurely. He has not been consistent, but he possesses talent in a shutdown role.

He leads the Canucks forwards in hits (23rd in the NHL) and is second in shot blocking (32nd in the NHL).

From a statistical point of view, Motte and Brandon Tanev are very similar players. Jets fans view Tanev as a fourth-line grinder and a potentially-expendable asset depending on the circumstance.

Both lead their teams in hits (45 for Motte, 47 for Tanev), and blocked shots (18 for Motte, 21 for Tanev). Both score at about the same rate. Both are quick, puck pursuit players whose main roles are to kill penalties and pressure the opposition. Tanev has averaged 14:08 of TOI per game so far; Motte has averaged 13:55 of TOI per game.

I would give Tanev the slight edge, but they are very similar. Motte is also three years younger.

Motte's decline in hit totals recently reflects a lack of consistency on his part. His preseason play and early performances this season were commendable. As of late, he has faded significantly. Some consistency would help Motte retain value as a defensive player.

Jets fans on B. Tanev:

Good hustle, grinder and defensive player

1.15 for a guy who forechecks, skates like the wind, draws a lot of penalties and suppresses shots at a good rate? I think that's fine.

That's also basically everything he does on the ice.

great player, just lacks scoring touch.

Kid's a total rottweiler that gives 110% every shift. He's earned his spot on the team.

Good contract. Loved his grit and determination last season. Always gives it all he's got

Motte needs to find some consistency and play more like he did earlier in the season.

Highlighting Motte's penalty-killing ability:

In terms of PP goals against / shorthanded TOI, Motte is actually among the league's best forwards at keeping pucks out of the net in shorthanded situations.

When a player block a tons of shots, it usually means his team doesn’t have the puck often when he’s on the ice

Hence, Patrice Bergeron has the most shot blocks of the Boston Bruins' forward group?

NHL.com - Stats, Shot Blocks, Boston Bruins, 2018-19

A big reason for the discrepancy is the line matching. Top line of the other team vs shutdown line, in 5-vs-5 situations as well. Motte also records some shot blocks on the penalty kill, which obviously is spent mostly in one's own zone. The entire PK shift is spent in the defensive end, save for the occasional shorthanded opportunity a la his goal today.

Motte leads the Canucks forwards in penalty kill TOI this season. In fact, he has the 5th-most penalty kill TOI of all forwards in the entire NHL.

He is 43rd in the NHL in PP goals against, which means he is effective on the PK -- especially relative to his PK TOI. Markus Granlund, on the other hand, has the second most PP goals against in the NHL and has less SH TOI than Motte, which means he bleeds goals against on the PK.

NHL.com - Stats - SH TOI, All Forwards, 2018-19

NHL.com - Stats - PP Goals Against, All Forwards, 2018-19

Patrice Bergeron has been on the ice for 6 PP goals against in 37:37 of SH TOI.

Tyler Motte has been on the ice for 5 PP goals against in 58:21 of SH TOI.

Alexander Barkov has been on the ice for 8 PP goals against in 39:31 of SH TOI.

Everyone who has logged anywhere near as much SH TOI as Motte has been on the ice for more PP goals against than him. For example, Carl Soderberg leads all NHL forwards in SH TOI with 65:47, but has been on the ice for a league-leading 14 PP GA. If you want to pinpoint a problem on the Canucks' PK, it's Markus Granlund: 11 PP goals against in 58:15 of SH TOI.

Motte has been effective for the Canucks on the PK. The Canucks have the 21st-best PK % in the league. I think it would be worse if not for him.

Between 2015-16 and 2017-18, the Canucks averaged the third-worst PK in the NHL.

Update: After tonight, Motte has the fourth-most SH TOI of all forwards in the NHL, although Patrik Laine was able to beat the Canucks on the PP today. He has 6 PP goals against in 61:20 of SH TOI. That's some commendable penalty killing on his part.



He played a strong game today. 4 shots, 4 hits, 3 blocked shots, and a shorthanded goal. He was placed on a line with Sam Gagner and Bo Horvat in the third period, and they created a few chances.

Winnipeg Jets - Vancouver Canucks - November 19th, 2018

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[Peen]

Throwback to the elite Ronalds Kenins

 

[F A N]

Motte kind of took a step back in development last season but before that he was making some huge strides in development. He made the Blackhawks out of camp two seasons ago.

I hope Motte can establish himself as an NHL regular by next season. He is waiver exempt this season.

 

[me2]

Leipsic is excellent at anticipating plays, which is why he uses his speed so well to retrieve pucks and take the puck away from the opposition. Not only was the goal the result of a takeaway, but so was the turnover he forced at the blue line to create his 2-on-1 rush with Virtanen. Even on his first shift, he picked off one of Barzal's breakout passes.

This kid is a high IQ player. He's a smart one, and he has the skill to be a great playmaker too. He and Horvat were already great together as a forechecking tandem, but adding Virtanen to that line paid dividends for them tonight. All three are fast, gritty, and have enough skill to create offense.

 

[Megaterio Llamas]

Peak Gerry Minor with upside to surpass Minor.

 

[Horse McHindu]

Completely agree about Motte.

I wonder what people on here were saying when Benning acquired Motte this past February?

I’m pretty sure most people were positive and were supportive of Benning.

 

[LordBacon]

Now now, having played a few good preseason games is great and he has exceeded our expectations no doubt but lets not get ahead of ourselves.

 

[Blade Paradigm]

Now now, having played a few good preseason games is great and he has exceeded our expectations no doubt but lets not get ahead of ourselves.

Motte performed very similarly last season with the Canucks. I made the same remarks last March. He played 15 games with Vancouver last season and demonstrated the same intelligence and tenacity in those games.

From a post I published on March 31, 2018:

Motte is 22 years old; he played 18:03 last night in a checking role against Connor McDavid and was fairly successful when on the ice with him. Overall, Motte's defensive game and mobility make him a noteworthy candidate for that gritty shutdown role that nobody else on the roster plays.

My mentioning of this is only to illustrate that our sample size includes not only his play from this year, but last year as well. In particular, I cited a regular season performance in which he was matched up against Connor McDavid in a shutdown role. He performed well.

 

[Hit the post]

Peak Gerry Minor with upside to surpass Minor.

I think he's more peak Gary Lupul.

 

[UticaHockey]

I liked Motte when he joined the Comets at the end of the season. You never know what to expect when a player is sent from the NHL to the AHL as many seem to pout and look unmotivated. Motte gave 100% on every shift that he played for the Comets last year.

He is in a unique waiver situation though because he is one game short of requiring waivers. I thought that would make him a preseason cut and then an injury call up later but he may have played himself on the team.

 

[elwin316]

Could be decent on the PK I guess. I noticed his willingness to block shots. Does he need to clear waivers for the AHL though?

Edit: I should have read the post above re: waivers...Pretty sure he's AHL bound to start the year unless trades are made.

 

[member 290103]

Completely agree about Motte.

I wonder what people on here were saying when Benning acquired Motte this past February?

I’m pretty sure most people were positive and were supportive of Benning.

Motte has looked good in some pre-season games, yay. Was it last year or the year prior Granlund looked like the second coming of Steve Yzerman in the pre-season? It's the pre-season....I'll reserve judgement until about 25 games into the regular season.

 

[Fire Benning]

He has looked very good, probably the Canucks best bottom six forward so far. Obviously not a ton of weight should be put on players exceeding expectations in the pre-season, remember people getting excited over pre-season gods like Ryan Shannon and Sergei Shirokov? That said, at this point he's probably a better option than most of the other bottom six bums we have. Waive Granlund, give Motte his ice time, see what he can do.

 

[krutovsdonut]

Peak Gerry Minor with upside to surpass Minor.

lol. maybe a littl gary lupul for good measure.

 

[krutovsdonut]

I think he's more peak Gary Lupul.

dang it

 

[krutovsdonut]

I liked Motte when he joined the Comets at the end of the season. You never know what to expect when a player is sent from the NHL to the AHL as many seem to pout and look unmotivated. Motte gave 100% on every shift that he played for the Comets last year.

He is in a unique waiver situation though because he is one game short of requiring waivers. I thought that would make him a preseason cut and then an injury call up later but he may have played himself on the team.

i don't think many would have guessed motte would have so much separation in this preseason that they might waive someone to make room for him on the opening roster.

 

[Nucker101]

Good for him for stepping up and likely earning a spot on the roster as the “forgotten one”, but we’ll see how he does when the games matter.

If he has the energy to continue playing like this night in and out then he’ll be an effective checking forward and have a spot in the lineup as a regular

 

[F A N]

Leipsic is excellent at anticipating plays, which is why he uses his speed so well to retrieve pucks and take the puck away from the opposition. Not only was the goal the result of a takeaway, but so was the turnover he forced at the blue line to create his 2-on-1 rush with Virtanen. Even on his first shift, he picked off one of Barzal's breakout passes.

This kid is a high IQ player. He's a smart one, and he has the skill to be a great playmaker too. He and Horvat were already great together as a forechecking tandem, but adding Virtanen to that line paid dividends for them tonight. All three are fast, gritty, and have enough skill to create offense.

Are you talking about Motte or Leipsic?

 

[brokenhole]

Are you talking about Motte or Leipsic?

Tyler Motte-Leipsic.

 

[VanJack]

Apparently the Canucks liked him in college (56 points in 38 games for the U of Michigan in his junior season). Listed at 5'10 but 191...so he's short but not small. Apparently Columbus really wanted him in the Panarin deal with the Hawks, but for some reason fell out of favor with Torts last season and ended up in the minors for stretch.

Difficult thing in assessing him is that he's never scored particularly well in the AHL either. But you can't argue with that motor and the relentlessness on the puck. Still only 23 so could be late bloomer and looks like a nice pickup for the Canucks in a bottom-six role.

It's just a shame they can't seem to find d-men on the trade market with similar qualities to forwards like Motte and Leipsic.

 

[me2]

Are you talking about Motte or Leipsic?

Just quoting someone. I thought the spiel sounded familiar.

 

[me2]

Completely agree about Motte.

I wonder what people on here were saying when Benning acquired Motte this past February?

I’m pretty sure most people were positive and were supportive of Benning.

He's looked more like an NHLer than Dahlen, Goldobin and Granlund.

 

[David Bruce Banner]

I think he's more peak Gary Lupul.

Nah, Bobby Lalonde

 

[Hit the post]

Nah, Bobby Lalonde

 

[Blade Paradigm]

Just quoting someone. I thought the spiel sounded familiar.

Anticipation is a key element of hockey IQ, and positioning relative to the puck has everything to do with a player's ability to properly read his surroundings. Those who are proactive rather than reactive, hence those who are able to pressure the opposition effectively and dictate possession, are intelligent hockey players. Players who have no idea of where to be end up being late to arrive to loose pucks and fail to take time away from their opponents; there are many players with great skill but poor ability to assess plays, as well as grinders who give the opponent too much time to make decisions.

Leipsic is a quick puck hound who plays an aggressive style along the boards and makes snappy, creative plays with the puck in traffic. Motte plays a different role -- he is not an offensive player, but he plays a sturdier, heavier game than Leipsic and is smarter defensively. Leipsic takes risks with the puck, some of which work in his favor and some of which make him look foolish; Motte has been a reliable shutdown player so far, and I would like to see him hone that role.

Halfway through yesterday's game against the Flames, Travis Green took Gaudette off of the Leipsic-Boeser line, and swapped him with Pettersson from the Goldobin-Gagner line. Leipsic was able to retrieve the puck for Pettersson more frequently than either Goldobin or Gagner could last night. Based on their performances thus far, I think I would prefer to see Leipsic play in the top six than Goldobin or Gagner. As much as I like Goldobin's skill level, his lack of forechecking ability hinders his line whether they don't have the puck.