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As we all know by now, the Wild traded away, fan favourite, #22, Cal Clutterbuck to the New York Islanders for the, somewhat troubled, 5th overall pick from the 2010 draft, Nino Niederreiter. The Wild's new #22 has settled in well and is showing flashes of why he was such a high draft pick.
Let's look at some numbers and compare how both players are performing so far with their respective new teams.
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Basic Stats
|
NIEDERREITER |
CLUTTERBUCK |
|
|
GP |
24 |
18 |
|
G |
5 |
2 |
|
A |
8 |
2 |
|
P |
13 |
4 |
|
S / Sh% |
54 / 9.3% |
39 / 5.1% |
|
CF/60 |
13.0 |
18.8 |
|
PIM |
14 |
12 |
|
HitF/60 |
9.2 |
17.7 |
|
TOI/G |
14:12 |
12:04 |
|
PP TOI/G |
1:54 |
1:08 |
|
SH TOI/G |
0:00 |
0:14 |
Nino is, unsurprisingly, out-scoring Clutterbuck so far. 13 points is a pretty good return from a young forward who is finding his feet in the NHL. One thing he needs to improve is the amount of shot attempts he is getting. Cal is attempting nearly 6 more shots than him per game.
Cal clearly hasn't lost his ability to rack-up ridiculous hit counts. Nino is putting his body around the place quite a bit too. Both players are seeing time on the powerplay, and, weirdly, Cal isn't being used on the PK. Nino is getting more overall TOI per game.
On-Ice Stats
|
NIEDERREITER |
CLUTTERBUCK |
|
|
CF% |
57.3% |
48.3% |
|
CF% Rel |
+5.2% |
-2.3% |
|
Sh% |
5.4% |
5.8% |
|
Sv% |
94.2% |
89.1% |
|
PDO |
99.6 |
94.9 |
Nino has much better puck possession numbers. Being a +5.2% Corsi relative player on a strong puck possession team is no mean feat.
Usage Stats
|
NIEDERREITER |
CLUTTERBUCK |
|
|
OZ St% |
32.8% |
34.6% |
|
NZ St% |
43.4% |
29.7% |
|
DZ St% |
23.8% |
35.7% |
|
QoC |
28.9% |
28.2% |
|
QoT |
31.2% |
27.6% |
|
Tm% #1 |
GRANLUND (49.3%) |
REGIN (68.0%) |
|
Tm% #2 |
POMINVILLE (37.6%) |
GRABNER (28.8%) |
|
Tm% #3 |
KOIVU (26.9%) |
CIZIKAS (22.4%) |
Any suggestion that Nino's excellent puck possession numbers are a result of his deployment are blown-up here. He is getting a lower percentage of defensive zone starts than Clutterbuck, but also a lower percentage of offensive zone starts. He is mostly getting deployed in the neutral zone.
Nino is facing narrowly tougher competition than Clutterbuck, but with better teammates. He has spent a reasonable percentage of his minutes with Koivu and Pominville, but, his most regular linemate has been Granlund, who, for all his good offensive play, has been somewhat of a poor puck possession player this year. Nino has spent almost 50% of his TOI with Granlund and has still produced excellent numbers.
Cal's most regular linemate has been Regin by a wide margin. He has also spent a considerable amount of time with Grabner. Both of those guys are pretty good players.
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So, overall both players are performing pretty well in their respective roles, but Nino is certainly doing better. He has made a great start to his Wild career, and is still only 21. It's exciting to think what he could turn into over the next 2-3 years. He's playing an effective role, is not being sheltered and has been a pest around the goal crease in most games, bringing some good physical play and showing some flashes of extreme offensive ability.
Clutterbuck will be a useful bottom-6 player for the Islanders, but, most likely, he will turn out to be a poor return for a talented young forward. Garth Snow better hope that 4th round pick turns into a good NHLer to make that trade look more balanced.
I'll revisit this situation later in the year to see if these trends continue.
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