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Today I'm gonna look at which Wild forwards and defencemen have been the most efficient scorers at even strength this years. I'll be ranking them by Goals/60 (per 60 minutes), Points/60 and Primary Points/60. Primary points are goals and first assists. I'll only be including players who have played at least 25% of the games this season (14 games). Please note, this data was compiled before the Tampa Bay game, so it's not 100% up to date.
Forwards
-Chart shows the amount of games each forward player, their ES Sh% and their G/60 (which it is sorted by):
|
Player |
Pos. |
Team |
GP |
Sh% |
G/60 |
1 |
Justin Fontaine |
R |
Wild |
50 |
16.4% |
1.09 |
2 |
Jason Pominville |
R |
Wild |
57 |
14.4% |
1.07 |
3 |
Jason Zucker |
L |
Wild |
19 |
8.3% |
0.79 |
4 |
Matt Cooke |
L |
Wild |
57 |
11.9% |
0.67 |
5 |
Nino Niederreiter |
R |
Wild |
57 |
7.5% |
0.66 |
6 |
Zach Parise |
L |
Wild |
42 |
6.7% |
0.64 |
7 |
Erik Haula |
L |
Wild |
23 |
9.1% |
0.61 |
8 |
Mikko Koivu |
C |
Wild |
44 |
7.5% |
0.51 |
9 |
Dany Heatley |
L |
Wild |
57 |
9.8% |
0.5 |
10 |
Charlie Coyle |
C |
Wild |
45 |
6.4% |
0.46 |
11 |
Stephane Veilleux |
L |
Wild |
24 |
16.7% |
0.35 |
12 |
Mikael Granlund |
C |
Wild |
44 |
5.7% |
0.3 |
13 |
Zenon Konopka |
C |
Wild |
36 |
7.1% |
0.26 |
14 |
Kyle Brodziak |
C |
Wild |
57 |
3.0% |
0.16 |
15 |
Torrey Mitchell |
C |
Wild |
53 |
2.6% |
0.13 |
- Justin Fontaine and his 16.4% shooting lead the way. It's gonna be interesting to see how Fonzy performs when his shooting luck deserts him for a while, because there's no way he keeps scoring at that rate.
- Brodziak has a very good career Sh%, so I imagine he won't be shooting 3% for long. He seems to be lacking in confidence, which isn't helping.
-This chart is sorted by Points/60
Player |
Pos. |
Team |
GP |
P/60 |
|
1 |
Mikael Granlund |
C |
Wild |
44 |
2.02 |
2 |
Jason Pominville |
R |
Wild |
57 |
1.86 |
3 |
Matt Cooke |
L |
Wild |
57 |
1.75 |
4 |
Justin Fontaine |
R |
Wild |
50 |
1.63 |
5 |
Nino Niederreiter |
R |
Wild |
57 |
1.56 |
6 |
Zach Parise |
L |
Wild |
42 |
1.55 |
7 |
Mikko Koivu |
C |
Wild |
44 |
1.46 |
8 |
Charlie Coyle |
C |
Wild |
45 |
1.38 |
9 |
Erik Haula |
L |
Wild |
23 |
1.23 |
10 |
Torrey Mitchell |
C |
Wild |
53 |
1.2 |
11 |
Dany Heatley |
L |
Wild |
57 |
1.08 |
12 |
Kyle Brodziak |
C |
Wild |
57 |
1.03 |
13 |
Jason Zucker |
L |
Wild |
19 |
0.79 |
14 |
Zenon Konopka |
C |
Wild |
36 |
0.51 |
15 |
Stephane Veilleux |
L |
Wild |
24 |
0.35 |
- Mikael Granlund, the guy who was called garbage, too small and a bust before the start of the season, is scoring ES points at a faster rate than any other Wild player this season. This has been aided by Jason Pominville's lights-out shooting but still, the kid is doing a damn fine job.
- Matt Cooke's scoring is very impressive, given his defensive role and minutes.
-This chart is sorted by Primary Points (P1)/60. That's goals and first assists:
Pos. |
Team |
GP |
||||
1 |
R |
57 |
1.57 |
0.79 |
||
2 |
L |
57 |
1.42 |
1.09 |
||
3 |
R |
50 |
1.41 |
0.54 |
||
4 |
C |
44 |
1.37 |
0.94 |
||
5 |
R |
57 |
1.31 |
0.9 |
||
6 |
C |
44 |
1.31 |
1.72 |
||
7 |
L |
42 |
1.19 |
0.91 |
||
8 |
L |
57 |
0.92 |
0.58 |
||
9 |
C |
45 |
0.83 |
0.92 |
||
10 |
C |
53 |
0.8 |
1.07 |
||
11 |
L |
19 |
0.79 |
0 |
||
12 |
L |
23 |
0.61 |
0.61 |
||
13 |
C |
36 |
0.51 |
0.26 |
||
14 |
C |
57 |
0.48 |
0.87 |
||
15 |
L |
24 |
0.35 |
0 |
- Granlund and Parise fall down the rankings a bit here, while Miko Koivu jumps up to 4th.
-This table shows Shots/60, Fenwick For (individual unblocked shot attempts)/60 and Corsi For (shot attempts)/60. It is sorted by CF/60:
Player |
Pos. |
Team |
GP |
S/60 |
FF/60 |
CF/60 |
|
1 |
Jason Zucker |
L |
Wild |
19 |
9.5 |
13.2 |
15.8 |
2 |
Zach Parise |
L |
Wild |
42 |
9.5 |
11.9 |
15.1 |
3 |
Nino Niederreiter |
R |
Wild |
57 |
8.7 |
11.6 |
13.8 |
4 |
Mikko Koivu |
C |
Wild |
44 |
6.9 |
10.5 |
13.8 |
5 |
Jason Pominville |
R |
Wild |
57 |
7.4 |
10.5 |
12.9 |
6 |
Stephane Veilleux |
L |
Wild |
24 |
7.3 |
9.4 |
12.5 |
7 |
Erik Haula |
L |
Wild |
23 |
6.7 |
9.5 |
11.6 |
8 |
Justin Fontaine |
R |
Wild |
50 |
6.6 |
9.1 |
11.3 |
9 |
Kyle Brodziak |
C |
Wild |
57 |
5.3 |
7.9 |
11 |
10 |
Charlie Coyle |
C |
Wild |
45 |
7.2 |
8.5 |
10.6 |
11 |
Matt Cooke |
L |
Wild |
57 |
5.6 |
7.8 |
10.5 |
12 |
Dany Heatley |
L |
Wild |
57 |
5.1 |
7.1 |
9.5 |
13 |
Torrey Mitchell |
C |
Wild |
53 |
5.2 |
6.7 |
9.5 |
14 |
Mikael Granlund |
C |
Wild |
44 |
5.4 |
6.8 |
8.6 |
15 |
Zenon Konopka |
C |
Wild |
36 |
3.6 |
5.4 |
6.4 |
- These numbers give me a lot of hope for Jason Zucker's future development. He generates shot attempts at a faster rate than any other Wild player. Getting the puck on net more leads to more goals, so if he keeps doing this he will find himself lighting the lamp more and more.
- Mikael Granlund just doesn't attempt enough shots. He's a great passer so it's understandable but when Torrey Mitchell is attempting shots more regularly than you, then there's a problem.
Defencemen
-Sorted by G/60:
Player |
Pos. |
Team |
GP |
Sh% |
G/60 |
|
1 |
Nate Prosser |
D |
Wild |
31 |
12.5% |
0.29 |
2 |
Keith Ballard |
D |
Wild |
36 |
9.1% |
0.27 |
3 |
Jonas Brodin |
D |
Wild |
54 |
10.0% |
0.22 |
4 |
Marco Scandella |
D |
Wild |
54 |
4.8% |
0.21 |
5 |
Ryan Suter |
D |
Wild |
57 |
4.3% |
0.14 |
6 |
Jared Spurgeon |
D |
Wild |
43 |
0% |
0 |
7 |
Clayton Stoner |
D |
Wild |
51 |
0% |
0 |
- No surprise to see Nate Prosser on top here. He's shooting 12.5%, so I wouldn't expect to see him up here much in future.
- Brodin is also shooting at a pretty unsustainable percentage.
- Something to be happy about; Suter, Scandella and Spurgeon are due some goals. #20 and #6 are both shooting around 4%, which seems a bit low for two guys who can shoot really really well and are generating plenty of shots and shot attempts (Scandella in particular). Spurgeon hasn't scored yet, but he is generating so many shot attempts (as you will see below) that it's only a matter of time before he starts cashing-in.
-Sorted by P/60:
Player |
Pos. |
Team |
GP |
P/60 |
|
1 |
Marco Scandella |
D |
Wild |
54 |
1.1 |
2 |
Keith Ballard |
D |
Wild |
36 |
0.95 |
3 |
Nate Prosser |
D |
Wild |
31 |
0.87 |
4 |
Ryan Suter |
D |
Wild |
57 |
0.79 |
5 |
Jared Spurgeon |
D |
Wild |
43 |
0.67 |
6 |
Jonas Brodin |
D |
Wild |
54 |
0.43 |
7 |
Clayton Stoner |
D |
Wild |
51 |
0.39 |
- Marco Scandella has been the Wild's most efficient defenceman in terms of scoring at even-strength. This is pretty amazing considering he is shooting at a pretty low percentage himself.
-Sorted by P1/60:
Player |
Pos. |
Team |
GP |
A/60 |
P1/60 |
|
1 |
Keith Ballard |
D |
Wild |
36 |
0.68 |
0.54 |
2 |
Jared Spurgeon |
D |
Wild |
43 |
0.67 |
0.5 |
3 |
Marco Scandella |
D |
Wild |
54 |
0.89 |
0.48 |
4 |
Nate Prosser |
D |
Wild |
31 |
0.58 |
0.29 |
5 |
Ryan Suter |
D |
Wild |
57 |
0.65 |
0.28 |
6 |
Jonas Brodin |
D |
Wild |
54 |
0.22 |
0.22 |
7 |
Clayton Stoner |
D |
Wild |
51 |
0.39 |
0.2 |
- Jared Spurgeon jumps up the rankings here, with Ballard going to number one.
-Sorted by CF/60:
Player |
Pos. |
Team |
GP |
S/60 |
FF/60 |
CF/60 |
|
1 |
Jared Spurgeon |
D |
Wild |
43 |
4 |
6.8 |
10 |
2 |
Marco Scandella |
D |
Wild |
54 |
4.3 |
6.2 |
9.4 |
3 |
Clayton Stoner |
D |
Wild |
51 |
3.6 |
4.6 |
7.7 |
4 |
Keith Ballard |
D |
Wild |
36 |
3 |
4.6 |
7.5 |
5 |
Ryan Suter |
D |
Wild |
57 |
3.3 |
4.7 |
7.5 |
6 |
Nate Prosser |
D |
Wild |
31 |
2.3 |
4.5 |
6.2 |
7 |
Jonas Brodin |
D |
Wild |
54 |
2.2 |
3.4 |
5.8 |
- It's no surprise that Spurgeon and Scandella are generating the most shot attempts and unblocked shot attempts given that they are the Wilds best puck possession defencemen. They are generating around 2 unblocked shot attempts more per 60 minutes than the rest of the pack.
- Brodin is notable at the bottom here. Once again, it isn't surprising given his poor puck possession numbers.