The Longest Post Of My Life
*inhale*
Of late, there has been much ado about cap limits, overpriced UFAâs, and players who play at a level either above or below the expectations of their salary. With this in mind, I recently decided to wade into the realm of identifying players on other teams whose value to the Oilers might exceed their cost of procurement. Specifically, I looked at players in terms of their power play versus even strength scoring. I decided that players who scored the highest percentages of their points on the power play may be overvalued to some degree while those who scored higher percentages of their points at even strength would be undervalued.
I have no intention of discrediting a goal that is scored with the man advantage (as Ryan Smyth is always so dutiful in pointing out, they all look the same on the score sheet). However, as the point of this little expose is to identify bargains and the elite power play point producers of the NHL tend to be those with the most star status, I have decided that the best deals are likely to be found in mid-tier forwards with good ES scoring rates.
Attached you will find a spreadsheet in which Iâve taken the top 120 point scorers of the NHL in 2005/2006 and have identified the percentage of each playerâs points that were scored at even strength. I then re-ranked the players according to these percentages and identified the difference between each playerâs total points rank and his ES% of total points rank. It was my expectation that players who made significant jumps in ranking were to be the most likely bargains and the players who took the most significant falls would be the offense-first type of star who would excel with the man advantage.
Here are the ten biggest winners and losers by this metric:
Biggest Winners (***who have at least .5 PPG***)
Shawn Bates
Eric Belanger
Chris Gratton
Jan Bulis
Chris Kunitz
Raffi Torres
Jochen Hecht
Jay Bouwmeester
Derek Roy
Zigmund Palffy
The four main potential reasons that Iâve identified:
1)Low PP/ES minutes (resulting from team depth)
2)Low PP/ES minutes powerplay minutes (resulting from coach's view of skillset)
3)Poor PP unit/Strong ES unit (result of player's skills/lack thereof)
4)Poor PP unit/Strong ES unit (result of teammates' skills/lack thereof)
It is my assertion that the reason for each playerâs gain is an important factor in determining how much of a bargain they have the potential to be. If they are a one-dimensional grinder who has had some good luck and scoring at ES, they are probably not as useful as if they are solid all-around players who have not been given much PP time because they are buried in roster depth.
Biggest Losers (they all have > 0.5 PPG)
Alexander Ovechkin
Daniel Alfredsson
Sidney Crosby
Marc Savard
Dany Heatley
Marian Hossa
Ilya Kovalchuk
Jonathan Cheechoo
Eric Staal
Brad Richards
The four main potential reasons that Iâve identified:
1)High PP/ES minutes (resulting from team depth)
2)High PP/ES minutes powerplay minutes (resulting from coach's view of skillset)
3)Strong PP unit/Poor ES unit (result of player's skills/lack thereof)
4)Strong PP unit/Poor ES unit (result of teammates' skills/lack thereof)
Interpret these reasons for the ten players Iâve listed as you will. In Ovechkinâs case it may be as simple as he is a fantastically gifted offensive player without much of a supporting cast combined with the fact that having the man advantage is more likely to give him the puck and make up for his teammatesâ deficiencies. Like I said, interpret as you will.
As I stated above, the biggest reason for this little expose is to attempt to find bargains worth trading for. Using the change in rankings (occasionally sorted for context â E.g. Jay Bouwmeester makes a huge leap but for some reason I doubt heâd come cheap), I have identified one potential bargain player per team. The listing is as follows:
Anaheim Ducks: Chris Kunitz â Coming off his first full NHL season at the age of 26, Chris Kunitz scored 41 points in 69 games last season. His 30 ES points was good for a gain of 91 places, making for the 6th biggest gain. He signed a brand new two-year deal today for an undisclosed dollar amount according to TSN.ca
Atlanta Thrashers: Vyacheslav Kozlov â while he is one of the only players on this list to have his ranking actually drop (by 16 places), his 71 points in 82 games (with 46 at ES) make him a reasonably attractive acquisition, though his point totals may have been inflated by playing with Ilya. Interestingly enough, Kovalchukâs rank took the 4th biggest fall.
Boston Bruins: Marco Sturm â With 59 points in 74 games (and 40 at ES), his gain in rank was actually edged out by Glen Murray. However, Sturm has a low enough profile that he would make for a far less difficult acquisition.
Buffalo Sabres: Jochen Hecht â While I doubt the Oilers would ever have interest in Hecht, he finished just outside the top 10 in gain of rank as he scored 31 of his 42 points at ES. He also played just 64 games, making for a .67 PPG and is one of the Sabresâ many players heading to salary arbitration perhaps increasing a rival clubsâ ability to get him for cheap.
Carolina Hurricanes: Matt Cullen â With 49 points in 78 games, Cullen appears at first glance to be in a situation that would limit his PP minutes. I have no idea what his power play role was for the Hurricanes in the regular season but IIRC he was on their second unit in the playoffs. His creativity would be very useful in Edmonton IMO.
Columbus Blue Jackets: Nikolai Zherdev â Perhaps the player on the list with the most offensive potential, Zherdev signed a contract in Russia for next season. He can get out of it if he works a deal out with Columbus, but this kind of negotiation tactic may not sit well with the Oiler brass. Interestingly enough, both Zherdev and Rick Nash made sizeable leaps in their rankings.
Calgary Flames: No one made the criteria â Wow that makes me laugh. Iggy was the only one on the list and his ranking took a huge fall.
Chicago Blackhawks: Kyle Calder â He likely played a bigger role in Chicago than he would on other teams and he might be a player Blackhawk fans would loathe to let go. However, his lack of supporting cast, 59 points in 79 games and biggest ranking leap of players who finished in the top 30 in ES scoring make him a very attractive asset.
Colorado Avalanche: Brett McLean â 9 goals and 31 assists make for a PPG of ~0.5 while giving McLean the 4th biggest ranking leap of my list. I wouldnât be too surprised if he was riding the butter minute train for the Avalanche but depending on his role, he could be a good and cheap pickup.
Dallas Stars: Stu Barnes â The man is pretty old but could be an ideal 4th line center for a few years yet. He also got a very high 89% of his 36 points at even strength. Interestingly enough, Coloradoâs trio of McLean, Laperriere, and Laaksonen were all in the top 10 for percentage of points garnered at even strength. Does anyone know if they were a line?
Detroit Red Wings: Mikael Samuelsson â Mikaelâs 45 points in 71 games made for a pretty decent scoring clip on the Red Wing team and put him 20th on the overall list in terms of ranking gains.
Edmonton Oilers: Raffi Torres â Torres made the 10th biggest gain on my list and itâs not that hard to see why. With 27 G and 14 A, he didnât receive top power play time nor did he get any of the Oilersâ most effective teammates to work with on the second unit. At less than $1M in salary, we got a pretty good haul from the guy in 05/06.
Florida Panthers: Chris Gratton â I originally subbed him out for Jozef Stumpel who was much further down the list out of pure bias but I have decided not to deny the 3rd biggest leap in ranking. Gratton hasnât become the semi-star we thought he could be but he did score 39 points in 76 games for the Panthers last year.
Los Angeles Kings: - Sean Avery â wouldnât you know it⦠Might not be a bad guy to have on your side of things but Iâd stay away if I were making the decisions. Worth looking at is veteran center Eric Belanger who actually made the 2nd biggest gain on my list but has limited upside IMO
Minnesota Wild: Wes Walz â Walzâs gain was 9th best and his scoring clip was just under 0.5PPG â he wouldnât be a bad pickup for the Oilersâ fourth line.
Montreal Canadiens: Jan Bulis â hereâs a UFA whose name pops up all the time and it did so remarkably for me as well. With the 5th biggest leap, Bulis scored 40 points in 73 games for Montreal and would probably come cheap. Why hasnât he been signed?
New Jersey Devils: John Madden â With 34 of his 36 points coming at ES, Madden had the single highest percentage of his points scored at even strength on my list. Could he be a guy Lou moves to make room for Gomez? The cap situation in NJ plus JMâs relatively low counting numbers might make him available at a fair price.
Nashville Predators: Martin Erat â Nashvilleâs best potential bargain scored 49 points in 80 games and had reasonable chemistry with Hemsky in international play. I donât know where he would fit on our club but he might not be that expensive for a trading partner especially with what the Predators got for Hall and Walker.
New York Islanders: Shawn Bates â I bet you were wondering who made the single biggest leap in ranking and here he is. Shawn Bates leapt a whopping 108 places with 30 of his 34 points coming at even strength. Factor in that he only played 66 games and he is a hair over 0.5 PPG.
New York Rangers: Michael Nylander â The second player whose ranking actually fell, Nylanderâs 79 points in 81 games is impressive. If Sather can be convinced that Jagr is to be thanked for those totals, it should be noted that Nylander scored a very solid 62 points while not on the power play, going against my own preconception.
Ottawa Senators: Bryan Smolinski â Smolinskiâs 48 points in 81 games is very respectable and almost remarkable when you consider the amount of talent he played behind in Ottawa this past season. While Alfredsson, Heatley, and Spezza all took huge falls, BS made a solid leap of 59 spots on my list.
Philadelphia Flyers: Mike Knuble â IMO Knuble was often the straw that stirred the drink in Philadelphia this year, especially when Forsberg was away. His value may be too high for him to be considered a bargain, but I think his checking and PK abilities would make him a great addition to the Oilers and a perfect compliment for Ryan Smyth.
Phoenix Coyotes: Steven Reinprecht â Funny to think that Calgary gave away their one player who could have made this list, Reinprecht got 52 points in 80 games largely thanks to that mid-season tear he went on immediately following his trade to the Coyotes.
Pittsburgh Penguins: Zigmund Palffy â why did this guy retire again? The guy was a point per game player on a not-so-hot Penguins line-up while scoring 31 of his 42 points at ES. Boggles the mindâ¦
San Jose Sharks: Nils Ekman â I believe he was traded to Pittsburgh today (in what I consider an excellent move by the Penguins) but 38 of his 57 points came at even strength. I wonder how much of his output can be attributed to Thornton and Cheechoo, both of whom took huge falls under my sorting system.
St. Louis Blues: No one met the criteria, which isnât that shocking considering their situation last year. But damn, itâs got to suck to be Calgaryâ¦
Tampa Bay Lightning: Fredrick Modin â I realize Modin was involved in the deal that brought Denis to Tampa but I had to use him here because too many of Tampaâs star players took big hits when sorting by ES scoring %. Modin scored a very respectable 31 goals last year and may be big enough on the radar to no longer be considered a bargain. If someone can offer the specifics as to the Modin trade, perhaps we can see what his real value is, at least according to the Lightning and Blue Jackets.
Toronto Maple Leafs: No one met the criteria. Hah!
Vancouver Canucks: Brendan Morrison â I wonder if a guy like Morrison could be stolen from the Canucks for a reasonably low price. His contract isnât cheap, his line is no longer Vancouverâs best, and he lost part of his supporting cast in Bertuzzi this off-season. His counting numbers are also not high enough to scare anybody and he could be a good fit as an excellent teamâs second line center.
Washington Capitals: Chris Clark â A quick winger with reasonably good hockey sense, he may be just more valuable than a dime-a-dozen type as he scored at a 0.5 PPG clip last season on a lowly Capitals team. Did he play with AO?
With this freakishly long essay out of the way, do you see anything you like? Any players you think would be a good fit? As I said, it takes a good sense of concept and the reasons for player's gains to truly identify which players could likely be had for less than they'd be worth. There was no way I could include enough context-specific information and keep things as general as I have but perhaps if there are players, ideas, or reasoning I've listed that pique someone's interest then they can do a little extra digging.
*Exhale* See the following post for the spreadsheets...
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kingsweaver's journal
Today, the Los Angeles Kings got a little stronger adding former starting goaltender, Dan Cloutier, from the Canucks for a couple of moderate draft picks. 
Offered thousands of dollars a year, the call to be a pro was stronger than the lure of Ann Arbor could ever contain. Jeff Lewis, a highly touted recruit by the University of Michigan, signed a contract with the Los Angeles Kings, hoping that the professional ranks will be able to promote and highlight his skills. But there is one side note to the story - Lewis has never actually suited up for the Wolverines or seen one minute of on-ice time for any Big Ten Conference action.Michigan is no stranger to players leaving early, but unlike last year when former players Jeff Tambellini and Al Montoya bolted for the NHL before their senior seasons, Lewis is attempting to make a jump to the professional ranks without ever skating for the Wolverines.The Kings justify this signing by the loopholes that the new BA grants for NHL teams to sign players for a league minimum contract. This move would be similar to a Maurice Clarett who left OSU after only one year of eligiblity. So, do you think the Michigan program is bitter about being slighted for the pro ranks? You make the call on this quote from Michigan Coach Berenson: "I think (the Kings) took advantage of a kid who wasn't getting good advice and signed him so that they own him, and they can do whatever they want," Berenson said.He aslo followed it up with a stinging comment hoping to convince other young athletes from the early cash grab over the value of an education."Are you ready to compete in the NHL?" Berenson said. "Are you ready to compete with men for a job? You're not given a job. They're not handing you a jersey and saying, 'You're going to be in our power play just because we signed you.' It's a whole different world."It's one thing to say this, but people are taught not to believe everything they hear. Young kids today see LaBron James and Sid Crosby on TV and their stories make it more believable to the 16 and 17 year olds that they can do it too.