When it comes to underrated in the NHL, there is one player who is heads and shoulders above everyone else - and since you no doubt clicked on his picture to begin reading this, you know already that that player is Keith Yandle.
Tanner, you idiot, Yandle is a one-dimensional offensive Dman who is garbage in his own end - I can already see the comments section on this one pretty clearly. Still, stick with me, read to the end and then make up your own mind.
'Cause you see, Yandle is a much different player than his reputation would suggest and, in fact, I doubt there is a player in the league who's reputation and an objective look into the empirical data would reveal such a discrepancy.
Before begining I want to quote Dave Tippett - a NOTED defensive specialist coach and one you would think would have little patience for a player like the one Yandle's reputation suggests he is. Keep in mind that Tippett plays Keith Yandle over 24 minutes per night.
We had a player that was supposed to be a great, shut-down defenseman. He was supposedly the be-all, end-all of defensemen. But when you did a 10-game analysis of him, you found out he was defending all the time because he can’t move the puck.
"Then we had another guy, who supposedly couldn’t defend a lick. Well, he was defending only 20 percent of the time because he’s making good plays out of our end. He may not be the strongest defender, but he’s only doing it 20 percent of the time. So the equation works out better the other way. I ended up trading the other defenseman.
This quote suggests that traditional ways of thinking about defensemen are wrong. You don't need slow, plodding, crease clearing tough defensemen - they are ineffective. Instead, a puck moving defenseman who gives you a positive possession total over the aggregate is far, far more valuable.
Sure, Yandle isn't as good in his own end as Michalek, but Yandle is much more likely to not be in his own than Michalek, making him the better defensive option over the long term. If you don't believe me, go to NHL.com/ stats and sort for ice-time per game. You'll quickly notice that the players who get the most ice-time in the NHL tend to be offensive defensemen.
Yandle's Stats
I think the easiest way to do this is to just list, point form, some of his achievements, in the hope that after taking it all in, the reader will realize just how good keith Yandle actually is:
First of all, he is 28, in his prime, and he's a 6'1 200lbs left shooting defenseman. He is one of the best skaters in the NHL - He's no Karlsson, but he's closer than most. He currently makes $5.25 against the cap and is a UFA after next season, which because there is still a year left on his deal and he's a massive bargain at his current price - but easily going to top 8 million on his next deal, thus pricing him out of Arizona - he's probably at the peak of his value and going to be traded. (See Eklund's latest).
-He is in the midst of his sixth straight 40 point season.
- He's tied for sixth in the NHL for points by a defenseman this season, although since he plays for the Coyotes who have the worst offensive forwards in the NHL (and are, outside Buffalo, the NHL's lowest scoring team) that is very impressive.
- Since the 2010-11 season, he has finished outside the top ten in defensive scoring only once, which was the lockout. Again, in none of these years did he run an offense that could even be considered average. (Compare that during his top years, Karlsson was feeding the puck to an elite Jason Spezza).
- Since 2009-10, Yandle has a CF% of 52, despite never really playing on a strong team. This means that over a six season sample size, he is a dominant possession player. During this period, his most common linemates were Derek Morris, Doan, Vrbata, Korpiskoski, Hanzal and Boedker - not exactly a whos who of NHL all-stars. (CF% = Corsi For and measures the percentage of shot attempts taken while the player is on the ice, indicating possession of the puck). Keep in mind that these stats are for even strength; we know Yandle is one of, if not the most dominant power-play QBs in the NHL.
- Over that time, we see by comparing CF% of players when they are on the ice with and without Yandle that he makes virtually every player he plays with better.
-Since 2009 he is second in D scoring only to Duncan Keith with 121 5v5 points and fourth in goals.
-Here is how Yandle ranks for Individual Corsi for the last several years:
2014-15: 2nd
2013-14: 2nd
2012-13: 1st
2011-12: 3rd
2010-11:5th
As a running five year total, he is 3rd in the NHL.
Conclusion
What this means is that for the last five years, Keith Yandle is one of the most valuable players in the NHL. When he is on the ice, his team has the puck and he creates offense. He makes every player he plays with better and despite playing for a bad team over this time period, when he is on the ice, his team borders on being dominant.
This in addition to the fact that he is one of the best players in hockey on the power-play.
While you can look to Yandle and say that he is bad defensively and that he is a high risk, high reward player, the stats paint a very different picture: There is almost no risk playing Yandle. When he plays, you are likely to have the puck far more often than the other team, so over time his defensive lapses are not relevant because he creates so much more offense than he allows and is rarely in his own zone.
One of the biggest objections to the Yandle to Toronto rumours is that the Leafs "don't need another offensive defenseman." This couldn't be more incorrect. The fact is, Yandle isn't an "offensive defenseman" he's a a legitimate "all-round" #1, top pairing elite defensman. It may go counter to what we grew up believing, but no less of an authority than Dave Tippett will tell you that if you had a need for defensive improvement, the best way to do that is to get a defensman who won't play in your end very often.
The fact is, Keith Yandle is one of the best defensemen in the NHL - one of the most effective two or three over a five year period. He is also Captain material, and great leader, for whatever that is worth.
Given the fact that you can't say his name without people mentioning how he's "one dimensional" or "poor in his own end" I would think it's fair to say he is the most underrated player in the NHL.
While I loathe to think of the Coyotes moving him, they aren't going to five him an eight year $64 million dollar contract and so the time to trade him is now. Expect a massive return.
** All stats from Stats.HockeyAnalysis.com, NHL.Com, CapGeek.com and Hockeydb.com
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The Flyers make a rare appearance to the Gilla Monster Arena tonight.
Some notes: Sam Gagner named NHLs 3rd star of the week, for whatever that is worth.
Tyler Gaudet was recalled and may play tonight if Joe Vitale is injured, which he might be.
Dubnyk will get the start after single-handedly defeating Anaheim the other night.
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