When you compile a list of the Kings best players this season, few people would have Trevor Lewis amongst them. However this is a year of strange happenings for Los Angeles, and Trevor Lewis being a high-level performer is amongst those happenings.
The 28-year old Lewis's latest contributions include a three-point night against Edmonton. With those three points he pushed his season totals to 19, a new career high.
While 19 points isn't anything that will knock your socks off, Lewis's underlying numbers have been tremendous. Especially when you consider the role that he has been utilized in. Also couple that with how Sutter has rarely kept Lewis in one spot for too long. He shifts from wing to wing to center on any given shift, on essentially any line.
From an eye test standpoint, Lewis has brought an element of puck retrieval and speed to pretty much any line he has been a part of. He is in quick on the forecheck, puts pressure on defenders, and forces them to make plays quicker than perhaps comfortable. While he has always lacked a real goal scorer's finish, the sheer hustle that Lewis puts into each and every shift has won over a lot of Kings fans. It can be easy to overlook a lack of offensive prowess when the work rate is so high.
But as previously mentioned, Lewis's underlying numbers have told a story of a player on a similar level of play to Justin Williams.
A fun number to play around with when looking at the impact a player can have is dCorsiImpact. This is a stat that our friends over at
Jewels From the Crown have used before. It originated with Stephen Burtch over at Hockey Prospectus and Pension Plan Puppets of SBNation, and it continues to be a very intriguing measurement of a player's impact with the minutes they are given.
The full explination of the stat and its genesis is
explained in greater detail right here, however the basic jist of it is a player's expected corsi numbers versus what they actually put out there. All of it is relative to the usage they see and the quality of opponents they regularly face. As Burtch himself says, it isn't necessarily a WAR (Wins above replacement) substitute for those who follow MLB sabermetrics. However, to me it is as close as it comes.
So where does Lewis rate in this?
Well for starters he is in the positive end of the spectrum of Kings players. Which is great.
Basically that means Lewis is exceeding expectations.
When you look at the group of players who are positive impact players, he is a name that doesn't really fit in in all honesty.
(provided by
War-on-Ice.com )
As you can see, players like Doughty, Kopitar, Muzzin, Carter, and Toffoli are playing at a very impactful level for the LA Kings. Given the scope of those players and how much press and ice time they get, Lewis is a bit of an unexpected inclusion wouldn't you say?
Surprisingly enough, on the bottom end of the spectrum are; Dustin Brown, Jarret Stoll, Robyn Regehr, Mike Richards and Alec Martinez.
Which makes sense when you think about the situations, minutes, and linemates they normally have.
Also, what is great for Lewis is how he has complimented and performed with the top line when given the chance. Unfortunately those chances have been few and far between.
No. 22 has played 54 games and a hair over 633 total minutes this year. Over a third of those minutes (230) have come paired up with Jarret Stoll. The next two highest players are Kyle Clifford (165) and Justin Williams (107).
He has played just 97 minutes with Anze Kopitar this year, which hashes out to about 6 or 7 games worth of time. However, with 11 he has been at his best.
When you look at his with/without possession numbers, he and Kopitar have been very strong together.
(Graph provided by
stats.hockeyanalysis.com )
Also worth pointing out here is how great he has been alongside Pearson and Toffoli, whom he has similar time to with Kopitar. In the 90 minutes Lewis has played with the likes of Kopitar, Pearson, and Toffoli, he and his line have been outstanding. Essentially, Lewis has played comparable to other, more common, top 6 forwards on the Kings (Williams, Pearson, Toffoli) while surpassing the contributions of others (King, Brown).
As it currently stands, Trevor Lewis is unfortunately playing with probably his worst possible combination the most, Jarret Stoll.
As stated earlier, Lewis has played about a third of his season alongside 28. He has six points to show for it and a corsi for of 52.5%. He has played only a third of that with Kopitar and has had the same production and a corsi for percentage that is regularly 60-plus percent.
It is easy to sit here and look at these numbers and say "It's time to give Trevor Lewis some more ice time."
....but maybe it's time to give Trevor Lewis some more ice time!
Lewis, since day one, has been cast into a role of bottom six/defensive specialist with the LA Kings. While he has had successful stints in more prominent roles in his career, it has been nothing more than a short-lived experiment from the coaching staff at different junctures of the season. It seems a little bit unfair in all honesty. He has rarely seen higher than 12-13 minutes of time on ice throughout his career.
While the Kings have always had a pretty legitimate group of top six forwards to squeeze the former first-rounder out, he didn't come into this league with the tag of a low-scoring, defensive specialist. While he is excellent in the defensive areas of the ice, and always has been, perhaps Lewis has been miscast and underutilized in his NHL career.
After all, when selected at 17th overall in the 2006 NHL entry draft he drew some lofty comparisons from TSN's Bob MacKenzie to that of Rod Brind'amour. A defensive specialist who could also score and be an offensive force. Surely that was a rather hefty comparison, as most draft day comparisons are, but Bobby Mac wasn't spouting that without good reason.
Lewis can score. In Des Moines with the USHL Buccaneers he did a lot of that (35 goals, 75 points). He also did a lot of scoring with Owen Sound of the OHL (29 goals, 73 points) before moving to the pro level. Oh yea, he also had a 51 point season in the AHL with Manchester in only his second season.
So why the precipitous drop off in production from almost every level to the NHL?
One answer is that he simply has never been given the chance.
At 28 years old there is still plenty of time for Lewis to become something of a late bloomer in the NHL in terms of scoring. He has done it at practically every level he has played in, and shown flashes of it at the NHL level. Will he get the chance from the coaching staff though?
Most players are contented playing whatever role the coaches tell them to, and Lewis has surely taken great pride in being a pesky and efficient bottom liner. Is he being underutilized in that position though? Seems like he might be.
We said it earlier in the year with Tyler Toffoli also, but hey, maybe it is time to give Trevor Lewis his due. More ice time for Trevor Hustle!
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