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Expectations were high for Micheal Ferland entering 2015-16.
He was heading into his first full season in the league and coming off an impressive playoff showing where he was able to dominate games physically while also chipping in offensively with three goals and five points in nine games.
Ferland never seemed to get going last season, though, as he tallied just four goals and 18 points despite suiting up in 71 games.
While many were left disappointed with Ferland's lack of offense - and rightfully so - there is to reason to believe it was driven by bad luck as many as anything else.
Ferland recorded 122 shots in his 71 games last season yet converted on just 3.3% of them. Dennis Wideman was the only regular on the Flames roster to score on a lesser percentage of his shots.
For comparison sake Mason Raymond shot 7.5%, Josh Jooris shot 5%, Lance Bouma shot 4.1%, etc. Would you say those guys are more dangerous shooters than Ferland? I didn't think so.
To get a better idea of just how little puck luck Ferland had this past season I searched the league for forwards who a) played in at least 50 games; b) recorded at least 100 shots and; c) scored on 5% or less of said shots.
Only four players met the criteria: Ferland, Dustin Brown, Trevor Lewis and Brooks Laich, who barely recorded 100 shots.
If you set the bar at 102 shots to remove Laich from the equation then Ferland and his 3.3 shooting percentage ranked last in the league among all forwards (Lewis shot 4.8%, Brown shot 5%).
So, either Ferland is the worst shooter in the league or luck simply wasn't on his side. Given the power in his shot, I'm going with the latter.
Either way, he should score more in 2016-17.
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