Watching the San Jose / Arizona game the other night - in which the Coyotes put up a good fight, despite losing 3-1 - I was thinking to myself that someone ought to show Dave Tippett a WOWY chart.
The best ones are on stats.hockeyanalysis.com and if you go there, you can clearly see that Max Domi is a 45% possession player who drops even further when paired with the un-complementary skill set of Boedker, who is Domi's most common linemate this season. When they play together they are 42%. However, when Domi gets on the ice without Boedker, he's an even (50%) player.
So why does Tippett continue to put them together?
When Domi gets on the ice with Duclair, they combine for over 52%, which is fantastic.
Basically, the stats say they should never be apart. Yet, against San Jose the other night, they played just 2:30 together. In that 2:30 they were dominant, putting up 100% of the shot attempts (5-0).
So why not put them together and give yourself a chance to win the game?
Also in the game against SJ, Klas Dahlbeck made his return after being scratched for two games on account of Kevin Connotaun. Why would the Coyotes do this to themselves?
The Coyotes are somehow under the impression that Dahlbeck, who is slow, can't move the puck very well, tends to get hemmed in his zone for long periods of time and provides no offense, is a good player. He isn't. He is not NHL quality.
Dahlbeck has 5 points in 45 games. He is a 45% possession player and a "defensive" defensemen who has allowed 61 more scoring chances while on the ice than his team has had.
Essentially, if you like Dahlbeck, you think that his ability to hit people outweighs all the statistical evidence that suggests he is one of the absolute worst defensemen in the NHL.
In the two games he played, Kevin Connauton was a 61% possession player. He is bigger and has more goals/points in less games than Dahlbeck.
So why does the team feel the need to play Dahlbeck? Why would Connauton - who is clearly superior to Grossmann, Michalek and Dahlbeck come out of the lineup?
It makes no sense.
Tonight the Coyotes will face the LA Kings. Let's hope their coach reads this before he makes his lineup decisions.
All stats Waronice.com and Stats.hockeyanalysis.com