Thanks to Ryan Stimson of In Lou We Trust and numerous volunteers we have passing data from this past season.
For background information on the project and the full data set see this post.
This is part four of trying to find out who was the Blue Jackets best passer last season. You can find part one of the series here, part two here, and part three here
The focus here will be on defencemen.
Passing is a very important skill for defencemen. When watching the game on TV you always hear announcers talk about the first pass. These are very important passes as getting the puck out of your zone relieves any defensive pressure and can help create offense.
Here's a quote from Ryan in the piece linked above about the importance of the first pass.
The reason for this is simply: on shot sequences that begin with a secondary pass in transition, teams shoot at 5.4% on all shot attempts on the end of that sequence. This is higher than a secondary pass in the offensive zone (5.0%), a single pass in transition (3.1%), and a single pass in the offensive zone (4.8%).
With that stat in mind I have replicated the graph Ryan did showing secondary passes in transition. The x axis has all secondary passes made in the defensive and neutral zone that lead to a shot attempt per 60 minutes. The y axis has all secondary passes that lead to shot attempts but expressed as a percentage of the team total. The higher the percentage the more involved the player is in the offense.
I've included all defencemen who played over 100 minutes in the games tracked.
I've kept Wisniewski because I wanted to show just how good a player he is and how much the trade hurt this team (ignoring any off-ice stuff or the cap situation). I'm not going to discuss Wiz much after this but make note that he ranks at the top in just about every passing stat among this crop of defencemen. Carolina has a very good underrated played on their hands.
Other than Ryan Murray who didn't get enough minutes to qualify, the six remaining players will form the defence this season.
Kevin Connauton really stands out here. Putting up numbers comparable to Wiz is very good. He only had two secondary assists with the Blue Jackets which is surprising. I would expect much more this season.
The defensive and neutral zone passes are where it's get interesting. This is the same situation as we saw before with Wennberg. It's great he can exit the zone well, however being in the zone that often is not good.
I think Connauton is a good passer but he did get hemmed in his own end a lot to the tune of a 47.2% Corsi and 5 on 5 per War On Ice. I think his high number of exits is from being in the d zone so often. With that being said I think his passing did help him and the team as he has a 1.6% Corsi Relitive, which means the team was better with him in the ice than with him off the ice.
Fedor Tyutin lives up to his reputation as a good defensive player. Unlike Connauton I'm willing to say Tyutin's numbers are more of a reflection of him defensively than him being hemmed in his zone all the time. Unlike Connaunton, Tyutin did not have a positive Corsi Rel so clearly he struggles in another area outside of passing.
Jack Johnson falls under the same situation as Connauton. Johnson is constantly stuck in his zone and he is able to get so many exit passes because of this.
The one good thing is that he at least showed signs of being able to clear the puck which is more than we can say about David Savard. For someone who got first pairing minutes and now a hefty new contract, you need to contribute more than this.
This next chart shows defensive and neutral zone passes leading to shots per 60 minutes vs Entry Assists. This same chart was used in the last piece for forwards.
Wiz just crushes it here. Enjoy him Carolina.
Everyone is pretty comparable in terms of passes out of the zone.
Connauton continues to stand out. Much like above I think this is a byproduct of being in the defensive zone so much. But it's a good sign he is able to transition the puck and get offensive chances out it.
Johnson and Savard again don't look very good. They are clearly over matched as a top defensive pair. Savard in particular looks to struggle at passing out of the zone. This is a concern and something he needs to improve upon for the upcoming season.
Outside of physical play there isn't much Dalton Prout brings to the table. He's obviously not an asset offensively and from this he doesn't look great defensively either.
In watching Goloubef many people myself included thought he showed good signs. However it doesn't look like passes in transition was one of those signs. As one of the few right handed defencemen in the organization he is going to get every shot to show what he can do at the NHL level. Hopefully this is just a small sample blip.
Up next in this series we are going to look at offensive zone passes.
You can find me on Twitter @PaulBerthelot