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With absolutely nothing happening in the hockey world right now, and for the foreseeable future, I’ve decided to take the plunge and write player profiles for each member of the Calgary Flames.
As was the case when I did them last summer, we’ll be looking at the season they just put together and expectations moving forward.
I’ve written up seven players thus far, with Andrew Mangiapane being the most recent.
Today we’re going with Dillon Dube.
Counting stats: 45 games played, 16 points (six goals, 10 assists), 12:41 average time on ice
5v5 underlyings: 1.50 points/60, -3.51 CF% Rel, +2.51 GF% Rel, -4.10 xGF% Rel, 101.3 PDO
2019-20 review: Dube played pretty good hockey in what was his first ‘full’ season in the NHL. He produced at nearly a ~30 point pace despite spending the vast majority of his time in the bottom-6 and seeing almost no power play time. That’s very encouraging.
Dube averaged 1.5 points per 60, putting him in the same realm as Sean Monahan, Tyler Seguin, Victor Olofsson and Yanni Gourde. He generated high-danger chances at a nearly identical rate as Evgeni Malkin and Jonathan Marchessault. He was also effective on the forecheck and one of Calgary’s leaders in hits per 60. There’s a lot to like.
There’s room for improvement with his relative metrics – particularly on the defensive side – but I think Dube set a good foundation to build upon.
Fun fact(s): Dube put up more 5v5 points than former Flames winger James Neal, as well as 1st and 2nd overall picks Jack Hughes and Kaapo Kakko.
2020-21 outlook: I think there’s room for Dube to grow into a larger role next season. I’m not sure he’ll move off the 3rd line at even-strength, however, I could definitely see him playing his way into more power play ice time. Dube has talent, and he’s pretty relentless, so – like Mangiapane – he’s a guy who could provide some pop in extra man situations. I’d expect him to get more ice there. I think he should, anyway. I’d rather see what kind of ceilings Dube and Mangiapane have as opposed to trotting out guys like Milan Lucic, Sam Bennett, etc. Lucic is on the downswing of his career and Bennett just put up 12 points in Year 5.
numbers via naturalstattrick.com and hockey-reference.com
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