With Cody Franson and Mike Santorelli off of the trade market the focus will need to shift to some of Toronto's other UFA players as they look to make more deals.
The most obvious candidate has already been discussed ad nauseam here in Daniel Winnik. The Leafs have the option of slow playing this trade now and attempt to drive the price up.
So who else is there?
David Booth could be a bottom six winger option. His underlying numbers from a possession standpoint are solid. Just understand that you aren't getting the David Booth of old that used to put up 20 goal seasons.
Keep in mind that playing for Vancouver helped out his possession numbers but he has always been an above average possession player in the league, including this season with the Leafs.
Booth is a UFA and currently makes 1.1M and as the price gets driven up on Winnik it might just be smarter to try and buy low on another Leafs player. His shot rate is excellent and if that means more pucks to the opponent's net that is a good thing. Lots of wacky bounce goals to be had in the playoffs. Find the guys that can get the puck to the net the most.
Booth only has 3 points in 34 games this year. But it is better to be a decent possession guy with minimal offense than being void of offense and possession like some of the Penguins current options.
This of course is just food for thought.
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Let's talk special teams. The Penguins power play started on fire this year but has slowed down significantly.
I believe the reason for their decline on the power play can be tied to shot volume
The Penguins power play had success rate of 39.2% in October with a 4th best CF/60 of 113.6 Since October the power play has a success rate of 15.4% with a 25th ranked CF/60 of 93.2
Penguins scored 15 power play goals in October. They only have 21 since then.
Shoot more.
But I must agree with Adam Gretz
So with that said. What has changed with the Penguins penalty kill?
Quite simply, Marc-Andre Fleury's shorthanded save percentage was not sustainable and that isn't his fault.
One of Fleury's perks is that he is one of the better PK goaltenders in the league
Those numbers are since the 2007 season and Fleury is the best. However, being a red bubble means that the Penguins have done a nice job of limiting shot attempts. The goalies with the blue bubbles see more rubber on the PK.
From the beginning of the year to January 16 (1 month ago) Fleury had a shorthanded save percentage of .930(!) This month it is .865. That .930 is amazing but unrealistic to maintain as time wears on.
How good was Fleury's shorthanded save percentage earlier in the year? His shorthanded save percentage of .930 was actually better than his EVSV% of .924 in that same time period. Weird but true.
During Fleury's .930 SHSV% the Penguins had a CA/60 of 104.7 In this past month with Fleury's .865 the CA/60 has been 107.7
So while the PK is technically giving up more shots the PK isn't the beneficiary of a ridiculous .930 shorthanded save percentage anymore. Thus the decline in success.
After sifting through some prior NHL seasons In any given year the goalie with the best SHSV% in the League (with a minimum of 200 shorthanded minutes) hovers around .920.
Guess where Fleury is now?
Exactly on .920. The Pittsburgh PK unit needs to improve their CA/60 if it wants sustainable success. You can't reasonably expect Fleury to play at a .930 level, it isn't fair to him.
I can't help but think that having better/faster skaters on the PK unit would help in shot suppression.
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New Hockey Hurts podcast discusses Cody Franson and Evander Kane trades, plus answering listener tweets. You can find that
here
Thanks for reading!
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