Ramblings: Boone Jenner, Timo Meier, David Pastrnak (April 22)

Neil Parker

2017-04-22

Boone Jenner - USA TODAY Sports Images

 

I'm a big fan of The PDO cast and Dimitri Filipovic's work. His latest piece looking at individual shot rates is headlined by Viktor Arvidsson, but it also touches on a number of other players and is definitely worth a read.

From the article, Boone Jenner wasn't mentioned, but he's a buy candidate for me heading into 2017-18.

Jenner enters his fifth season in the league at age 24 and already has a 30-goal campaign on his resume. He's a high-volume shooter (225 and 211 shots over the past two seasons, respectively), and he also provides juice in the PIM and hits columns.

The primary concern is his cut in power-play time from 2:04 per game in 2015-16 to just 1:12 this past season. Jenner only accumulated one assist with the man advantage, and if you add his nine power-play goals and five power-play helpers from '15-16 to his 2016-17 numbers, he finishes with 27 goals and 48 points.

For what it's worth, he scored a power-play goal Thursday and logged 3:11 with the man advantage. It's probably safe to project him much closer to his 2015-16 numbers than this year's underwhelming results.

 

Timo Meier was mentioned in the article, and he's obviously an interesting fantasy asset because of his pedigree and dominant production in the QMJHL. The Sharks are also in an interesting spot with both Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau unrestricted free agents at the end of the season. The next few weeks will be very telling.

There isn't a lot to glean from Meier's season or playoff run. His ability to generate shots is obviously impressive, and he's seen his ice time climb in each game of the playoffs. Additionally, Meier has been on the ice for nine high-danger scoring chances at five-on-five, which is tied for second most on the Sharks.

Looking to the long-term outlook, Meier's standing and upside improved with the trade of Nikolay Goldobin at the deadline. Not only is Meier the unquestioned No. 1 prospect and young winger, but he's already gaining valuable experience. Building chemistry with Tomas Hertl will probably prove helpful, too.

 

 

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Mike touched on David Pastrnak in his deep dive on the Bruins early this week, but I've had a note to highlight Pastrnak's five-on-five per 60 minute totals since entering the league for awhile, so I was happy he didn't steal my thunder.

It's a battleground here, and I forgot that there's no saving topics for later.

These are pretty amazing totals. He hasn't really improved, and he also hasn't seen his production decrease with a larger role. Perhaps, that is a sign of improvement, though.

Pastrnak was a polarizing player for me entering the season. Here was my breakout recommendation from the Pool Expert Guide:

David Pastrnak – As one of the best five-on-five producers (2.24 points per 60 minutes) over the past two seasons, Pastrnak is just power-play production away from approaching 55 points. However, with the addition of David Backes, Pastrnak might not receive the chance at a top-unit role. The third-year winger can still post solid numbers with limited PP opportunities, but scoring 50 even-strength points is a tall task.

We know now that he exceeded those expectations, but he did post 24 goals and 22 assists at even strength, and his 24 power-play points (10 goals) fuelled the breakout. With an average of 17:59 of ice per game (2:46 with the man advantage), there was a big enough role for Pastrnak to have the breakout showing.

Where does Pastrnak go from here? Do you automatically bank him for another 30-goal, 70-point campaign? Top offensive minutes are the key to fantasy success and scoring numbers, but it also wouldn't be surprising if there's a slight decline. For the mere reason that it's just so difficult to score 30 goals and hit 70 points in this era.

 

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Power-play production is critical to fantasy success, and the attachment to a good power play compared to a mediocre or weak one can be the difference between five, 10 and even 15 points at the end of the year. Additionally, it's crucial when looking at game-to-game matchups, and especially important for daily contests.

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Over the past few months, I've been straying further and further away from power-play percentage and leaning more on goals per 60 minutes with the man advantage.

One argument put forward by Micah Blake McCurdy of HockeyViz.com was that a goal scored three seconds into a power play should mean more than a goal scored with three seconds left in one.

My biggest point is that partial power-play opportunities still count in the percentage. It happens enough to slightly sway the final numbers. Teams take a penalty at the beginning of a power play all the time, and then the other team will have a short power-play opportunity after four-on-four play. 

Because all power-play opportunities aren't the same, goals per 60 minutes is a more accurate representation. Or at least it should be used in unison with power-play percentage.

 

***

 

Kevin Shattenkirk's ice time has been held down for two games now as Barry Trotz seems to be angling towards him just being a PP specialist. Look at the ice time relative to John Carlson:

Shattenkirk…

Game 1 – 2.5 minutes more than Carlson

Game 2 – 2 minutes less than Carlson

Game 3 – 6 minutes less than Carlson

Game 4 – 9 minutes less than Carlson

Game 5 – 7 minutes less than Carlson

Do you see the trend here?

*

 

Ottawa line combinations used last night:

#1 15.4% BRASSARD,DERICK – HOFFMAN,MIKE – STONE,MARK
#2 12.4% BURROWS,ALEXANDRE – PAGEAU,JEAN-GABRIEL – STALBERG,VIKTOR
#3 5.3% DZINGEL,RYAN – RYAN,BOBBY – TURRIS,KYLE
#4 5.3% BRASSARD,DERICK – RYAN,BOBBY – STALBERG,VIKTOR

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of mixing and matching

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