NHL Stats: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not

Ah the NHL season is in full swing and hockey pool fanatics are watching the highlights nightly to see how their players are performing.  For the record, this hockey fanatic is leading every hockey pool that he has entered this season.  Let’s hope the injuries are few and that the production remains consistent.  So how are you doing in your fantasy hockey pools?  Here is a look at the best and worst performers during month one of the NHL season.

NHL:  Who’s Hot & Who’s Not – October 2013

Top Scorers

Of course Sid the Kid is at the top of the list, but how many of you took Alex Steen in your pools?

Rank Player Team Pos GP G A P +/- PIM
1 Sidney Crosby PIT C 12 8 12 20 5 6
2 Steven Stamkos TBL C 11 8 9 17 8 6
3 Henrik Sedin VAN C 14 3 14 17 8 12
4 Alex Ovechkin WSH L 12 10 5 15 -6 12
5 Alexander Steen STL C 9 10 5 15 7 4
6 Frans Nielsen NYI C 11 7 8 15 3 4
7 Patrick Marleau SJS C 12 8 6 14 5 0
8 Phil Kessel TOR C 12 7 7 14 4 2
9 Martin St Louis TBL R 11 7 7 14 9 2
10 Logan Couture SJS C 12 6 8 14 8 0
11 Daniel Sedin VAN L 14 5 9 14 5 20
12 Matt Duchene COL C 11 9 4 13 4 0
13 Corey Perry ANA R 12 6 7 13 6 14
14 Jiri Hudler CGY C 11 5 8 13 1 0
15 Joe Pavelski SJS C 12 4 9 13 3 6
16 John Tavares NYI C 11 4 9 13 -2 6
17 Joe Thornton SJS C 12 1 12 13 8 2
18 Henrik Zetterberg DET L 12 6 6 12 5 4
19 Pavel Datsyuk DET C 12 5 7 12 5 2
20 Ryan Getzlaf ANA C 12 5 7 12 5 9
21 Chris Kunitz PIT L 12 5 7 12 11 8
22 Radim Vrbata PHX R 12 5 7 12 -5 4
23 Tyler Seguin DAL C 11 5 7 12 2 2
24 Kyle Okposo NYI R 11 4 8 12 3 8
25 Jamie Benn DAL C 11 4 8 12 3 5
26 Nicklas Backstrom WSH C 12 2 10 12 -4 4
27 David Krejci BOS C 10 2 10 12 8 12
28 Ryan Kesler VAN C 14 8 3 11 -1 11
29 Matt Moulson NYI, BUF L 12 8 3 11 4 6
30 Tomas Hertl SJS C 12 8 3 11 8 0

Under Achievers – Scorers

Well the early season is seeing some players struggle, here is a look at some of the players who just are not performing at the level that they should be.  From a points perspective here are some players to avoid in your fantasy hockey pools:

Player Team Pos GP G A P +/-
1 Tom Sestito VAN L 14 0 0 0 -4
2 Zenon Konopka MIN C 13 0 0 0 -3
3 James Wright WPG C 13 0 0 0 0
4 Tom Wilson WSH R 12 0 0 0 -3
5 Colton Orr TOR R 12 0 0 0 -2
6 Kevin Klein NSH D 12 0 0 0 -4
7 Tomas Kopecky FLA R 12 0 0 0 -4
8 Trevor Lewis LAK C 12 0 0 0 -1
9 Victor Bartley NSH D 12 0 0 0 -1
10 Matt Hendricks NSH C 12 0 0 0 -2
11 Johan Larsson BUF L 12 0 0 0 -3
12 Chris Butler CGY D 11 0 0 0 -2
13 Mike Weber BUF D 11 0 0 0 -12
14 Nick Schultz EDM D 11 0 0 0 0
15 Jay McClement TOR C 11 0 0 0 -1
16 Derek MacKenzie CBJ C 10 0 0 0 -4
17 Ryan White MTL C 10 0 0 0 2
18 Brett Sutter CAR C 10 0 0 0 -5
19 Stephane Veilleux MIN L 10 0 0 0 -4
20 Mike Brown EDM, SJS R 10 0 0 0 2

I we look at the players with the worst plus/minus stats we get these fellows (and yes there are a few Edmonton Oilers on this list).  We were surprised to see the Hawks Patrick Kane within the top ten players with the worst plus/minus in the NHL.

 Rank Player Team Pos GP G A P +/-
1 Mike Weber BUF D 11 0 0 0 -12
2 Ales Hemsky EDM R 13 3 3 6 -9
3 Richard Panik TBL R 10 0 5 5 -9
4 Marc Staal NYR D 10 1 1 2 -9
5 Alex Goligoski DAL D 10 1 0 1 -9
6 Brendan Smith DET D 8 0 0 0 -9
7 Patrick Kane CHI R 12 7 4 11 -8
8 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins EDM C 11 4 6 10 -8
9 Eric Staal CAR C 12 3 5 8 -8
10 Justin Schultz EDM D 13 1 6 7 -8
11 Derek Stepan NYR C 10 0 5 5 -8
12 Marcel Goc FLA C 12 3 1 4 -8
13 Eric Fehr WSH R 12 1 2 3 -8
14 Steve Bernier NJD R 11 1 1 2 -8
15 Kyle Quincey DET D 12 0 1 1 -8
16 Mike Weaver FLA D 12 0 1 1 -8
17 Ron Hainsey CAR D 12 2 0 2 -7
18 Brooks Laich WSH C 12 2 0 2 -7
19 Grant Clitsome WPG D 9 1 1 2 -7
20 Wayne Simmonds PHI R 10 1 1 2 -7
21 Erik Gudbranson FLA D 12 0 1 1 -7
22 Kyle Chipchura PHX C 12 1 0 1 -7
23 Colin McDonald NYI R 9 1 0 1 -7
24 Dan Girardi NYR D 10 0 0 0 -7
25 Taylor Pyatt NYR L 10 0 0 0 -7

Top Goaltenders

There has been some great performances from the masked men in the nets.  Antii Niemi is off to an amazing start in San Jose as is Semyon Varlamov in Colorado.  Here is a look at the top goaltenders over the fist month.

 Rank Goalie Team GP W L OT SA GA GAA Sv% SO
1 Antti Niemi SJS 11 9 1 1 254 17 1.53 0.933 2
2 Marc-Andre Fleury PIT 10 8 2 0 250 18 1.79 0.928 1
3 Semyon Varlamov COL 8 7 1 0 256 14 1.76 0.945 0
4 Ben Bishop TBL 8 7 1 0 222 19 2.47 0.914 0
5 Roberto Luongo VAN 11 7 3 1 303 28 2.5 0.908 1
6 Jonathan Quick LAK 11 7 4 0 289 27 2.53 0.907 0
7 Tuukka Rask BOS 9 6 3 0 265 14 1.56 0.947 1
8 Jaroslav Halak STL 8 6 1 1 205 17 2.17 0.917 1
9 Corey Crawford CHI 10 6 2 2 270 23 2.24 0.915 0
10 Mike Smith PHX 11 6 2 2 331 32 3.17 0.903 0
11 Josh Harding MIN 9 5 2 1 171 8 1 0.953 1
12 Carey Price MTL 10 5 5 0 333 21 2.12 0.937 1
13 Jonathan Bernier TOR 9 5 4 0 284 20 2.34 0.93 1
14 Kari Lehtonen DAL 6 4 1 1 177 9 1.6 0.949 0
15 Pekka Rinne NSH 9 4 4 1 229 19 2.31 0.917 0
16 Sergei Bobrovsky CBJ 10 4 6 0 310 26 2.6 0.916 0
17 Jonas Hiller ANA 7 4 2 0 190 17 2.64 0.911 1
18 Craig Anderson OTT 9 4 3 2 286 23 2.81 0.92 1
19 Evgeni Nabokov NYI 9 4 2 3 284 26 2.82 0.908 0
20 Ondrej Pavelec WPG 11 4 5 2 352 32 2.85 0.909 0

 

 

Under Achievers – Goaltenders

We looked at Save percentage to identify the goalies that are simply not performing at a  level that they should be.  The Edmonton Oilers are giving up four goals per game.  Where do you think their tenders are on our list? (minimum 5 games played).

Rank Player Team GP W L OT SA GA GAA Sv% SO
1 Jason LaBarbera EDM 5 1 3 0 112 16 3.65 0.857 0
2 Martin Brodeur NJD 5 1 2 2 132 17 3.32 0.871 0
3 Niklas Backstrom MIN 6 1 1 2 124 16 3.42 0.871 0
4 Devan Dubnyk EDM 9 2 5 1 246 30 4.01 0.878 0
5 Jacob Markstrom FLA 9 1 4 2 203 23 3.19 0.887 0
6 Karri Ramo CGY 5 2 2 1 166 18 3.56 0.892 0
7 Henrik Lundqvist NYR 8 2 5 0 209 22 3.25 0.895 1
8 Dan Ellis DAL 5 1 3 0 153 16 3.6 0.895 0
9 Tim Thomas FLA 6 2 3 0 158 15 3.11 0.905 0
10 Cam Ward CAR 8 2 2 3 216 19 2.81 0.912 0
11 Ryan Miller BUF 10 1 9 0 359 31 3.13 0.914 0
12 Cory Schneider NJD 6 1 3 2 153 13 2.14 0.915 1

Some strong performances early in the season along with some slow starts for others.  That is why the NHL is so great.  It is a long season and things can turn around for some of these players.  Of course we should look at the players who, shall we say will not vie for the Lady Byng trophy anytime soon.

Most Penalized Players

 Rank Player Team Pos GP G A P +/- PIM
1 Radko Gudas TBL D 11 1 3 4 0 53
2 Derek Dorsett NYR R 10 1 0 1 -2 47
3 Antoine Roussel DAL L 11 0 2 2 -3 45
4 Erik Gudbranson FLA D 12 0 1 1 -7 40
5 Chris Stewart STL R 9 0 2 2 -2 38
6 Ryan Reaves STL R 9 1 0 1 1 38
7 Steve Downie COL R 11 1 6 7 4 36
8 Zenon Konopka MIN C 13 0 0 0 -3 32
9 David Backes STL C 9 6 5 11 6 30
10 Brandon Dubinsky CBJ C 11 3 5 8 4 30
11 Ryan Malone TBL L 11 1 5 6 4 28
12 Luke Gazdic EDM L 12 1 1 2 2 28
13 Dmitry Kulikov FLA D 12 1 1 2 -3 27
14 Cody McLeod COL L 7 0 1 1 2 27
15 Colton Orr TOR R 12 0 0 0 -2 26
16 Benoit Pouliot NYR L 10 1 1 2 -2 25
17 Brandon Bollig CHI L 12 1 1 2 2 25
18 Tom Wilson WSH R 12 0 0 0 -3 25
19 Steve Ott BUF C 14 2 2 4 -2 24
20 Adam McQuaid BOS D 9 1 2 3 5 24
21 Matt Hendricks NSH C 12 0 0 0 -2 24
22 Mike Fisher NSH C 9 2 4 6 -2 23
23 Kyle Clifford LAK L 11 1 0 1 1 23
24 Cody McCormick BUF C 10 0 2 2 -3 22
25 Zac Rinaldo PHI C 10 0 1 1 -2 22
26 Matt Pelech SJS R 5 1 0 1 1 22
27 Maxim Lapierre STL C 5 0 0 0 2 22
28 Andrew Desjardins SJS C 12 1 3 4 2 21
29 Eric Nystrom NSH L 12 2 1 3 -5 21
30 Mike Weber BUF D 11 0 0 0 -12 21