What’s up with these guys?

 

Dobber takes a look at what’s up with Wayne Simmonds and Devan Dubnyk

 

Wayne Simmonds is on pace to finish up with 58 points. That number in itself is not an eye-popper. Actually, his 0.70 points-per-game average is a tad off of last year’s mark of 0.71. But what makes this a big deal is the fact that he is second on the Philadelphia Flyers in scoring. And while every single member of this Flyers’ team – even Claude Giroux – is underachieving offensively, Simmonds is as good as or better than he’s always been. He’s looking at a career high in assists, points, penalty minutes, power-play goals and shots on goal.

As with all the Flyers players, Simmonds started the campaign with five points in 16 games and a minus-10 rating (but a nice 31 PIM number). Since then he’s posted 35 points in 41 contests to go with a plus-7 rating (and 52 PIM). That’s a 70-point pace, which is slightly above where I would peg his upside. What’s up with that?

Well, we know what it isn’t. It isn’t added power-play time. Check it out

 

Year	PPTOI/G
2013-14	3:19
2012-13	3:12
2011-12	3:13

 

(sarcasm font) Unless those seven extra seconds per game are extremely meaningful (/sarcasm font), the answer lies elsewhere. Let’s look at Offensive Zone Starts: