Ramblings: PDO Misfits, 2019 Draft Rankings, & Rising Defenders (Aug 25)
Cam Robinson
2018-08-24
In minor news, Tobias Enstrom has gone home. The long-time Thrashers/Jets’ defender has signed with his former Swedish club, MODO. He was immediately named team captain. MODO has fallen on hard times in recent years. Once an SHL powerhouse, the team was relegated to the Allsvenskan in 2016 and hasn’t made the playoffs in the second tier yet.
Enstrom apparently received NHL interest but not enough to stay in North America. Once upon a time, the puck-moving defender was a true fantasy asset, twice cracking the 50-point barrier. Ce la vie.
Enjoy Örnsköldsvik – home to Peter Forsberg, Markus Naslund, the Sedin Twins and Victor Hedman. Not bad for a city with the same population as Campbell River, BC. (35,000)
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Bad luck is a thing. Over the long haul, bounces usually tend to even up. However, a player can go long stretches with the puck not going in and/or having a poor on-ice save percentage. This will result in a low PDO.
Some players who experience low PDO’s over the course of a full season are usually in line to trend closer to the 1000 mark – or even, the following year. Those players may also slip in drafts due to perceived deficits that can potentially be explained by that poor luck.
Sure, some of these guys are battling father time, others just aren’t that great any more or are stuck on trash teams. But some will be looking to rub the rabbit’s foot and see an uptick. Abysmal goaltending will be a factor once again for many, but perhaps they’ll be in line for a few more bounces in 2018-19.
A few fantasy-relevant, or potentially fantasy-relevant guys to keep an eye on and their 2017-18 PDOs:
Too Low PDO (I’m a poet…and I know it)
Joe Thornton 963
Max Pacioretty 967
Sidney Crosby 969
Duncan Keith 970
Jonathan Drouin 972
Matthew Tkachuk 975
Jake Guentzel 976
Kevin Shattenkirk 979
Patrick Kane 982
Leon Draisaitl 984
Conversely, here are a number of players who played a very fortunate PDO-pace in 2017-18.
Too High for These Guys
Auston Matthews 1069
William Nylander 1057
Yanni Gourde 1053
William Karlsson 1050
Filip Forsberg 1044
Jonathan Marchessault 1041
Ty Rattie 1039
Patrik Laine 1036
Claude Giroux 1035
David Pastrnak 1035
Steven Stamkos 1033 (consistently high the last three years)
This isn’t to sa