Ramblings: PDO Misfits, 2019 Draft Rankings, & Rising Defenders (Aug 25)

 

 

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)

 

**

 

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