Frozen Tool Forensics: Multi-Cat Defensemen

Chris Kane

2020-11-20

This week we are back in the saddle to finish up our mini-series on multi-cat players. Two weeks ago we hit the forward group, and this week we are going to talk defensemen.

Just as a quick reminder, we are using the Frozen Tool's Report, Multi-Category. For the purposes of our work today we will be focusing on data from the 2019-20 season, and on shots, blocks, hits, and briefly on points. As with the forwards I have exported and amended the data slightly. The report gives all stats as totals, and for the purposes of comparing across individuals I have turned them all into per-game numbers and filtered for at least 20 games played to try and account for small sample sizes.

Like with our forwards, I want to start with a pretty basic look at shots per game. With forwards we were seeing the elite producers up around 4.5 shots, dropping to about 3.5 shots per game by the end of the top ten. I find shots to be a really important factor to consider when adding your multi-cat players. It is pretty easy to find players who do a lot of hitting (for example), but if you can find a player who does a lot of hitting, and also shoots you are that much better off.

Name	Pos	Team	GP	SOG/G
ROMAN JOSI	D	NSH	69	3.77
DOUGIE HAMILTON	D	CAR	47	3.62
BRENT BURNS	D	S.J	70	3.21
ALEX PIETRANGELO	D	VGK	70	3.21
SHEA THEODORE	D	VGK	71	3.08
ZACH WERENSKI	D	CBJ	63	2.97
KRIS LETANG	D	PIT	61	2.90
SHEA WEBER	D	MTL	65	2.85
JOHN CARLSON	D	WSH	69	2.74
THOMAS CHABOT	D	OTT	71	2.62

Obviously we have fewer shot totals from the defensemen and this makes sense given their deployment. It is fairly impressive to see Roman Josi and Dougie Hamilton up above 3.5 shots per game. They rank in the top ten for all players in addition to leading defensemen.

Turning to hits, we again have the top ten in hits per game.

Name	Pos	Team	GP	SOG/G	Hit/G
MARK BOROWIECKI	D	NSH	53	1.19	3.75
DENNIS GILBERT	D	COL	21	0.57	3.52
LUKE SCHENN	D	T.B	25	1.24	3.32
CALVIN DE HAAN	D	CHI	29	1.45	3.21
ILYA LYUBUSHKIN	D	ARI	51	0.80	2.96
RASMUS RISTOLAINEN	D	BUF	69	1.86	2.94
CONNOR CLIFTON	D	BOS	31	0.65	2.90
ANTHONY BITETTO	D	NYR	51	1.06	2.84
BRAYDEN MCNABB	D	VGK	71	1.03	2.83
BRENDEN DILLON	D	WSH	69	0.84	2.81

Our rates here are actually pretty similar to shot rates, which is certainly not true for forwards. Really solid contributions from Mark Borowiecki (as anyone who tracks hits could have predicted), but Dennis Gilbert and Luke Schenn certainly provide value when they play. I can't help but also look at shots as well and Rasmus Ristolainen seems to be running away with the combined value with 1.86 shots per game and 2.94 hits per game.

Moving on to blocks:

Name	Pos	GP	SOG/G	Hit/G	BLK/G
OSCAR KLEFBOM	D	62	2.56	0.73	2.90
ALEXANDER EDLER	D	59	2.00	1.83	2.75
CALVIN DE HAAN	D	29	1.45	3.21	2.52
MARK GIORDANO	D	60	2.62	0.70	2.47
ANDY GREENE	D	63	0.95	0.48	2.46
DAVID SAVARD	D	68	1.43	1.90	2.40
CONNOR MURPHY	D	58	2.02	2.21	2.38
CHRISTOPHER TANEV	D	69	0.65	0.46	2.30
ALEC MARTINEZ	D	51	1.47	0.84	2.29
ROMAN POLAK	D	41	0.83	2.54	2.29

Oscar Klefbom leading the league, while also exceeding 2.5 shots per game is pretty impressive. Mark Giordano also stands out for his shot/block combo. Calvin De Haan is equally impressive ranking third overall in blocks and fourth in hits per game. If shots and points are not necessary for your bangers, then De Haan provides some significant value here. I am also noticing Roman Polak's relatively strong showing in both hits and blocks.

To give this idea a slightly more formal look, if we combine our rates for hits and blocks, here are our top ten.

Name	Pos	Team	GP	SOG/G	Hit/G	BLK/G	HT+BLK/G
MARK BOROWIECKI	D	NSH	53	1.19	3.75	2.26	6.02
CALVIN DE HAAN	D	CHI	29	1.45	3.21	2.52	5.72
DENNIS GILBERT	D	COL	21	0.57	3.52	1.57	5.10
ROMAN POLAK	D		41	0.83	2.54	2.29	4.83
BRAYDEN MCNABB	D	VGK	71	1.03	2.83	1.87	4.70
CONNOR MURPHY	D	CHI	58	2.02	2.21	2.38	4.59
ALEXANDER EDLER	D	VAN	59	2.00	1.83	2.75	4.58
DARNELL NURSE	D	EDM	71	2.39	2.42	1.99	4.41
ROBERT HAGG	D	PHI	49	0.78	2.78	1.61	4.39
ADAM PELECH	D	NYI	38	1.29	2.13	2.18	4.32

No surprise to see De Haan and Polak in the top five, and Borowiecki follows up with pretty strong blocks as well. Alex Edler and Darnell Nurse show strong category coverage here and have had nice point production in the past as well (though we will take a look at that in a minute).

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If we add shots to the mix (again using rather simplistic addition) I see a really interesting combination of players.

Name	Pos	Team	GP	SOG/G	Hit/G	BLK/G	HT+BLK/G	HT+BLK+SOG/G
MARK BOROWIECKI	D	NSH	53	1.19	3.75	2.26	6.02	7.21
CALVIN DE HAAN	D	CHI	29	1.45	3.21	2.52	5.72	7.17
DARNELL NURSE	D	EDM	71	2.39	2.42	1.99	4.41	6.80
JACOB TROUBA	D	NYR	70	2.40	2.47	1.83	4.30	6.70
CONNOR MURPHY	D	CHI	58	2.02	2.21	2.38	4.59	6.60
ALEXANDER EDLER	D	VAN	59	2.00	1.83	2.75	4.58	6.58
SHEA WEBER	D	MTL	65	2.85	1.72	1.75	3.48	6.32
OSCAR KLEFBOM	D	EDM	62	2.56	0.73	2.90	3.63	6.19
ROMAN JOSI	D	NSH	69	3.77	0.75	1.57	2.32	6.09
DOUGIE HAMILTON	D	CAR	47	3.62	1.11	1.34	2.45	6.06

Borowiecki and De Haan, still reign supreme even with the addition of shots, Edler and Klefbom are still highly ranked as well. We also see the return of Josi and Hamilton. Some notable additions in Connor Murphy, Jacob Trouba, and Shea Weber with really solid contributions across the board. Trouba and Weber are pretty well known, but Murphy is certainly a newer addition to this niche.

And for our last list we are going to apply some filters to the categories and get a list of top performers, including points. To make this list players had to shoot more than twice a game, hit more than 1.5 times per game, block more than 1.5 times per game and have put up a 40-point pace.

Name	Pos	Team	GP	SOG/G	Hit/G	BLK/G	PTS/G
ALEXANDER EDLER	D	VAN	59	2.00	1.83	2.75	0.56
SHEA WEBER	D	MTL	65	2.85	1.72	1.75	0.55
RYAN PULOCK	D	NYI	68	2.40	1.62	2.04	0.51
KRIS LETANG	D	PIT	61	2.90	1.66	1.5	0.72

We have already seen Edler and Weber show up on the earlier lists, but adding some of these point filters really cuts down the group and highlights a couple of new faces in Ryan Pulock and Kris Letang. Unfortunately, three of these players in Edler, Weber, and Letang are aging and/or have an injury history (coincidence?). Pulock remains the lone up and comer here so he certainly bears watching.

That is all for this week. Thanks for reading. Stay safe out there.

Want more tool talk? Check out these recent Frozen Tool Forensics Posts.

Frozen Tools Forensics: Bubble Keeper Week with Gaudette, Hyman, and more

Frozen Tool Forensics: Multi-Cat Forwards

Frozen Tool Forensics: Up and Coming

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