Last week we started a journey around the league. There were highs. There were lows. We are going to continue that journey this week. Our goal is to stop in on each team and take a look at how they are running their power-play. There were many power-play defensemen storylines early in the season and we are going to use this opportunity to see how they have shaken out. Week 1 is here.

As a reminder from last week:

"A couple of quick process comments. For this series, we will again be looking at the report for time on ice. At the top of the reports page, we can also filter to run reports by position and by doing so in this case we will only be looking at defensemen. Once we export the report we can filter by the team and then sort of percent of the power-play. Again, using the percent can help us figure out how players are being deployed compared to their peers and can give us an idea about potential future trends.

The report I am using is for the last week, and it was run on Thursday.

We are going to do a quick round-the-league format so I will post the data from each team and comment as needed."

And now on to the teams (continuing reverse alphabetical order).

Ottawa:

Name	Team	%PP	PPTOI
THOMAS CHABOT	OTT	58.3	2:26
ERIK BRANNSTROM	OTT	41	2:13
CHRISTIAN WOLANIN	OTT	23.8	0:54

Ottawa's data shouldn't be too much of a shocker. Thomas Chabot leads the way on the power-play getting the largest share and access to the top unit. The second unit's time was reasonable over this period, but the firepower drops off considerably, leaving Erik Brannstrom a much less interesting prospect than his 41% might indicate.

New York Rangers:

Name	Team	%PP	PPTOI
ADAM FOX	NYR	74.8	4:08
K’ANDRE MILLER	NYR	36.7	2:03
JACOB TROUBA	NYR	25.2	1:24

The Rangers could not muster a power-play in their most recent games, but as of Wednesday's (February 17) practice lines Adam Fox is still on the top unit. The dust has settled here. There was some intrigue in the off-season and at the start the season with Tony DeAngelo, but with DeAngelo out of the picture it is Fox's show. He is getting the lion's share of total time and access to what should be an excellent top unit. K'Andre Miller is manning the second unit, which is getting a chunk less time but is still likely more than was expected for him the preseason.

New York Islanders:

Name	Team	%PP	PPTOI
NOAH DOBSON	NYI	64.3	1:41
RYAN PULOCK	NYI	58.2	1:31
NICK LEDDY	NYI	38.6	1:01

The era of Nick Leddy appears to finally be over. Noah Dobson has the slight edge here, but in the last game, he and Ryan Pulock shared the top unit. That means the Islanders were running three forwards and two defensemen on their top unit and Nick Leddy got the second unit. Dobson has been the exciting add thus far this season, so if he is somehow still available, he is worth a look.

New Jersey:

Name	Team	%PP	PPTOI
TY SMITH	N.J	66.7	2:00
DAMON SEVERSON	N.J	33.3	1:00
P.K. SUBBAN	N.J	33.3	1:00

Ty Smith was taking the top unit prior to New Jersey's forced sabbatical, and it continued on his return. Damon Severson and P.K. Subban have been relegated to sharing the second unit, which has significantly less exciting personnel and is getting less time. For the moment if you were holding out hope for Subban or Severson, this is not good news. Smith on the other hand is certainly worth owning with eight points in his first ten games.

Nashville:

Name	Team	%PP	PPTOI
ROMAN JOSI	NSH	75.2	3:39
RYAN ELLIS	NSH	64	3:06
DANTE FABBRO	NSH	26.3	1:17

Roman Josi clearly leads the way here, but he was sharing the top power-play with Ryan Ellis in Nashville's most recent game. That is good news for Ellis, though Nashville's power-play hasn't been at its most effective in the last several years. That being said Josi and Ellis have been the bright spots during that time. That leaves Dante Fabbro, though in Nashville's most recent game Fabbro didn't get much of anything and Josi got the second unit as well.

Montreal:

Name	Team	%PP	PPTOI
JEFF PETRY	MTL	50	0:30
SHEA WEBER	MTL	50	0:30
BEN CHIAROT	MTL	10.8	0:07

Montreal did not get a power-play in their most recent game (leading to the low totals here), but they are running two even units with Jeff Petry on one, and Shea Weber on the other. This is similar to what happened in 2019-20, though if there was a 1A last year it was Weber and this year it is Petry. Petry has been unsustainably amazing, and Weber slightly disappointing. It lowers the potential for both, though that shouldn't surprise anyone who owned them last year.

Minnesota:

Name	Team	%PP	PPTOI
RYAN SUTER	MIN	66.7	4:00
MATT DUMBA	MIN	42.2	2:32
CALEN ADDISON	MIN	31.1	1:52

Matt Dumba returned from injury in Minnesota's first game back but did not take time on the top unit. He has been incredibly valuable in the past (that one season) when getting that opportunity, but alas not yet. Ryan Suter was able to hang on to that position. Calen Addison is a bit of a surprise and saw time on the second unit alongside Matt Dumba.

Los Angeles:

Name	Team	%PP	PPTOI
DREW DOUGHTY	L.A	60.6	3:40
MATT ROY	L.A	41.8	2:17
KALE CLAGUE	L.A	27.6	1:50

No real shocker here. Drew Doughty is the man on the top unit and has been for years. With no Jake Muzzin or Alec Martinez, anymore Matt Roy appears to be the man in waiting on the second unit. With no power-play points and only three total points thus far he is not worth your time unless he gets exposure to that top unit.

Florida:

Name	Team	%PP	PPTOI
KEITH YANDLE	FLA	79.1	4:22
AARON EKBLAD	FLA	76.3	4:12
ANTON STRALMAN	FLA	23.3	1:17

There was some early season speculation that Keith Yandle might be on the way out of Florida, but up to this point, he is still seeing a considerable share of the power-play time. One change has been the elevation of Aaron Ekblad. He has been joining Yandle on the top unit (meaning Florida is running three forwards on that stacked unit – side note, great news for Patric Hornqvist who is loving life in Florida). Ekblad is up to six power-play points thus far, so the change is definitely a positive one. That leaves Anton Stralman with the second (decidedly less intimidating) unit. 

Edmonton:

Name	Team	%PP	PPTOI
TYSON BARRIE	EDM	80	4:56
DARNELL NURSE	EDM	24.3	1:30
EVAN BOUCHARD	EDM	10.5	0:39
KRIS RUSSELL	EDM	5.7	0:38

Tyson Barrie with 80% of the power-play time on ice is not really shocking to anyone based on preseason expectations. What this recent data does not show is the time at the start of the year where Barrie was moved to the second unit and Darnell Nurse hopped up to that lethal first unit. It made Nurse incredibly (and somewhat improbably) valuable for a hot minute, but not the natural order seems to have been achieved. Barrie is on fire with twelve points in his last ten games (and six on the power-play) so there doesn't really seem any reason to change things.

Stay tuned for next week where we wrap up the league.

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: 31 Power Plays – Part 1

Frozen Tool Forensics: Power-Play Opportunity

Frozen Tools Forensics: Top added and dropped players

Frozen Tools Forensics: Bargain Bin Goalies