And now on to the final installment of our power-play defensemen league tour. Week one is here. Week two is here

This week on Frozen Tool Forensics: Around The League in 31 Power-Plays: Part Three – The Final Chapter.

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).

Detroit

Name	Team	%PP	PPTOI
CHRISTIAN DJOOS	DET	55.6	3:02
FILIP HRONEK	DET	41.3	2:15
JON MERRILL	DET	6	0:20

So, the surprise here is definitely Christian Djoos. Filip Hronek was the fantasy darling from Detroit at the end of 2019-20 and there was some hope that he would carry that into 2021. Turns out he hasn't consistently been getting top deployment. Djoos has been getting more time each game (since the beginning of February) for the most part, and that time is with the Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha unit. Hronek hasn't been up around 60% since February 5th. He had had a good stretch of time with the top unit to start the season but appears to have lost that role. I suppose then Djoos might be the one to watch right now, but with a power-play converting at 6.1 percent don't expect much, or for things to stay the same.

Dallas

Name	Team	%PP	PPTOI
JOHN KLINGBERG	DAL	70.9	4:00
MIRO HEISKANEN	DAL	49.6	2:48
ESA LINDELL	DAL	15.1	0:51

Not a shocking development here, but John Klingberg is back on top. Throughout 2019-20 Miro Heiskanen was a consistent threat and his playoff performance lead to a lot of hope and hype during the off-season. Through most of February, Heiskanen was down below 40 percent of the power-play share, but that has changed over the last two games. He has been up at 60 percent since 2/22 and shared the top unit with Klingberg and three forwards in Dallas' most recent game (2/24).

Colorado

Name	Team	%PP	PPTOI
CALE MAKAR	COL	82.7	3:51
DEVON TOEWS	COL	31.4	1:21
CONOR TIMMINS	COL	13.7	0:35
SAMUEL GIRARD	COL	9.8	0:27

No surprise here. Cale Makar is getting a massive share of the time. New arrival Devon Toews has usurped Sam Girard on the second unit, which is good to know I suppose in the event that Makar gets injured. No real actionable advice here though.

Chicago

Name	Team	%PP	PPTOI
ADAM BOQVIST	CHI	65.3	3:32
NICOLAS BEAUDIN	CHI	56.4	2:38
DUNCAN KEITH	CHI	31.7	1:33

Duncan Keith started the season on the top unit, but has clearly lost that favorable deployment since about February 11th. Adam Boqvist has two power-play points in his last three games and was manning the top unit in Chicago's most recent game (2/23). He has only suited up for three games in February, which opened up an opportunity for Nicolas Beaudin who was seeing upwards of 75 percent of the power-play time during February. With Bodqvist back Beaudin as a healthy scratch in Chicago's most recent game. It looks like for the moment things have settled with Boqvist on the top unit and Keith on the second. The situation has been very fluid though so if you add Boqvist (6% owned on Yahoo) keep a careful eye on deployment.

Calgary

Name	Team	%PP	PPTOI
RASMUS ANDERSSON	CGY	54	3:17
MARK GIORDANO	CGY	35.9	2:11
JUUSO VALIMAKI	CGY	11	0:40

There was a brief moment when Juuso Valimaki took over from Rasmus Andersson on the top unit, but things appear to have settled back into the season norm of Andersson on the top unit and Mark Giordano on the second. It might be a disappointment for Giordano owners, but there were hints in the air already when he lost out on the job at the end of 2019-20. It looks like it is Andersson's job for now.

Columbus

Name	Team	%PP	PPTOI
SETH JONES	CBJ	74.7	2:26
MICHAEL DEL ZOTTO	CBJ	34.3	1:00
ZACH WERENSKI	CBJ	12.5	0:15
GABRIEL CARLSSON	CBJ	11.4	0:24

A notable name missing from this list is Zach Werenski. He was getting about 60 percent of the power-play time per game up until February 13th when he went out with an injury. He is practicing again now so take the above numbers with a bit of a grain of salt going forward. With Werenski out Seth Jones has taken the lion's share of the deployment but with Werenski in the lineup, he was seeing a smaller share 40-50 percent of the time.

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Carolina

Name	Team	%PP	PPTOI
DOUGIE HAMILTON	CAR	67.4	2:40
JAKE GARDINER	CAR	32.7	1:14
JAKE BEAN	CAR	19	0:44
BRETT PESCE	CAR	12.7	0:30

No surprise here either. Dougie Hamilton seeing the most top unit deployment. Jake Gardiner and Jake Bean are currently manning the second unit, which is seeing far less time, and neither are producing at highly relevant rates.

Buffalo

Name	Team	%PP	PPTOI
RASMUS DAHLIN	BUF	84	2:55
COLIN MILLER	BUF	15.1	0:31
JAKE MCCABE	BUF	4.4	0:07

Again, absolutely nothing happening here. Rasmus Dahlin is expectedly getting a huge share of the power-play deployment. The only piece of information to store away here is that Colin Miller is getting most of the second unit time. That implies he might have an edge as heir apparent if Dahlin were to be injured, but there is so little time left to go around it is hard to make that case too strongly.

Boston

Name	Team	%PP	PPTOI
MATT GRZELCYK	BOS	52.9	2:07
CHARLIE MCAVOY	BOS	43.3	2:09
JOHN MOORE	BOS	30.3	1:17
JAKUB ZBORIL	BOS	10	0:32

With Torey Krug out of the way, there was a prime spot ripe for the taking. The word in the off-seaon was that it was going to be Matt Grzelcyk, which was disappointing to just about everyone except maybe Grzelcyk. He had underwhelmed in all of his prior opportunities on the top unit. Charlie McAvoy on the other hand seemed primed to break out. At the start of the season, Grzelcyk got the top job but has spent quite a lot of the season injured. In his absence, McAvoy has been excellent, though most of his point production has come at even strength. Grzelcyk is now traveling with the team so McAvoy's big share of power-play time may be at risk. Just for completion's sake John Moore as seen some second unit time over the last three games.

Arizona

Name	Team	%PP	PPTOI
JAKOB CHYCHRUN	ARI	53	3:05
OLIVER EKMAN-LARSSON	ARI	47.5	2:46
JORDAN OESTERLE	ARI	26.6	1:33

Oliver Ekman-Larsson has been an effective multi-cat producer, but the last several season has failed to live up to optimistic expectations for point production. He was likely going to be the leading D man in Arizona, but an injury has opened the door for Jakob Chychrun. Chychrun has been an intriguing option in multi-cat leagues and it feels like he has just needed the right opportunity. That has come in 2021. With Ekman-Larsson out Chychrun starting seeing a 60 percent share of the power-play (plus almost three additional minutes of total time on ice). With Ekman-Larsson back Chychrun has been manning a (1A?) unit with Clayton Keller and Conor Garland while Ekman-Larsson and Jordan Oesterle have been on a unit with Phil Kessel. The time has been more evenly distributed thus far though.

Anaheim

Name	Team	%PP	PPTOI
KEVIN SHATTENKIRK	ANA	60.7	2:39
CAM FOWLER	ANA	39.7	1:44
HAMPUS LINDHOLM	ANA	8	0:14

Anaheim has finally been able to move on from Cam Fowler, though are maybe realizing that the problem with their power-play wasn't the defenseman running it. Kevin Shattenkirk has come to Anaheim and relieved Fowler of his power-play duties, but has only one power-play point to show for it. Anaheim's power-play is also converting at less than ten percent. No real advice here either. It's Shattenkirk's unit at the moment, but I doubt you want to own him.

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.