Wild West: Power Play Units by Team Part 1
Grant Campbell
2021-08-30
In going through each team of the 2021-22 Dobber's Fantasy Guide, I thought I would focus on the first and second power-play units of each team in the West. We will look at any changes from last season in terms of new players, new coaches and see how the teams and players did last year.
Most teams deploy four forwards and one defender, but we have broken down how each team deploys below and how much power-play time each player had last season.
Anaheim Ducks (31st in the NHL last year at 8.9 percent/net 4.9) (30th in opportunities)
The Ducks deployed four forwards and one defenceman 62.4 percent of the time while producing seven (63.6 percent) of their 11 PP goals while being responsible for three of the five SH goals against.
First Unit:
Rickard Rakell (53.1 percent on PP last year); no PPG and four PPP last season
Trevor Zegras (56.8); no PPP in 24 games last year
Ryan Getzlaf (48.3); led the team with three PPG
Kevin Shattenkirk (53.0); led the team with five PPP
Jamie Drysdale (52.2); one PPP in 24 games
Second Unit:
Max Comtois (44.7); four PPP
Adam Henrique (45.9); two PPP
Jakob Silfverberg (45.3); three PPP
Sonny Milano (26.8); no PPP in six games
Cam Fowler (45.8); four PPP
Troy Terry (45.7); no PPP in 48 games
The Ducks haven't made any significant roster changes and barely did anything with the man advantage last season with a net percentage of 4.9. The status quo is not working so expect some changes and more reliance on Trevor Zegras and/or Jamie Drysdale to get significant time. The units will still need Getzlaf or Henrique to take faceoffs until Zegras has improved significantly. The only change I could see from the projected units above is for Shattenkirk or Drysdale to be replaced by one of Comtois, Henrique, Silfverberg, Milano or Terry.
Arizona Coyotes: (13th – 20.8/18.5) (5th)
The Coyotes deployed four and one 65.1 percent of the time but only scored 18 (51.43 percent) of their 35 PP goals but gave up all four SH goals against. Jakob Chychrun was on the ice for three of the SH goals against.
First Unit:
Clayton Keller (51.0); four PPG and 10 PPP in 56 games
Christian Dvorak (52.9); eight PPG and 11 PPP in 56 games