This week it is time for Part 2 of our miniseries. In Part 1 we took a look at forwards who perform well across peripheral categories like hits and blocks. This week we are moving on to defensemen.

As a reminder – here is the process laid out from last week.

Frozen Tools has an excellent report for digging in here: Multi-Category. This report includes the usual scoring categories, plus hits, blocks, penalty minutes, and plus minus. For the purposes of this article, we are going to be focusing on hits, blocks, and to some extent shots – and using the season data from 2020-21.

To get a bit more specific with the data, I exported the report and translated the stats to per game numbers so that they could be comparable across the players. I also put in a 15-game cutoff to eliminate those players with very small sample sizes.

First up, let's take a look at the leaders of our stat categories. Below we have the in hits per game

Name	Pos	Team	GP	PTS/G	SOG/G	Hits/G	Blocks/G
RADKO GUDAS	D	FLA	54	0.20	1.56	4.63	1.31
RASMUS RISTOLAINEN	D	PHI	49	0.37	1.49	3.94	1.39
JANI HAKANPAA	D	DAL	57	0.07	0.95	3.77	1.46
NIKITA ZADOROV	D	CGY	55	0.15	0.95	3.45	1.35
ADAM LARSSON	D	SEA	56	0.18	0.93	2.96	2.29

The next table is our top five for blocks per game.

Name	Pos	Team	GP	PTS/G	SOG/G	Hits/G	Blocks/G
ALEC MARTINEZ	D	VGK	53	0.60	1.60	0.83	3.11
CONNOR MURPHY	D	CHI	50	0.30	1.56	2.04	2.46
ADAM LARSSON	D	SEA	56	0.18	0.93	2.96	2.29
ALEXANDER EDLER	D	L.A	52	0.15	1.90	1.54	2.27
JACOB TROUBA	D	NYR	38	0.32	1.84	2.92	2.21

The next table introduces the column that combines the block and hit count. We are going to use this measure to sort in our future tables. The point of this is it emphasizes those players who are tending towards success in either hits, blocks, or both.

Name	Pos	Team	GP	PTS/G	SOG/G	Hits/G	Blocks/G	B+H
RADKO GUDAS	D	FLA	54	0.20	1.56	4.63	1.31	5.94
RASMUS RISTOLAINEN	D	PHI	49	0.37	1.49	3.94	1.39	5.33
ADAM LARSSON	D	SEA	56	0.18	0.93	2.96	2.29	5.25
JANI HAKANPAA	D	DAL	57	0.07	0.95	3.77	1.46	5.23
JACOB TROUBA	D	NYR	38	0.32	1.84	2.92	2.21	5.13

As with forwards the trick is to grab players that contribute hits and blocks, but also something else. So for our first real filter here, we are looking only at players who also add more than a shot and a half per game.

Name	Pos	Team	GP	PTS/G	SOG/G	Hits/G	Blocks/G	B+H
RADKO GUDAS	D	FLA	54	0.20	1.56	4.63	1.31	5.94
JACOB TROUBA	D	NYR	38	0.32	1.84	2.92	2.21	5.13
CONNOR MURPHY	D	CHI	50	0.30	1.56	2.04	2.46	4.50
JAMIE OLEKSIAK	D	SEA	56	0.25	1.50	2.64	1.57	4.21
ALEC MARTINEZ	D	VGK	53	0.60	1.60	0.83	3.11	3.94
ESA LINDELL	D	DAL	56	0.29	1.79	2.04	1.88	3.91
NEAL PIONK	D	WPG	54	0.59	1.85	2.54	1.37	3.91
DARNELL NURSE	D	EDM	56	0.64	2.75	2.09	1.79	3.88
JUSTIN FAULK	D	STL	56	0.45	2.09	2.27	1.55	3.82
ALEXANDER EDLER	D	L.A	52	0.15	1.90	1.54	2.27	3.81

If I have hits and blocks in my leagues, my goal is to grab someone with some point upside as well and then as with forwards fill in the gaps in any given week if I need to. The following list is defensemen who put up a 40-point pace – again sorted by combined hits and blocks.

Name	Pos	Team	GP	PTS/G	SOG/G	Hits/G	Blocks/G	B+H
ALEC MARTINEZ	D	VGK	53	0.60	1.60	0.83	3.11	3.94
NEAL PIONK	D	WPG	54	0.59	1.85	2.54	1.37	3.91
DARNELL NURSE	D	EDM	56	0.64	2.75	2.09	1.79	3.88
MACKENZIE WEEGAR	D	FLA	54	0.67	1.87	2.19	1.54	3.72
JAKE MUZZIN	D	TOR	53	0.51	1.94	1.91	1.77	3.68
SETH JONES	D	CHI	56	0.50	2.52	1.82	1.80	3.63
DREW DOUGHTY	D	L.A	56	0.59	1.80	1.63	1.48	3.11
THOMAS CHABOT	D	OTT	49	0.63	2.45	1.39	1.47	2.86
KRIS LETANG	D	PIT	55	0.82	2.40	1.67	1.18	2.85
JEFF PETRY	D	MTL	55	0.76	2.33	1.76	1.09	2.85
CHARLIE MCAVOY	D	BOS	51	0.59	1.80	1.27	1.57	2.84
JAKOB CHYCHRUN	D	ARI	56	0.73	3.14	1.05	1.59	2.64
ALEX PIETRANGELO	D	VGK	41	0.56	3.07	0.68	1.95	2.63

Alec Martinez tops our list because of some pretty incredible block numbers. His 3.11 blocks per game was not only tops in the league by over half a block per game, but by far the highest of his career. In his prior three seasons, Martinez averaged about 2.4 blocks per game (which still would have placed him in the top five for the 2020-21 season). He did add a minute of time from his prior two seasons, which could account for some of the rise, but he also added some time on the penalty kill. In LA he was seeing about 42 percent of the team's shorthanded time, but in Vegas he was up to 54 percent. That certainly increases the likelihood of blocks, though not of points. His hits have also been trending down over time and his .830 hits per game was actually the lowest of the last four seasons.

On the points front there are a number of indicators suggesting a regression. His 50-point pace would have dropped to about 43 if his personal shooting percentage returned to normal and that is without accounting for his 100 percent IPP on the power-play and his inflated team five-on-five shooting percentage.

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Mackenzie Weegar is worth a mention as he surprised basically everyone this year with a 55-point pace to go along with excellent peripheral numbers. He saw two minutes of additional ice time, plus a similar jump to Martinez on the penalty kill so some of the peripheral stats are definitely for real. His point pace doesn't look too far off either. Surprisingly, his underlying numbers aren't necessarily that high for his career – though his career mostly consists of four, 64 or fewer game seasons and only two of which saw him get meaningful ice time for a defenseman. It is also likely that he benefited from some additional time with the loss of Aaron Ekblad. With slightly inflated IPP and Ekblad returning we can drop him down to maybe a 40-point pace, though I am leaving open the possibility of more.

That's all for now. Stay safe out there.

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UPCOMING GAMES

Nov 14 - 19:11	NYR	vs	S.J
Nov 14 - 19:11	T.B	vs	WPG
Nov 14 - 19:11	OTT	vs	PHI
Nov 14 - 19:11	FLA	vs	N.J
Nov 14 - 19:11	BUF	vs	STL
Nov 14 - 20:11	DAL	vs	BOS
Nov 14 - 20:11	MIN	vs	MTL
Nov 14 - 21:11	EDM	vs	NSH
Nov 14 - 22:11	VAN	vs	NYI
Nov 14 - 22:11	SEA	vs	CHI