This week on Frozen Tool Forensics we are going to take a dive into some streaking players from thus far in this young NHL season. Same caveats apply here that are being used all over the place, which is small sample size. This is particularly relevant when looking at the focus of our article today, which is shooting percentages. In a small sample a couple of goals make huge difference in a player's value. We are going to take a look at players who are putting up some strong goal totals and take a look under the hood. Ideally, we would see a player who is putting up a lot of shots, but also what kinds of deployment are they getting thus far. We might decide that even if we don't think that a goal a game pace is expected, we still want to hang on for the ride.

In order to break this down, we are going to start with a Big Board report. This will allow us to take a look at goal totals as well as shooting percentage. Once we have established a group of players, we would like to focus on we are going to use their Player Profile pages to look at their previous career shooting percentages, time on ice, and deployment situations. As per usual that data pulled for this article comes from 10/19, so does not take into account things that happen on Thursday evening.

Oh and just for your information we aren't going to touch on Auston Matthews. No he isn't going to put up a hattrick every game, and yes you still want him (but probably can't get him) anyway.

In the following table we have some basic information about the players, and then we are sorting by total goals scored to date. We also have their basic point stat line, then their shot totals and shooting percentages.

First up, it is time to talk about Alex DeBrincat. His time out of Ottawa seems to be agreeing with him. There was always the likelihood that his goal scoring was going to improve in 23-24 as his shooting percentage in 22-23 was pretty low for him, but it certainly doesn't hurt being one of the go-to guys in Detroit, instead one of many options is Ottawa. While these four games have been great, there are a couple of question marks, the main one being time on ice. There has only been one game thus far where he has played over 18 minutes – even with top line, top power-play deployment. On average he is around 17 minutes a night which is actually the lowest average since his rookie year. It is a drop about two minutes from his days in Ottawa and more than three minutes since his days in Chicago.

DeBrincat's power-play time is shockingly low as well, though in this case that seems likely because he has four power-play points which means there is less time to go around because they keep ending the power play early by scoring. He is getting about the same percentage of the team's total power-play as in Chicago (70ish) and is still putting up three shots per game overall. Given that and his top line, top power-play deployment there is a lot to like for Debrincat so far.The one thing I will be watching is if he can keep up his shot volume while getting less overall ice time.

Next up is Brock Boeser. A couple of things to get out of the way. He isn't going to score four goals on every 11 shots. He also isn't going to put up four goals in a single game. And yes, after that first game he has only three shots in two games. Overall, though, I think there is a lot to like here. He played over 21 minutes in Vancouver's most recent game and has hit the five-minute mark in terms of power-play time in two of his three games. He is playing with J.T. Miller, on the top power-play, averaging the most power-play time of his career, and near that mark in total time on ice. It will certainly take a few more games to see where his shot count evens out to as it has been all over the map the first three games, but I am certainly not writing off what he has done so far.

I am going to sing a slightly different tune with Teuvo Teravainen. He has put up four goals on only eight shots. With Sebastian Aho out of Tuesday's game he played on the top line and on the top power-play so as long as that lasts, he is worth a look. He is not a big shooter and if he is not getting consistent top power-play time he won't get consistent points. He was not there the first couple of games and was essentially scoring on every shot he took. Ride the hot hand if you would like, but keep an eye on that deployment and be prepared to cut bait as soon as it changes.

Brandon Hagel is an interesting name here. With the exodus of players from Tampa over the past few seasons, Hagel has been given more time and deployment. Folks were excited in the off season about the potential top line, top power-play Hagel. Clearly four goals in four games has rewarded managers who jumped at the chance. Hagel is averaging over 19 minutes of ice time for the first time in his career, and is putting up more than three shots a game for the first time. These are great markers for a career high in goals. Tempering expectations is the 30 percent of Tampa's power-play time going to Hagel. He has been on the second unit with the top unit job going to Nick Paul. If that continues it certainly puts a ceiling on Hagel's potential. I am still interested, but that power-play deployment is something to watch.

Skipping down a bit, William Nylander is on quite the tear to start the season. Six points in three games is nothing to sneeze at. Honestly though most of Toronto has been wild to start the season. Nylander's three goals on 13 shots does lead to an above average shooting percentage, but compared to most of this list it is actually pretty reasonable. So no, he isn't going to put up a goal a game the entire season, but he is averaging the most power-play time of his career thus far, and by far the most time on ice. He is playing and shooting a lot, so no 164 points likely isn't in the cards, but 90-plus definitely is.

That is all for this week.

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