Wild West: Team Power-Play Units
Grant Campbell
2020-11-02
For most hockey fantasy pools, the man advantage is an important key to success as most top players get 20-30 points on the power play. We will look at all the teams in the Western Conference and see how they fared last season and what players should be expected to be on the top units next season. I'm going to use the PPP/60PPMIN stat a few times so will put in brackets next to each player when mentioned. Most teams have adopted four forwards and one defenceman on their first units except for Minnesota and San Jose last season.
Anaheim
Last season rank: 30th
Last season percentage: 14.7
PP opportunities: 30th
Anaheim's power play was so bad last season that 18 players averaged more than one minute per game of PP time, which proves that the team was just throwing ideas at the board and hoping something would stick. The top point producers were Ryan Getzlaf (3.2), Adam Henrique (3.3) and Richard Rakell (3.5) with only nine points while the top goal scorer was Henrique with five. The top unit, for the most part, was Getzlaf, Henrique, Jakob Silfverberg (2.7), Rakell and Cam Fowler (3.2) but next season should be wide open because of their ineffectiveness. Hampus Lindholm and Sam Steel led the team with 4.8 and 4.3 PPP/60PPMIN respectively, but if you look at the last 30 games Lindholm struggled at 2.6. The addition of Kevin Shattenkirk (4.4 with Tampa Bay) should help the power play a little, as he has enjoyed four seasons between 2013-14 and 2016-17 of 25-27 PPP, but this unit will struggle until they acquire or have a scoring shooter emerge. Not only do they have an awful PP, but they are 30th in the NHL in opportunities. A bad combination all around.
The top unit should be:
Sam Steel/Jakob Silfverberg/Troy Terry/Sonny Milano
Arizona
Last season rank: 18th
Last season percentage: 19.2
PP opportunities: 12th
With the departure of Taylor Hall (3.2), it opens up a spot on the Coyotes first unit. Phil Kessel (4.6) led the team in points with 17 and goals with nine, while Clayton Keller (4.8) led with 47 SOG (only two goals). Keller and Oliver Ekman-Larsson (2.4) both seem to have lost a little favor with the coaches on the top unit as their %PP dipped to 51.7 and 52.6 from over 60 in years prior. Keller, Kessel and Ekman-Larsson should be the main players that drive the power play if it is going to improve. Nick Schmaltz (5.0) should benefit from Hall and most likely Carl Soderberg (4.4) leaving which should increase his %PP from 43.0.
Christian Dvorak/Conor Garland
Calgary
Last season rank: 12th
Last season percentage: 21.2
PP opportunities: 25th
The Flames should be in the top five in the league but were just slightly above average, even with Matthew Tkachuk (5.8) and Elias Lindholm (5.8) leading the team with 19 points while Lindholm and Sean Monahan (4.8) each had eight goals. Johnny Gaudreau (5.3) led the team with 47 shots on goal (six goals). With Mark Giordano (4.1) still the PP quarterback (60.2 %PP last season), the team tried Erik Gustafsson (5.1) after the trade deadline and into the post-season with limited success. It will be tough for any other Calgary players to break into the top unit but expect Rasmus Andersson (2.3) or Juuso Valimaki to start to chip away at Giordano's minutes in the next year. The team needs to generate more opportunities and certainly has the skill to do so.
Chicago
Last season rank: 28th
Last season percentage: 15.2
PP opportunities: 8th
I would assume any team with Patrick Kane (5.3) on it would be much better with the man advantage than Chicago was last season, but they do rank well in chances. Kane did lead the team with 23 points and 68 SOG (eight goals) while Alex Debrincat (3.9) led with 10 goals. Jonathan Toews (2.1) for all of his time on the PP only managed one goal and eight points on 38 SOG. Kane, Toews and Debrincat seem like a lock, while the team rotated between Duncan Keith (4.7) and Adam Boqvist (1.3) on the point, while Dylan Strome (3.2), Dominik Kubalik (3.6) and Kirby Dach (1.8) all saw their share of time. Kubalik should get the first opportunity out of those three.
Alex Debrincat
Dominik Kubalik/Kirby Dach/Dylan Strome
Colorado
Last season rank: 19th
Last season percentage: 19.1
PP opportunities: 1st
The Avalanche are only going to get better and better on the PP and should be in the top ten next season. They also are the best team in the league at drawing penalties, so it could be a match made in heaven. Nathan MacKinnon (6.5) is the key to everything and he didn't disappoint last year, leading the team with 12 goals, 83 SOG and 31 points. Cale Makar (5.4) was very effective in his rookie season and had 19 points, while Mikko Rantanen (5.7), Gabriel Landeskog (4.4) and Nazem Kadri (3.4) were the other players on that unit. I don't think the personnel will change for next season after Kadri had six PP goals in the playoffs.
Dallas
Last season rank: 13th
Last season percentage: 21.1
PP opportunities: 21st
For such a low-scoring team in the regular season, they sure emerged as an offensive juggernaut in the playoffs. John Klingberg (6.9) is still an elite PP quarterback who led the team with 17 points so Miro Heiskanen (2.7) might have to wait for another season or two for first unit control but expect the split to be around 50/50 for now. Jamie Benn (5.1) led the team in goals with eight while Tyler Seguin (5.1) led with 59 SOG. With Seguin likely injured for the first few months of the regular season, Roope Hintz (7.1) or Denis Gurianov (5.9) will get more minutes. Joe Pavelski (3.7) and Alexander Radulov (3.9) are not as effective and could see their ice time diminish. Either way, the Star's second unit should be fairly strong as well.
Tyler Seguin (when healthy)
Alexander Radulov/Denis Gurianov
Edmonton
Last season rank: 1st
Last season percentage: 29.5
PP opportunities: 20th
With Leon Draisaitl (9.7) and Connor McDavid (10.4) leading the NHL with 44 and 43 PPP, it is criminal that the team is only 20th in opportunities with the number of uncalled infractions on McDavid alone. Draisaitl led the team with 16 goals and 62 SOG for a very tidy 25.8 shooting percentage. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (5.9) was the other Oiler that was a fixture for 84 percent of PP time and had 24 points. Oscar Klefbom (4.8) might be out for a length of time with a shoulder injury and will be replaced by Tyson Barrie (3.9 with Toronto). The other spot is wide open as James Neal (6.4) and Alex Chiasson (5.4) positions are tenuous at best. Likely replacements for Neal or Chiasson would be Kailer Yamamoto (5.0) or Kyle Turris (4.2 with Nashville). I'm not sure how they can duplicate a 29.5 percentage again, but they should be able to increase their opportunities.
Kyle Turris/Kailer Yamamoto/James Neal/Alex Chiasson
Los Angeles
Last season rank: 26th
Last season percentage: 17.1
PP opportunities: 24th
Anze Kopitar (6.2) led the team with seven goals and 14 points while Drew Doughty (4.0) led with 64 SOG. Without Kopitar, I'm not sure how bad this power play would have been? Adrian Kempe (3.5), Alex Iafallo (3.1) and Dustin Brown (1.8!) were the other components on the first unit most of the time. As the status quo didn't work, expect to see some young guys like Gabe Vilardi (8.4 in 10 games), Martin Frk (2.4) or rookie Alex Turcotte.
Dustin Brown/Gabe Vilardi/Alex Turcotte/Martin Frk
Minnesota
Last season rank: 11th
Last season percentage: 21.3
PP opportunities: 10th
Kevin Fiala (7.1), Zach Parise (5.7) and Ryan Suter (5.4) all had 18 points to lead the team while Parise had 12 goals and Fiala had 46 SOG to lead the team in those categories. Eric Staal (4.7) is gone to Buffalo and the team has added Kirill Kaprizov and Marcus Johansson (2.4 in Buffalo), so something will have to give with Matt Dumba (2.6), Mats Zuccarello (2.6) rookie Marco Rossi and Jared Spurgeon (5.1) also vying for power play time. The Wild were one of a few teams that still had two defensemen on their first PP unit and had success, so it is not an automatic that they will go with four forwards next season, but to get Fiala, Parise and Kaprizov on the ice at the same time they will need to.
Kirill Kaprizov
Marcus Johansson/Marco Rossi/Mats Zuccarello
Ryan Suter/Jared Spurgeon/Matt Dumba
Nashville
Last season rank: 25th
Last season percentage: 17.3
PP opportunities: 5th
Roman Josi (6.1) is the key to the Nashville PP as evidenced by his team-leading 23 points and 69 SOG, while Filip Forsberg (4.7) led the team with seven goals. As the team struggled with the man advantage, the coaching staff tried a lot of different combinations, with Matt Duchene (3.8), Ryan Johansen (3.0), and Viktor Arvidsson (3.4) all hovering around 50 %PP. Expect Luke Kunin to get an opportunity and give this unit a different look.
San Jose
Last season rank: 23rd
Last season percentage: 17.5
PP opportunities: 28th
With the skill on display in San Jose, this was a truly disheartening PP with limited opportunities and limited success. One would think it can only get better next season. Evander Kane (6.2) with 14 goals and 18 points led the team in those categories while Brent Burns (5.3) led with 61 SOG. Erik Karlsson (4.6), Logan Couture (3.8), Tomas Hertl (3.4), Kevin Labanc (3.2) and Timo Meier (3.7) are the other current Sharks that saw a sizeable share of time on the ice. Hertl, Couture and Karlsson missed quite a few games, so the coaching staff will need to choose the best five and hope everyone is healthier this season. Burns and Karlsson are essentially rovers anyway so this is almost an all-forward first unit.
Tomas Hertl/Timo Meier/Kevin Labanc
St. Louis
Last season rank: 3rd
Last season percentage: 24.3
PP opportunities: 19th
If it ain't broke don't fix it, is not an expression that Doug Armstrong adhered to here. A pretty lethal PP (without Vladimir Tarasenko for most of the season) led by David Perron (7.7) and his 27 points and 54 SOG, along with Brayden Schenn (6.2) and his 10 goals. With right-handed Alex Pietrangelo (6.1) being replaced by left-handed Torey Krug (7.1 in Boston), it will be interesting to see how the coaches adapt a very successful unit and keep it rolling with a different look. Jaden Schwartz (6.0) and Ryan O'Reilly (5.3) saw first unit minutes as well.
Jaden Schwartz/Vladimir Tarasenko
Vancouver
Last season rank: 4th
Last season percentage: 24.2
PP opportunities: 2nd
The Canucks PP was the main reason that they beat Minnesota and St. Louis and took Vegas to seven games in the playoffs. They combine the perfect combination of opportunities and success and with three players with 24 or more points, there is enough versatility to continue scoring a lot of goals with the man advantage. J.T. Miller (5.6) and Quinn Hughes (5.8) led the team with 25 points, while Bo Horvat (3.8) had 12 goals, and Elias Pettersson (5.5) led the team with 62 SOG (eight goals). Brock Boeser (3.6) struggled a little with his shot (five goals on 57 shots) and I thought he would be a better option once an opposition team adapted and took the one-timer away from Pettersson, but it never really materialized. This club will make very little changes to a unit that had this much success. Interesting note, that Nate Schmidt (6.8) was effective on the second unit in Vegas and should be an upgrade there for the Canucks over Tyler Myers (4.7) or Alex Edler (6.0).
Vegas
Last season rank: 9th
Last season percentage: 22.0
PP opportunities: 26th
For a team that skates so well and drives play, one would expect more opportunities than Vegas was given with the man advantage. Max Pacioretty (6.5) led the team with eight goals, 19 points and 65 SOG on a pretty good unit. Mark Stone (6.2) only had 28 SOG (six goals), while Jonathan Marchessault (4.9) had 58 SOG (six goals). With the departure of Paul Stastny (3.6), William Karlsson (3.9) or Cody Glass (4.1) could see more ice time on the first unit. Shea Theodore (4.4) and newly signed Alex Pietrangelo (6.1 with St. Louis) will share time which probably won't sit well with the player, not on the first unit.
Shea Theodore/Alex Pietrangelo
Winnipeg
Last season rank: 15th
Last season percentage: 20.5
PP opportunities: 18th
With the skill that the Jets have this team should easily be in the top ten in the league. Neal Pionk (7.2) had a surprisingly successful year quarterbacking the first unit and led the team with 25 points, while Mark Scheifele (5.1) led with 10 goals and 60 SOG. Blake Wheeler (5.7), Kyle Connor (4.4) and Patrik Laine (4.4) were the other members of the first unit. The team has added Paul Stastny (3.6 with Vegas) and has Nikolaj Ehlers (3.2) and either Sami Niku or Ville Heinola (8.4 in eight games) waiting in the wings if Pionk falters.
Thanks for reading and if you have any comments or suggestions, please let me know below and/or follow me on Twitter @gampbler15.
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