Continuing from Part 1

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.

Nashville Predators (23rd – 17.6/16.4) (17th)

Nashville deployed four and one 71.7 percent of the time which was responsible for 22 (81.48 percent) of the 27 PP goals and both of the SH goals against.

First Unit:

Filip Forsberg (58.7); three PPG and 13 PPP in 39 games

Ryan Johansen (59.2); three PPG and seven PPP in 48 games

Mikael Granlund (55.3); five PPG and seven PPP in 51 games

Eeli Tolvanen (57.0); six PPG and 12 PPP in 40 games

Roman Josi (63.5); one PPG and 14 PPP in 48 games

Second Unit:

Matt Duchene (44.7); one PPG and three PPP in 34 games

Cody Glass (new) (48.8); four PPG and five PPP in 27 games with Vegas

Philip Tomasino (new); 32 points in 29 games with Chicago of the AHL last season

Mattias Ekholm (34.3); two PPP in 48 games

Dante Fabbro (7.9); one PPG and two PPP in 40 games

David Farrance (51.9); no PPP in two games with Nashville after 16 points in 11 games with Boston University

The Predators need to improve their power play but need one of Johansen, Duchene or Granlund to be out on the first unit to take face-offs. I would say from last season that Forsberg, Tolvanen and Josi should be locked on the first unit with one of Johansen, Granlund or Duchene with perhaps Cody Glass or Tomasino taking the fifth spot.

San Jose Sharks (29th – 14.1/11.5) (19th)

San Jose deployed four and one 58.4 percent of the time which was responsible for 19 (86.36 percent) of the 22 PP goals and three of the four SH goals against.

First Unit:

Evander Kane (59.5); three PPG and seven PPP in 56 games

Logan Couture (54.5); two PPG and six PPP in 53 games

Tomas Hertl (57.3); four PPG and 10 PPP in 50 games

Brent Burns (56.5); two PPG and six PPP in 56 games

Erik Karlsson (61.1); three PPG and eight PPP in 52 games

Second Unit:

Timo Meier (36.4); two PPG and 10 PPP in 54 games. He was the team co-leader in PPP

Jonathan Dahlen (new); had 25 goals and 71 points in 45 games with Timra of the Allsvenskan league in Sweden.

Kevin Labanc (46.9); three PPP in 55 games

Rudolfs Balcers (26.8); one PPP in 41 games

Mario Ferraro (22.4); four PPP in 56 games

Alexander Barabanov (64.7); one PPG and one PPP in nine games

With one of the worst power plays in the NHL, the team will need to look at changing the format of their power play as well as the personnel next year. Depending on the ongoing situation with Kane, the team might be looking to replace Kane and one of Burns or Karlsson on the top unit. Timo Meier is the likeliest of remaining to be the first choice with possibly Labanc, Dahlen or Barabanov getting a shot as well.

Seattle Kraken

First Unit:

Jaden Schwartz (47.5); one PPG and three PPP in 40 games. He has a career-high of nine PPG and 20 PPP in 71 games in 2019-20

Jared McCann (43.8); seven PPG and 10 PPP in 43 games last year are both career highs

Jordan Eberle (51.6); one PPG and five PPP in 55 games. He has a career-high of 10 PPG in 2011-12 and 21 PPP in both 2013-14 and 2014-15.

Vince Dunn (36.3); two PPG and seven PPP in 43 games. His career highs are four PPG and 10 PPP in 71 games in 2019-20

Mark Giordano (45.2); four PPG and eight PPP in 56 games. His career highs are nine PPG in 2015-16 and 26 PPP in 2010-11

Second Unit:

Colin Blackwell (21.6); three PPG and five PPP in 47 games last year are both career highs

Calle Jarnkrok (37.6); two PPG and eight PPP in 49 games last season of which his two PPG are a career-high whereas his career-high in PPP is nine in 2019-20

Alex Wennberg (34.0); three PPG and six PPP in 56 games. Wennberg did have 23 PPP in 2015-16 as his career-high while matching his three PPG

Yanni Gourde (36.3); two PPG and six PPP in 56 games. Gourde had seven PPG and 13 PPP as his career highs in 82 games in 2017-18

Joonas Donskoi (37.7); five PPG and eight PPP in 51 games last season are both career highs

Dennis Cholowski (42.3); no PPP in 16 games. His career-high is four PPG and nine PPP in 52 games in 2018-19

The Kraken power play will more than likely be a lot of moving parts before they settle on a successful combination. While they might elect to go with Schwartz, McCann and Eberle as three of the forwards on the top unit, none of them are very good in the faceoff circle. Dave Hakstol will probably need to lean on one of Wennberg or Gourde to start there and go with either Giordano or Dunn as the fifth player on the top unit.

St. Louis Blues (6th – 23.2/22.6) (22nd)

St. Louis deployed four and one 82.2 percent for 31 (88.57) of their 35 PP goals. The one defender system was responsible for the lone SH goal against.

First Unit:

Vladimir Tarasenko (59.0); two PPG and six PPP in 24 games

Ryan O'Reilly (61.9); four PPG and 12 PPP in 56 games

Brayden Schenn (58.1); six PPG and nine PPP in 56 games

David Perron (63.4); six PPG and 21 PPP in 56 games

Torey Krug (65.2); one PPG and 13 PPP in 51 games

Second Unit:

Brandon Saad (new) (28.3); two PPG and three PPP in 44 games with Colorado

Zach Sanford (22.2); three PPG and PPP in 52 games

Robert Thomas (34.3); no PPP in 33 games

Pavel Buchnevich (new) (41.5); one PPG and eight PPP in 54 games

Jordan Kyrou (28.9); three PPP in 55 games

Scott Perunovich (new); did not play last year, 40 points in 34 games with the University of Minnesota-Duluth in 2019-20

Colton Parayko (9.7); no PPP in 32 games

The Blues' power play is one of the better ones in the NHL and flowed through David Perron in the absence of Vladimir Tarasenko for most of last season. With the trade status of Tarasenko up in the air, I'm not sure the Blues lose much on the power play without him. They could slot in any one of Sanford, Thomas, Buchnevich or Kyrou and still be a pretty successful first unit. The team has lost the seven PPG and 17 PPP of Mike Hoffman as well as Jaden Schwartz and Vince Dunn to Seattle. They are not nearly as deep as they were.

Vancouver Canucks (25th – 17.4/14.8) (23rd)

Vancouver deployed four and one 73.3 percent for 22 (81.48 percent) of their 27 PP goals. The four and one were responsible for all four SH goals against, with Quinn Hughes on the ice for two and Nate Schmidt on the ice for the other two.

First Unit:

J.T. Miller (74.8); three PPG and 18 PPP in 53 games

Elias Pettersson (75.9); four PPG and five PPP in 26 games

Brock Boeser (76.5); eight PPG and 14 PPP in 56 games

Conor Garland (new) (51.9); three PPG and 10 PPP in 49 games with Arizona

Quinn Hughes (77.0); 19 PPP in 56 games

Second Unit:

Nils Hoglander (29.9); one PPG and PPP in 56 games

Tanner Pearson (38.6); two PPG and three PPP in 51 games

Bo Horvat (72.5); seven PPG and 11 PPP in 56 games

Vasily Podkolzin (new); had five goals and 11 points in 35 games in the KHL last season

Oliver Ekman-Larsson (new) (46.4); two PPG and 14 PPP in 46 games with Arizona

Jack Rathbone (24.7); one PPP in eight games

Tyler Myers (18.7); three PPP in 55 games

In 2019-20 Vancouver had the 2nd best power play with Hughes, Miller, Pettersson, Boeser and Horvat as the top unit. They struggled last season without Pettersson for 30 games but to be fair they still struggled a little with him as well. They replaced Newell Brown as an assistant coach with Brad Shaw who previously coached in St. Louis and Columbus. The only question for the first unit will be the time split between the second unit and if Horvat will be replaced by Garland. I think you keep the first unit with Horvat at 70 percent plus and hope they stay healthy. It is not a broken unit.

Vegas Golden Knights (22nd – 17.8/16.7) (10th)

Vegas deployed four and one 68.0 percent which produced 80.6 percent of their PP goals (25/31). The four and one approach was responsible for both SH goals.

First Unit:

Max Pacioretty (56.2); six PPG and 12 PPP in 48 games

William Karlsson (52.6); one PPG and eight PPP in 56 games

Mark Stone (57.7); six PPG and 17 PPP in 55 games

Jonathan Marchessault (48.9); three PPG and six PPP in 48 games

Shea Theodore (59.4); 15 PPP in 53 games

Second Unit:

Reilly Smith (44.9); four PPG and five PPP in 53 games

Nolan Patrick (new) (34.1); two PPG and three PPP in 52 games with Philadelphia

Alex Tuch (injured) (39.4); two PPG and four PPP in 55 games

Evgenii Dadonov (new) (56.0); one PPP in 55 games with Ottawa last season. His career-high was 11 PPG and 17 PPP in 69 games with Florida in 2019-20

Alec Martinez (28.5); three PPG and nine PPP in 53 games

Alex Pietrangelo (50.0); four PPP in 41 games

The Golden Knight’s power play wasn't good enough last season and will need to improve. From the production of Pacioretty, Stone and Theodore those three look to be locked, but Karlsson and Marchessault could be on the bubble. Karlsson is only vulnerable if Nolan Patrick is capable as they need a player capable in the face-off circle. I'd expect Dadonov to get a good look, while Pietrangelo is always capable of filling any void left if Theodore stumbles a little.

Winnipeg Jets (7th – 23.0/21.1) (15th)

Winnipeg deployed four and one 93.8 percent for 100 percent of their 35 PP goals. The four and one were responsible for all three SH goals.

First Unit:

Kyle Connor (62.9); 10 PPG and 13 PPP in 56 games

Mark Scheifele (67.5); four PPG and 17 PPP in 56 games

Paul Stastny (61.2); two PPG and eight PPP in 56 games

Blake Wheeler (61.9); four PPG and 15 PPP in 50 games

Neal Pionk (43.5); one PPG and 10 PPP in 54 games

Second Unit:

Nikolaj Ehlers (34.1); six PPG and 13 PPP in 47 games

Pierre-Luc Dubois (34.4); one PPG and six PPP in 41 games

Andrew Copp (36.7); six PPG and 12 PPP in 55 games

Cole Perfetti (new); had 26 points in 32 games with Manitoba of the AHL last season

Adam Lowry (16.1); two PPP in 52 games

Josh Morrissey (59.2); one PPG and nine PPP in 56 games

The Jets could have two very good units next season as their depth is pretty impressive. Ehlers deserves more first unit time and could replace Stastny as Scheifele can take face-offs as well. Pionk is well on his way to replacing Morrissey on the first unit.

In looking at the Western teams we can see the trend continue to rise for deployment for a single defenceman out on the power play but does it make a difference? I looked at the stats between 2016-17 and 2019-20 and the overall PP percentage was 19.77 while SH goals against were 2.74 percent. In 2020-21 the overall PP percentage was 19.78 while SH goals-against went down to 2.53 percent. While it is a study in progress, it doesn't appear to make a difference overall. The best five players should be on the ice regardless of their position.

Thank you very much for reading and if you have any comments or suggestions please message me or follow me on Twitter @gampbler15.