Now that we are at about the halfway mark of the season it seems appropriate to take a look at some first half successes. In this case though we are going to deviate from point paces and pay homage to the multi-cat kings. Being in two leagues that count peripheral categories I can attest that we don't always spend enough time on these players. It is time to do our part to rectify that.

This week on Frozen Tool Forensics: Mid-Year Multi-Cat Kings

As ever the naming conventions over at Frozen Tools are on point as they have an aptly-named Multi-Category report for us. In it we get a breakdown of some general scoring categories as well as hits, blocks, and penalty minutes. For the purposes of this article, we are going to focus on hits and blocks so apologies if your league also includes penalty minutes.

There are two other features in this report that I want to highlight. The first is the inclusion of combined columns. The report is programmed to give combined counts of hits and blocks, and hits, blocks, and shots. This is a great feature as it allows managers to filter in sort of a summative way those players who contribute in the sort of 'defensive' categories of hits and blocks, and then also sort by which players are also contributing something on the offensive side of the ice to by adding shots.

The second piece is the per game breakdown where each stat is given on a per game level. This is particularly helpful in a year like this where, in addition to the usual injuries, we have had a ton of players missing time due to COVID, and even teams themselves having played significantly different amounts of games.

To get us started this week I am going to pull the per game side of the report. I have exported it to move some columns around, filtered by forwards, and sorted by hits and blocks. Oh, and I also put in a 20-game minimum.

Name	Pos	Team	GP	PTS	SOG	Hits	Blocks	HIT+BKS
RYAN REAVES	R	NYR	36	0.25	0.56	4.17	0.22	4.39
CAL CLUTTERBUCK	R	NYI	35	0.23	1.26	3.94	0.43	4.37
GARNET HATHAWAY	R	WSH	39	0.36	1.92	3.67	0.67	4.33
NICOLAS DESLAURIERS	L	ANA	44	0.14	1.16	3.66	0.64	4.3
ZACH ASTON-REESE	L	PIT	34	0.27	1.09	3.68	0.59	4.26

Not surprisingly we are getting a lot of high hits forwards who don't block all that much, don't shoot that much, and don't point that much. Garnet Hathaway is the interesting name here as with the highest points per game, almost two shots per game, and the highest blocks per game he stands out as a high value add.

By adding in shots, we will definitely skew the results towards more offensive players.

Name	Pos	Team	GP	PTS	SOG	Hits	Blocks	HIT+BKS	SOG+HIT+BKS
BRADY TKACHUK	L	OTT	33	0.81	3.48	3.58	0.52	4.09	7.58
TIMO MEIER	R	S.J	38	1.23	4.24	1.97	0.68	2.66	6.89
ALEX OVECHKIN	L	WSH	44	1.32	4.66	1.7	0.23	1.93	6.59
GARNET HATHAWAY	R	WSH	39	0.36	1.92	3.67	0.67	4.33	6.26
BLAKE COLEMAN	R	CGY	37	0.38	3.22	2.19	0.84	3.03	6.24

It's a really interesting list here. Brady Tkachuk certainly is not a surprise as he has been crushing this category for a couple of years, and taking over the mantle from Alex Ovechkin who still is doing himself proud at the moment. Timo Meier though is a bit of a new name.

With the 20-game cut off, Meier has the 5th highest shot pace, plus almost two hits per game, in addition to his 100 point pace. Clearly whatever is happening on the score sheet is happening across all categories as he has been a beast this year. Let's take a moment a compare a few numbers from 20-21 to 21-22.

Point pace: 47 to 100

Shots per game: 2.87 to 4.24

Hits per game:  1.39 to 1.97

Blocks per game: .44 to .68

Everything is swinging right for Meier in these multi-cat leagues and honestly the cause isn't really that surprising. We have been waiting for the prophesied breakout for a while, but he has finally gotten the playing time to go with that expected breakout. He is skating almost 19 minutes a night on average which is a career high and up almost three minutes from 20-21. His power-play time is also up by more than a minute. In terms of points a lot of his underlying numbers show that the 100-point pace might not stick around, but he didn't make the above list because of his points. His deployment and usage has improved his value across the board and as long as he keeps up that time, I don't really see why he wouldn't keep up the peripherals too.

Swapping over to D, again let's start with hits and blocks.

Name	Pos	Team	GP	PTS	SOG	Hits	Blocks	HIT+BKS
RADKO GUDAS	D	FLA	41	0.27	1.59	4.41	1.41	5.83
ALEXANDER ROMANOV	D	MTL	38	0.18	1.13	3.5	1.66	5.16
RASMUS RISTOLAINEN	D	PHI	39	0.26	1.44	3.46	1.67	5.13
JACOB TROUBA	D	NYR	43	0.49	2.63	2.86	2.26	5.12
LUKE SCHENN	D	VAN	26	0.23	0.96	3.88	1.12	5

Here again we see slight weight on the hits side so that is something to keep in mind when sorting. If we add a count requirement for hits and blocks (two or greater) we get a very well-rounded list. The totals are slightly lower in most cases than above, but these players are excellent peripheral contributors.

Name	Pos	Team	GP	PTS	SOG	Hits	Blocks	HIT+BKS
JACOB TROUBA	D	NYR	43	0.49	2.63	2.86	2.26	5.12
MARIO FERRARO	D	S.J	40	0.28	0.88	2.23	2.73	4.95
CONNOR MURPHY	D	CHI	40	0.16	1.13	2.18	2.63	4.8
MACKENZIE WEEGAR	D	FLA	43	0.58	2.23	2.6	2.12	4.72
BRAYDEN MCNABB	D	VGK	43	0.21	1.05	2.16	2.51	4.67
JAKE MCCABE	D	CHI	37	0.19	1.03	2.24	2.3	4.54
DAVID SAVARD	D	MTL	41	0.22	0.98	2.29	2.24	4.54
ADAM LARSSON	D	SEA	42	0.28	1.33	2.45	2.05	4.5
TYLER MYERS	D	VAN	42	0.24	1.62	2.07	2.19	4.26

I also wanted to highlight two players on this list: Jacob Trouba and Mackenzie Weegar, as they are also shooting at more than two shots per game, and have the highest point counts. These players are truly providing value across the board.

As with forward we are going to run one more example but this time with a couple of tweaks. Here we are looking at shots, hits, and blocks, which will start to lean us toward defensemen that contribute a bit better offensively, but I am also adding a 35-point pace cutoff so we focus only on those players who actually put up at least somewhat helpful scoring production to go along with their peripherals. 

Name	Pos	Team	GP	PTS	SOG	Hits	Blocks	HIT+BKS	SOG+HIT+BKS
DARNELL NURSE	D	EDM	31	0.52	3.74	3.26	1.58	4.84	8.58
JACOB TROUBA	D	NYR	43	0.49	2.63	2.86	2.26	5.12	7.74
MACKENZIE WEEGAR	D	FLA	43	0.58	2.23	2.6	2.12	4.72	6.95
KRIS LETANG	D	PIT	38	0.97	2.79	2.21	1.79	4	6.79
DOUGIE HAMILTON	D	N.J	30	0.66	3.6	1.27	1.57	2.83	6.43
SETH JONES	D	CHI	39	0.72	2.74	1.41	2.05	3.46	6.21
NEAL PIONK	D	WPG	36	0.48	2.14	2.58	1.22	3.81	5.94
CHARLIE MCAVOY	D	BOS	37	0.73	1.97	2.14	1.81	3.95	5.92
ROMAN JOSI	D	NSH	42	1.02	3.62	0.67	1.5	2.17	5.79
ALEX PIETRANGELO	D	VGK	41	0.64	2.83	0.76	2.2	2.95	5.78

If you have been playing in these kinds of leagues for any length of time these names aren't likely much of a surprise. We have Trouba and Weegar who as noted above are very well rounded. Darnell Nurse leads the pack and is somehow improving on his 20-21 numbers (which were also fantastic). I did want to take a moment and highlight Kris Letang. He has been doing this kind of thing for years. Maybe not quite as eye-popping peripherals as some others on this list, but solid peripherals and the shots and point production have made him a valuable hold. At 34, and with a bit of a down 20-21 (lowest shot pace in 11 seasons, lowest blocks pace of his career), Letang is back with a vengeance. He now has the highest hit and block pace of his career, he has rebounded his shot rate, and is currently pacing for his highest point output in eight seasons. As with Meier some if it could definitely be his ice time. He is up to almost 26 minutes of total ice time (an increase of more than a minute from 20-21) and seeing a small uptick in power-play time as well. The wild thing for Letang is that none of it looks really unsustainable. It is a bit harder to predict peripherals, but the high ice time certainly bodes well for it to continue.

That is all for this week

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