This week we are continuing a bit of a theme of the last few weeks by looking at defensemen. The last two weeks we were focused on power-play deployment as that certainly correlates with point production, but for this week the focus is on peripheral categories.

For the purposes of this article, we are mainly going to be focusing on hits, blocks, and shots (sorry no penalty minutes). I have pulled all the data for the 22-23 season from our Multi-Category Report, which includes season total as well as per game information. We are going to be looking at per game data as season totals are certainly dependent on games played which can be fairly random.

In terms of our data set we will of course be looking at shots, hits, and blocks, but will also have points per game data so we can have that reference point, and a combined number that adds together shots, hits and blocks. That will allow us to sort the list by total contributions to non-scoring categories.

The following table is our top ten D for 22-23 in the combined metric.

First up, let's briefly mention Radko Gudas and Luke Schenn. They are two of our top three overall stat producers per game and both fit a similar profile in that their predominant value comes from hits. Neither exceed two blocks per game nor really close at all to two shots per game. This means that while they can certainly provide some value in those categories, they are really providing most of their value through hitting. Additionally, their point production is among the lowest on this list. Martin Fehervary certainly falls into this category as well, though is in a bit of a different tier than Gudas and Schenn.

Another interesting group is Roman Josi and John Carlson. They clearly provide some value across the board, but an outside portion if their value comes from shooting compared to their other stats (though more than two blocks a game is certainly good). They are a bit of the MVPs on this list as they have great point-per-game numbers, excellent shot numbers, and good blocks.

On kind of a side note I did want to mention Jeff Petry as well. When he was in Montreal the first time, he was a bit of a gold mine as he provided value across the board, plus was getting the power-play role. Now in Detroit, his role is a little less certain, but it is good to see he does still provide some value. Like with our previous group he did tend toward hit heavy production in 22-23, but when compared to someone like Shayne Gostisbehere who is essentially valueless without a power-play role, the peripheral categories hedge the Petry bet somewhat.

One thing to highlight though with all of the groups we have touched on so far is that they tend to make the list because one of the three categories is quite high and makes up for a lack in other places. This is great if you need that one category but being able to identify someone who contributes across the board is incredibly helpful. To that end I have eliminated any player who has a large gap between their various stats. The remaining list (below) then shows players who are reasonably significant contributors across each of the three categories.

So, I sort of already dubbed MVPs above but Jacob Trouba is pretty singular here. He is the only player who performed above 2.0 in all three categories, and he cleared the bar by a wide margin as he essentially produced 2.4 or above across the board. His point production isn't the best, but if you need contributions over multiple categories there is quite literally no one better, and no one particularly close.

In our second grouping I wanted to highlight Kris Letang and Moritz Seider. If the past offseason did not happen, they likely would have been up with Carlson and Josi as players who contribute well across categories but also have access to top power-plays. That (as we outlined last week) is in serious question going in 23-24 because of additions their teams have made. If we were just looking at the stats and possible deployment – not the names, the combination of the potential for upside in the points department (if they manage to get some top power-play time) and the floor Letang and Seider provide in terms of peripheral stats make them pretty appealing targets. The fact that we remember when they had uncontested power-play roles certainly can sour us a bit on draft day, but there is still a lot to like here. Mikhail Sergachev fits into this role as well, though his peripheral contributions are slightly less than Letang and Seider.

Finally let's spend a moment on Adam Larsson. Typically, Seattle has spread the wealth in terms of ice time, but in the 22-23 season Adam Larsson and Vince Dunn were clearly the number one pair. Larsson had a very strong showing across the peripheral stats and if you happened to grab him for the two months from the end of November to the end of January you also got nearly a 60-point pace over 24 games. He doesn't get power-play time and his 33-point full season pace was a career high so he can't exactly be counted on for production, but he was a bit of a Trouba-lite in 22-23 so definitely has value.

That is all for this week.

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