Analyzing the Vancouver Canucks Zone Entry Data for October

If you were paying close enough attention to MoneyPuck’s Deep Dive analysis of the Vancouver Canucks through the month of October, I’m sure you noticed a new wrinkle to the formula.

For the first time since the series was introduced, it included the Canucks neutral zone data for the month in question. The entirety of this data was manually tracked by yours truly and I went at length yesterday to introduce my methodology and the driving factors in undertaking this venture. If you haven’t taken the time to review this post, I’d suggest giving it the once over twice before delving into this follow-up article.

It is often said that for any new statistic to pass the initial sniff test, it has to not only highlight proficiencies in any given players game which might otherwise be unobservable, but also confirm some of the more obvious and well-established players worth as well. In that vein, the Canucks data for October does wonders against this line of scrutiny. 

The Sedins leave this exercise in excellent shape, showing at or near the top by every positive metric accounted for in the table above. This table also does wonders to highlight some of the skills which might be less apparent in Sven Baertschi’s game, which include a deft shiftiness through the neutral zone which helps his teams transition game immensely. It certainly goes to show that Baertschi can contribute when he’s not scoring and for the time period in question, he did.

At first glance, it appears as though far too much is made of Matt Bartkowski’s turnovers in the neutral zone. Relative to his Canucks teammates, Bartkowski has the lowest failed entry rate despite accounting for the third highest neutral zone event rate on the team. Similarly, perhaps not enough is made of Luca Sbisa’s inability to facilitate transition through the neutral zone.

Perhaps the most encouraging nugget of information in the above-listed table is the performance of Ben Hutton. Rookies are often suspect to a shyness with the puck which lends itself quite heavily to the tried and true method of puck movement, which would be “glass and out”. With the third most controlled entries and second highest neutral zone events, it appears as though Hutton is bucking the trend. 

These results align relatively closer to the raw zone entry data listed several tables ago. One nugget in particular which I find fascinating is Brandon Sutter’s inability to convert his neutral zone entries into offensive threats. What this might indicate is that while Sutter possesses a relatively strong ability to transition play towards the opposition’s net, there is an apparent inability to maintain possession in the offensive zone thereafter. 

It’s not overly surprising to see the shot totals drop so drastically from their teammates at forward. This stat is much more indicative of the offensive contributions towards the neutral zone, rather than the defensive impact – the latter of those, Dimitri Filipovic is covering quite well with his series on defensive zone exits.

It’s often forgotten, but Willie Desjardins places a large emphasis on entering the offensive zone with control of the puck. Given the Canucks identity as a team whose offence is based in large off their ability to score on the rush, this makes a great deal of sense. If the conclusions we can draw from this earliest and most rudimentary of data sets indicates anything, it’s that the Canucks have a few horses in their stable to facilitate this transition based attack.