Who shoots more?
Who dekes more?
This post focuses on each player's play preference when in possession of the puck in the offensive-zone, and on the powerplay. Much of what each player does is contingent on where they are positioned on the ice. A player set up on the half-wall or below the goal line is obviously more likely than a player in the slot to pass.
Every Montreal Canadiens player I tracked was more likely to pass than shoot or deke. Therefore, the more interesting question becomes how much more likely?
The first graph is a visual representation of how often each player attempts to pass, shoot or deke per-minute of powerplay ice-time; all this while in the offensive-zone. The higher the number, the more often that player attempted that specific play.
The second graph is a visual representation of how successful each player was at completing their attempted play. It is a combination of their success-rates when attempting to pass, deke, or get a shot through to the net while on the powerplay.
INDIVIDUAL PLAYER POWERPLAY TENDENCIES
I have only included players with substantial powerplay time durng the 2011-12 season. That said, I did choose to include both Frederick St. Denis, and Alexei Emelin, as they may see some powerplay time during this coming preseason.
In terms of passing, Tomas Kaberle (88%) and Andrei Markov (85%) were more likely to choose the pass option than any other player. Among forwards, Tomas Plekanec (82%) and Louis Leblanc (82%) were most likely to pass. PK Subban was the least likely to choose the pass option among defensemen, while Erik Cole held that distinction among forwards.
Although he didn't have much PP time, Emelin was more likely to shoot (28%) than any other player. Among those with substantial PP time, only PK Subban (24%), Yannick Weber (21%), and Brian Gionta (20%) chose to shoot more than 20% of the time they had the puck on their stick. David Desharnais (7%) was the least likely to shoot, while Louis Leblanc (9%) and Lars Eller (8%) also chose the shoot option less than 10% of the time.
Eller (19%), and Erik Cole (16%) were the most likely to attempt to beat opposing players 1on1 (deke). Other players who chose to deke more than 10% of the time include, David Desharnais (12%), Scott Gomez (12%), and Rene Bourque (10%). Not surprisingly, Subban (8%) was more likely to deke than any defenseman, while Pacioretty (3%) was the least likely among forwards to choose that option.
Powerplay puck-possession success-rates
While on the powerplay, Andrei Markov was the most successful player when attempting a play with possession of the puck in the offensive-zone. Number 79 was successful with just under 90% of his attempted passes, dekes, or shots. Other players with success-rates above 80% include; Kaberle, and Raphael Diaz.
Josh Gorges was the least successful defenseman on the powerplay.
Among forwards, the success-rates dropped substantially. David Desharnais was the most successful forward, as he was able to complete 78% of his puck-possession plays while on the powerplay. Other players with success-rates above 70% include; Tomas Plekanec, Pacioretty and Leblanc.
Cole was the least successful forward on the powerplay. However, this has much to do with his position on the ice while on the PP, and little to do with his actual puck-skills. Cole was more likely to attempt higher risk plays like dekes and shots than any other player. In fact, he was the least likely on the team to choose the pass option while in possession of the puck on the powerplay.
