Sports Magazine
Tracking players risk/reward rating during each game allows us to track their play over the course of an entire season. By plotting each game along a graph, we can establish a trendline on the player's performance over the course of the entire season.Max Pacioretty had a career season. He led the team in both points, and shots on net, while finishing second to Eric Cole in goals. Pacioretty ended the season with the second-best even-strength risk/reward among forwards,as his rating of 1.36 was below only Lars Eller's rating of 1.46. The average risk/reward rating among forwards was 1.10His loose-puck recovery totals in the offensive-zone had a direct impact on his offensive-output. As a rule, Pacioretty had more shots, points and scoring chances in games where he recovered over 5 offensive-zone loose-pucks.Pacioretty's trendline shows a definite improvement in consistency from last season. It also reflects an increase in performance during mid-season. Many of the Canadiens players have a mid-season dip, which makes Pacioretty's trendline even more interesting.The graph also reflects an increase in consistency closer to the end of the season, as the gap in game-to-game risk/reward ratings becomes smaller. The beginning of the season saw Pacioretty's rating increase or drop over 1 point from game-to- game, while the game-to-game change fell to less than 0.50 points nearer the end of the season. Pacioretty nevered produced a negative risk/reward rating. This also shows that Pacioretty never made more unsuccessful than successful plays in any one game. He earned a risk/reward rating above 2.00 in 11 games, while he had a risk/reward rating below 0.50 only 4 times.
