This is the seventh in a series of graphs focusing on some of the 2012 NHL Draft-eligible prospects. Included here are prospects I had the pleasure of viewing multiple times.
A player without possession of the puck has two main goals; to remove or acquire puck-possession from the opposition. This graph is a visual representation of the success-rate of each of these players when engaging in plays without the puck. It can also be seen as a reflection of how successful these players are at creating turnovers.
Event used in this calculation include; puck-battles, loose-puck recoveries, intercepted or blocked passes, blocked shots, and successful stick checks. Loose-puck recoveries are particularly important, as they quantify the old hockey cliche about, "being first on the puck".
It is important to indicate when and where the games were played in order to establish the level of competition. Obviously, the numbers earned during an Under-18 tournament should be different than those earned during a World Junior Championship.
These players are in no specific order. Only those players with multiple one-game scouting reports using my player tracking system were included in the graph.
FORWARDS
Nail Yakupov was scouted 7 times. Six of those games were played during the 2012 World Junior Championship, while the other was an OHL game. Yakupov was successful with 73% of his attempts to remove or acquire puck-possession from the other team. He won 64% of his offensive-zone puck-battles, and used his speed to recover an average of 11 loose-pucks per-game.
Mikhail Grigorenko was scouted 7 times. Five of those are from the World Junior Championship, and one was from the QMJHL. The other game scouted was the 2012 CHL Top Prospects game. He was successful with 73% of the events he engaged in without the puck. He won 62% of his defensive-zone puck-battles, and used his hockey sense to recover an average of 11 loose-pucks per-game.
Filip Forsberg was scouted 5 times. Four of those games are from the World Junior Championship, while the other game took place during the World Under-18 Championship. Forsberg had a success-rate of 75% when engaging in these defensive-events. He won over 60% of his offensive, and defensive-zone puck-battles, and recovered an average of 8 loose-pucks per-game.
Tanner Pearson was scouted 4 times. Three of those games are from the World Junior Championship, while the other was the CHL Top Prospects game. Pearson was surprisingly successful with 83% of the events he engaged in without the puck. He won 57% of his offensive-zone puck-battles, and intercepted an average of 2 passes per-game. He also recovered an average of 9 loose-pucks per-game.
Radek Faksa was scouted 6 times. Four of those games are from the World Junior Championship, and one is from the OHL playoffs. The other game scouted was the CHL Top Prospects game. Faksa was successful with 82% of the events he engaged in requiring him to remove or acquire puck-possession. He won 53% of his offensive-zone puck-battles, 63% of his defensive-zone puck-battles, and an impressive 78% of his neutral-zone puck-battles.
Sebastian Collberg was scouted 5 times. Four of those games are from the World Junior Championship, while the other game took place during the World Under-18 Championship. He was successful with 64% of the events he engaged in without the puck; the lowest total among the forwards included here. He won only 48% of his puck-battles, and lost an average of 3 races to loose-pucks per-game.
Tomas Hertl was scouted 4 times. All 4 games took place at the World Junior Championship. He was successful at acquiring or removing puck-possession from the opposition with 75% of his attempts. He won 80% of his offensive-zone puck-battles, and 67% of his defensive-zone puck-battles. He also recovered an average of 12 loose-pucks per-game.
Martin Frk was scouted 3 times. Two of those games are from the QMJHL, while the other is the CHL Top Prospects game. He was successful with an incredible 89% of his attempts to remove or acquire the puck from the opposition. He won 75% of his offensive-zone puck-battles, and recovered an average of 9 loose-pucks per-game.
Tomas Hyka was scouted 4 times. Three of those games are from the World Junior Championship, while the other is the CHL Top Prospects game. Hyka was successful with 81% of his attempts to remove or acquire the puck from the opposition. He recovered an average of 12 loose-pucks per-game, including 7 per-game just in the offensive-zone.
Brendan Gaunce was scouted 3 times. One of those games was the CHL Top Prospects game, one was from the World Under-18 Championship, while the other was from the OHL. Gaunce was successful with 80% of his attempts to remove or acquire the puck from the opposition. He recovered an average of 13 loose-pucks per-game.
Scott Laughton was scouted twice. One of those games is from the CHL Top Prospects, while the other is from the World Under-18 Championship. Laughton was successful with 71% of his attempts to remove or acquire the puck from the other team. He was successful with 50% of his offensive-zone puck-battles, and 67% of his d-zone puck-battles.
Gemel Smith was scouted twice. One of those games is from the CHL top Prospects, while the other is from the World Under-18 Championship. Smith was successful with 68% of his attempts to remove or acquire puck-possession. He was successful with only 33% of his offensive-zone puck-battles. He did however show his puck-hunger, as he recovered an average of 15 loose-pucks per-game.
DEFENSEMEN
Ryan Murray was scouted 4 times. Three of those games are from the World Junior Championship, while the other is from the CHL Top Prospects game. Murray was successful with 75% of his attempts to remove or acquire puck-possession from the opposition. He won 57% of his defensive-zone puck-battles, and recovered an average of 8 loose-pucks in the defensive-zone per-game.
Matt Dumba was scouted 3 times. Two of the games are from the World Under-18 Championship, and the other is from the CHL Top Prospects game. Dumba was successful with 76% of his attempts to remove or acquire puck-possession. He won 57% of his d-zone puck-battles, and recovered an average of 11 loose-pucks per-game in the defensive-zone.
Jacob Trouba was scouted 5 times. Three of those games are from the World Junior Hockey Championship, while 2 others are from the Under-18 Championship. Trouba was successful with 75% of his attempts to remove or acquire puck-possession. He won 68% of his d-zone puck-battles, and recovered an average of 6 d-zone loose-pucks per-game.
Griffin Reinhart was scouted 3 times. Two of those games took place during the 2012 Memorial Cup, while the other is from the CHL Top Prospects game. Reinhart was successful with 69% of his attempt to remove or acquire puck-possession. He won only 43% of his defensive-zone puck-battles, but intercepted an average of 2 opposition passes per-game.
Ville Pokka was scouted twice. Once during the WJHC, and once during the World Under-18 Championship. He was successful with only 60% of his attempts to remove or acquire puck-possession; lowest among this group of players. He won only 50% of his d-zone puck-battles, and lost too many races to loose-pucks; particularly in the defensive-zone.
Olli Maata was scouted 4 times. Once during the WJHC, and 3 times during the Memorial Cup. He was successful with 78% of his attempt to remove or acquire puck-possession. He won 71% of his puck-battles, and blocked an average of 3 shots per-game.
Cody Ceci was scouted twice. Both games are from the OHL playoffs. He was successful with an impressive 82% of his attempts to remove or acquire puck-possession from the opposition. He won 82% of his defensive-zone puck-battles, and recovered an average of 15 defensive-zone loose-pucks per-game. Ceci has a great stick, and impressive hockey-sense.
Adam Pelech was scouted 3 times. Twice during the Under-18 Championship, and once during the CHL Top Prospects game. He was successful with 79% of his attempts to remove or acquire puck-possession. He won 69% of his d-zone puck-battles, and recovered an average of 7 d-zone loose-pucks per-game.
Connor Carrick was scouted twice. He is only ranked 124th by Central Scouting, but his numbers intrigued me enough to include him here. Carrick is better with the puck than he is without it. That said, he was successful with 75% of his attempts to remove or acquire puck-possession from the opposition.
