Puck-management is about making the necessary plays in order to gain, and maintain puck-possession in the offensive-zone. This post will communicate how well each Montreal Canadiens player performed managing the puck relative to a replacement player. The graph breaks down the percentage of total events (offensive and defensive) in all 3 zones each player engaged in while in possession of the puck in the offensive-zone. Those with a higher percentage spent more "time" with possession in the o-zone. Consequently, they spent less "time" defending in the defensive-zone.
The calculation is performed by dividing the number of events each player engaged in while in possession of the puck in the offensive-zone by the total number of events (all 3 zones) each player engaged-in.
Expressed more simply; if a player engaged in 4 events with possession of the puck in the offensive-zone, and engaged in a total of 10 events in all 3 zones, than his offensive-zone possession percentage would be (4/10 =0.40) or 40%.
In other words, 40% if his overall events were spent while in possession of the puck in the offensive-zone.
In order to determine a players performance above replacement we simply subtract the average percentage produced by all the players who play that position from each individual player's total.
Offensive-zone possession plays include all passes, dekes, and shots that are attempted while positioned in the offensive-zone.
A list of all events tracked can be found here.
OVERALL OFFENSIVE-ZONE POSSESSION PERCENTAGE ABOVE REPLACEMENT
Not surprisingly, the Habs top offensive-players are also among the leaders in this metric.
Among wingers, Max Pacioretty, Thomas Vanek, and Rene Bourque engaged in the highest percentage of events with possession in the offensive-zone relative to a replacement player. David Desharnais was the only center to produce an o-zone possession percentage above replacement value, while PK Subban, Nathan Beaulieu (SSS), and Andrei Markov were the only d-men to post numbers above replacement.
This metric is a great tool when attempting to quantify the difference between offensive and defensive-players.
