A player's corsi-for percentage can be the product of his own strong play, the work of his linemates, or simply the result of how his coach is deploying him.
This post will focus on which Montreal Canadiens are actually driving possession, and which players are profiting from the way they're being deployed. By combining a player's offensive-zone start percentage with his offensive-zone possession percentage, as well as the number of possession-driving plays he's contributed; we can learn whether a player is spending more "time" with possession in the offensive-zone because of his own hard work; or simply living off his coach's charity.
Offensive-zone puck-possession percentage reflects the percentage of a player's overall events that occur with puck-possession in the offensive-zone. The data for each player is displayed relative to an average Habs player playing the same position (relative-to-replacement). The higher the value, the more "time" that player spends with possession of the puck in the offensive-zone. This metric is calculated simply by dividing the total number of attempted plays with possession of the puck in the offensive-zone by the total amount of events (both with and without possession) that a player engaged in (all 3 zones) at even-strength.
Relative to other Habs wingers, Alex Galchenyuk produced the highest percentage of his overall events with possession of the puck in the offensive-zone. In other words, Galchenyuk spends more of his "time" on the ice with possession in the offensive-zone than any other Canadiens player. In terms of offensive-zone start percentage, Three other wingers (Brendan Gallagher, Max Pacioretty, PA Parenteau) start a higher percentage of their shifts in the offensive-zone.
Galchenyuk has been able to spend more "time" with possession of the puck in the offensive-zone because he had produced more possession-driving plays than any other winger at even-strength. More importantly, Galchenyuk has recovered more offensive-zone loose-pucks than any other winger (Pacioretty held that honor last season), while completing more north and south-bound cycle passes in the offensive-zone that any other Montreal winger.
Relative to Habs centres, David Desharnais has produced the highest percentage of his overall events with possession of the puck in the offensive-zone. Unlike Galchenyuk, Desharnais offensive-zone start percentage of 59.1 is tops among centres, and second behind only Pacioretty among forwards. Desharnais' high percentage of possession events in the offensive-zone has been the product of this high o-zone start percentage, as he is currently third among Habs centres (behind Lars Eller and Tomas Plekanec) in possession-driving plays per-60.
Where Desharnais does lead the pack among centres is in overall offensive-zone passing success-rate, total number of south-bound (away from the opposition's net) cycle passes per-60, and successful passes to the slot per-60. In other words, Desharnais remains the Habs best offensive-zone puck-distributor among it's current group of forwards. A title he's held each of the previous two seasons.
Relative to Habs defensemen and as shocking as it may seem (sarcasm alert), PK Subban has contributed the highest percentage of his overall events in the offensive-zone. Subban is second among Habs d-men in offensive-zone start percentage (behind only Nathan Beaulieu). That said, Subban also leads all Montreal defensemen in possession-driving plays per-60. In fact, he has produced over 20 more even-strength possession-driving plays per-60 than an average Montreal defenseman.
Among other players, Parenteau's below-average offensive-zone possession percentage is low considering his high offensive-zone start percentage (2nd among wingers). Counter-intuitively, Parenteau actually produced the fourth-most possession-driving plays per-60 among Habs wingers, but the bulk of those possession-driving plays have occurred in either the defensive or neutral-zones. In fact, only 42.4% of his possession-driver occur in the offensive-zone; compared to an average of 47.9% among Habs wingers.
Travis Moen, Jiri Sekac, Brandon Prust, and Manny Malhotra have the lowest offensive-zone possession percentage among Habs forwards. In their defense, they also have the lowest offensive-zone start percentage among all Habs skaters. These four players have produced below average totals in possession-driving plays as well. Travis Moen however, is second among Habs wingers in defensive-zone puck-moving plays per-60.
Tom Gilbert is second among Habs defensemen in offensive-zone puck-possession percentage. This despite having the lowest offensive-zone start percentage. Gilbert is only fourth among Habs defensemen in ES possession-driving plays. All signs point to Gilbert's high o-zone possession percentage as being more a product of his partner Andrei Markov than Gilbert himself. Markov has the lowest defensive-zone turnover-rate among Habs defensmen, while also contributing the second-most possession-driving plays behind only PK Subban.
Lars Eller has the third-lowest offensive-zone possession-percentage among Habs wingers. That said, Eller's o-zone possession-percentage is strongly impacted by his low o-zone start percentage, as only Malhotra starts a lower percentage of his shifts in the offensive-zone. In fact, Eller leads all Habs centres in possession-driving plays per-60. More impressively, 45.1% of his possession-driving plays actually occurred in the offensive-zone; second among Habs centres, and behind only Desharnais.
OVERALL O-ZONE POSSESSION PERCENTAGE
OFFENSIVE-ZONE START PERCENTAGE (FROM BEHINDTHENET.CA)
Special thanks to www.behindthenet.ca for the excellent data
Is a player earning his corsi-ranking, or simply living off deployment? Tracking individual player's puck-possession events (micro-stats) can allow us to look beyond shot-metrics, and communicate why certain players are spending more "time" in the offensive-zone than others.
