A hockey-game is often won or lost in the neutral-zone. A player's abilities to maintain puck-possession in the neutral-zone, and by extension limit turnovers, is the quickest way in, or out of a coach's doghouse. A player with possession of the puck in the neutral-zone has 3 main options; he can pass the puck to a teammate, beat an opposing player 1on1 with a deke, or dump the puck deep into the offensive-zone. The graph below is a visual representation of every Montreal Canadiens skater's success-rate when engaging in one of these events. The calculation allows us to quantify each player's ability to avoid giveaways in the neutral-zone, while also moving the play closer to the opposition's net. The events used in this calculation include:
- Neutral-zone passes
- Failed neutral-zone passes
- Neutral-zone dekes
- Failed neutral-zone dekes
- Successful dump-ins (puck gets inside hash-marks)
- failed dump-ins (puck doesn't get inside hash-marks, or dump-in results in an icing)
FORWARDS
The top neutral-zone success-rates while in possession of the puck belong to Gabriel Dumont and Andreas Engqvist. That said, both players' limited ice-time and limited events make their results incomplete.
Among players with substantial events, the most successful Habs player with possession of the puck in the neutral-zone was actually Blake Geoffrion. Geoffrion was successful with 81% of his neutral-zone events while in possession of the puck. He completed 77% of his neutral-zone passes, and 84% of his attempts to dump the puck deep into the offensive-zone.
The only other forward with a success-rate above 80% was Tomas Plekanec. Plekanec's 80% success-rate was the result of completing 85% of his dump-ins, 79% of his neutral-zone passes, and 67% of his attempts to beat opposing players 1on1 (deke).
The lowest neutral-zone puck-possession success-rate was earned by Brad Staubitz. Staubitz was successful with only 54% of his neutral-zone events while in possession of the puck. He was successful with 67% of his dump-ins, but only 46% of his neutral-zone passes.
The only other player with a success-rate below 70% was Petteri Nokelainen. He was successful with only 65% of his events while in possession of the puck in the neutral-zone. He completed 69% of his passes, but only 43% of his attempts to beat opposing players 1on1 (deke).
DEFENSEMEN
The most efficient defenseman with possession of the puck in the neutral-zone was Josh Gorges. Gorges was successful with 81% of his neutral events while in possession of the puck. He completed 72% of his neutral-zone passes, and an impressive 92% of his dump-ins. His dump-in success-rate translates to 188 pucks placed behind opposition defensemen.
The only other defenseman with a success-rate above 80% was PK Subban. Subban was successful with exactly 80% of his n-zone events while in possession of the puck. He completed 83% of his dump-ins, and 73% of his neutral-zone passes. He was also successful with an impressive 93% of his attempts to beat opposing players 1on1 through the neutral-zone. This success-rate translates to an impressive 77 successful dekes, and only 6 failed dekes.
The least efficient defenseman with possession of the puck in the neutral-zone was Frederic St. Denis. Denis was successful with only 73% of his neutral-zone events while in possession of the puck. He completed only 67% of his neutral-zone passes; lowest among all defensemen.
Other defensemen with success-rates below 75% include; Alexei Emelin and Chris Campoli. Campoli was successful with 74% of his n-zone events while in possession of the puck, while Emelin had a success-rate of 73%. Both players excelled with their dump-ins, but Emelin struggled beating players 1on1, while Campoli struggled completing passes.
