Josh Gorges has been the Montreal Canadiens most consistent defenseman this season. Although not flashy, Gorges gets the job done; both efficiently and effectively. He's among the team leaders in most categories, and has the best even-strength ratio, and the top success-rates for defensive and offensive-zone puck-battles. Despite some hard minutes against top players, Gorges rating is actually trending up as the season progresses.
Gorges has had an overall rating below the team average in only 19 of the Canadiens 56 games this season. He has produced 3 ratings above 2.00, and has never had a negative overall risk/reward rating. In fact, he's never had a rating below 0.50; and all this while playing against the other teams' best players.
OFFENSIVE-ZONE
Gorges is tied for the fourth-best offensive-zone risk/reward rating among defensemen; behind PK Subban, Alexei Emelin and Tomas Kaberle. He also has an offensive-zone ratio of 1.84 successful plays for every 1 unsuccessful play. As a defensive defenseman, he recovers few o-zone loose-pucks, but does lead all d-men in offensive-zone puck-battle winning-percentage (58%). He completes 69% of his offensive-zone pass-attempts and gets 41% of his attempted shots through to the net.
NEUTRAL-ZONE
Gorges has the third-best neutral-zone risk/reward rating among defensemen; behind Subban and Chris Campoli. He has an incredible team-best neutral-zone ratio of 4.16 successful plays for every 1 unsuccessful play. He wins 61% of his neutral-zone puck-battles and completes 72% of his neutral-zone pass-attempts. He is successful with 71% of his attempts to safely dump the puck out of the defensive-zone, and an incredible 92% of his attempts to dump the puck deep into the offensive-zone.
DEFENSIVE-ZONE
Gorges has the third-best defensive-zone risk/reward rating among defensemen; behind only Kaberle and Subban. That said, he does have the best defensive-zone ratio, as he makes 2.73 successful plays in the d-zone for every 1 unsuccessful play. His 62% success-rate for d-zone puck-battles is a team-best, while his 76% success-rate for d-zone passes is second only to Tomas Kaberle. He leads the team with 114 blocked shots, and is second to Subban with 114 blocked or intercepted opposition passes in the defensive-zone.
SHORT-HANDED
Incredibly, Gorges short-handed risk/reward rating of 1.03 is actually better than 5 Montreal players' even-strength risk/reward ratings. Only penalty-killing specialist Hal Gill has a better short-handed ratio than Gorges' ratio of 2.20 successful plays for every 1 unsuccessful play. Gorges leads the team with 52 short-handed blocked shots and 52 blocked or intercepted opposition passes. He wins 57% of his short-handed puck-battles in the defensive-zone, and is successful with 64% of his attempts to dump the puck out of the d-zone while killing a penalty.
If player importance is measured in performance and quality of opposition, Josh Gorges is easily among the most important Montreal Canadiens players. He is an efficient and effective warrior who goes to battle every night; for his teammates and for this organization.
