This post will focus on each Montreal Canadiens defenseman's tendencies when in possession of the puck in the neutral-zone. Only even-strength events in the neutral-zone were used in this calculation. Obviously, the higher the percentage, the more often each player has chosen to attempt that play.
Player tendencies in the neutral-zone are broken down into 4 categories:
- Attempted passes
- High-risk attempted passes (through an opposition player's legs, or under his stick)
- Attempted dekes
- Attempted dump-ins
The Habs defensmen have produced a neutral-zone puck-possession success-rate of 74.9% this season. Their n-touch success-rate last season was 76.2%.
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Douglas Murray has a below-average n-zone puck-possession success-rate of 57.7%. Despite choosing to dump the puck-in more often the the average d-man, Murray's neutral-zone offensive-touch success-rate is still far-and-away the lowest among Habs d-men
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Jarred Tinordi has a below-average n-zone puck-possession success-rate of 70.6%. Tinordi consistently failed to gain centre-ice while carrying the puck; forcing him to make high-risk passes, and preventing him from dumping the puck into the offensive-zone.
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Josh Gorges has an above-average n-zone puck-possession success-rate of 81.5%. In fact, Gorges has the best neutral-zone puck-possession success-rate of any Montreal player.
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Nathan Beaulieu has an average n-zone puck-possession success-rate of 75%. Only Subban has attempted a higher-percentage of neutral-zone dekes than Beaulieu.
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Francis Bouillon has an above-average n-zone puck-possession success-rate of 78.3%. Only Murray and Beaulieu have chosen to dump the puck into the offensive-zone more often than Bouillon.
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Raphael Diaz has a slightly below-average n-zone puck-possession success-rate of 73.1%. Diaz has chosen the pass-option more often than the average Habs d-man.
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Alexei Emelin has a slightly an average n-zone puck-possession success-rate of 75%. Emelin (SSS) has also chosen the pass-option more often than the average Habs d-man.
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PK Subban has a slightly a below-average n-zone puck-possession success-rate of 72.6%. Subban has chosen to beat players 1on1 (deke) more often than any other defenseman, while only Andrei Markov has chosen to attempt a high-risk pass more often than Subban.
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Andrei Markov has a slightly above-average n-zone puck-possession success-rate of 75.4%. As mentioned earlier, Markov is the most-likely among Habs d-men to attempt a high-risk pass in the neutral-zone. None among Markov's defensive-teammates with substantial ice-time have chosen to dump the puck into the offensive-zone less-often than number 79.
Tendencies can be an important clue to a player's performance. Thankfully, data-generated scouting allows us to quantify each player's tendency when in possession of the puck.
