Dion Phaneuf averages more even-strength ice-time than Toronto Maple Leafs player not named Roman Polak. He has a team-leading traditional plus/minus of plus-10, and 6 of his 10 points have come on the powerplay. This post will use data obtained through my data-driven player tracking system to communicate Phaneuf's performance in the defensive-zone.
I have tracked every Leafs game this season. A list of the events I track can be found here.
In terms of scoring-chances, Phaneuf has helped produce the third-most even-strength scoring-chances for per-60, and the third-fewest scoring-chances against per-60 among Leafs defensemen.
Surprisingly enough though, Dion Phaneuf is the most passive Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman. He has engaged in both the fewest even-strength events per-60, as well as the fewest defensive-zone events per-60. In fact, Phaneuf averages 30 fewer ES events per-60 than an average Leafs defenseman. This inactivity significantly hurts Phaneuf's impact on puck-possession, as he has the lowest even-strength possession rating of any Leafs defenseman; 0.35 successful ES possession-impacting events per-minute played below replacement value.
Phaneuf's inactivity carries over to the defensive-zone, but is not justified by a lack of "time" spent defending. Despite the lowest defensive-zone start percentage (tied with Jake Gardiner) among Leafs defensemen, number 3 has engaged in a higher percentage of his overall events while defending in the defensive-zone than any other Leafs defenseman. This, while having engaged in fewer events in the defensive-zone per-minute played than anyone else. In addition to this low-event total, Phaneuf has also produced only 2.17 successful plays in the defensive-zone for every 1 failed play; lowest among Leafs d-men. This defensive-zone ratio is a strong indication of performance in the d-zone. For comparison's sake, Stephane Robidas leads the Leafs D with a d-zone ratio of 2.61, and is directly responsible for 3 fewer scoring-chances against per-60 than Phaneuf.
Sixty-five percent of Phaneuf's even-strength events have occurred in the defensive-zone (0.2% above average), 57% of his offensive-touches (events with possession) have occurred in the defensive-zone (2.5% less than average), and 78.9% of his attempts to remove possession from the opposition (defensive-touches) have occurred in the d-zone (4.5% more than average).
Breaking his defensive-zone events down into those with and those without possession, we see that he has attempted the fewest events per-60 with possession of the puck in the defensive-zone among Leafs d-men, and the third-most events attempting to remove possession from the opposition in the d-zone per-60.
The main reason for this imbalance in terms of defensive-events with and without possession is Phaneuf's low loose-puck recovery total. Likely due to his tendency to collapse toward his net while defending and his low d-zone start percentage, Phaneuf recovers fewer defensive-zone loose-pucks per-60 than any Leafs defensman. This inability to regain possession often forces Phaneuf to spend more time defending than otherwise necessary. In fact, 42.8% of Phaneuf's events in the defensive-zone are spent defending; 4.7% more than the Leafs average d-man. Phaneuf has also been directly responsible for more even-strength scoring-chances against off the cycle per-60 than any other Leafs player; also surprising considering his low d-zone start percentage.
In terms of success-rates, Phaneuf has the fourth-best success-rate (58.5%) among Leafs d-men when attempting to remove puck-possession from the opposition in the defensive-zone, and the third-lowest (lower is better) defensive-zone turnover-rate. Phaneuf turns the puck over 28% of the time he has possession of the puck in the defensive-zone, while the average among Leafs defenseman is an identical 28%.
When defending 1on1, Phaneuf is more likely to use his body than any other Leafs d-man, as he has attempted 65.3 body-checks for every 100 stick-checks. The average among Leafs defensemen is 47.3 body-checks per-100 stick-checks, while the Leafs team average is 34.9 per-100.
When in possession of the puck in the defensive-zone, Phaneuf has produced the second-lowest controlled defensive-zone exit per-dump-out ratio. That said, he has attempted a stretch-pass from the defensive-zone 12.5% of the time he's had possession, while no other Leafs d-man has a stretch-pass tendency above 10.3%. The average among defensemen is only 8.1%.
Looking deeper into his defensive-zone puck-possession tendencies we see that only 1 other defensemen is less likely than Phaneuf to attempt a standard defensive-zone outlet pass or d-to-d pass. Phaneuf is less likely than any other Leafs d-man to attempt to dump the puck out of the defensive-zone through the middle of the ice, but the third most-likely to dump the puck out via the boards or glass.
Phaneuf does lead all Leafs defensemen with 4.39 scoring-chances for per-100 possession plays. In terms of chances against, Phaneuf has been directly responsible for 8.85 chances against per-100 possession plays; second-most behind Roman Polak. Another metric focusing on scoring-chances shows us that 14.8% of the shots against that occur while Phaneuf is on the ice are scoring-chances; an improvement over the average among Leafs defensemen (15.3%).
This post is not meant to qualify Phaneuf as a good or bad defenseman. It is simply an outlet for communicating his on-ice performance in the defensive-zone, while maintaining context via team averages.