Last, week, two pieces were posted that talked about a player’s “playmaking” ability. I put it in quotes because it’s a term that gets tossed around a lot and sometimes isn’t defined by those using it. For example, in this piece from Andrew Berkshire (using data from SportLogiq), it is never clearly defined despite being in the title of the piece. Passes are categorized based on direction (north, south, east-west), zone (offensive zone, neutral zone), or some other qualifiers (to the slot, off the rush), but nowhere are they tied to shots. Passes are charted based on “successful pass volume” per twenty minutes. One can assume these are pass completions per twenty minutes. However, with hundreds of passes completed each game, many of them are simply woven into the noise of the game. We’re interested in what leads to events, specifically exits, entries, shots, and goals. Berkshire includes exit and entry passes, so at least those are present. Nevertheless, despite zero detail on what matters most – creating shots for teammates – Berkshire concludes that “we may be witnessing the beginning of the best playmaker of the next generation of NHL stars in Barkov.”

The other piece I referred to was this by Travis Yost on Joe Thornton. He clearly explains what he means by playmaker”: “To me, a playmaker in the NHL is the guy who routinely creates opportunity for his linemates.” Thornton is without a doubt a 1st ballot Hall-of-Famer and one of the best setup men in the league. It’s only natural to think of the man that once made Jonathan Cheechoo lead the league in goals as one of the greatest playmakers we’ve seen over the last decade. Yost’s definition of creating opportunities for teammates is one I would agree with.

If only there was a publicly available set of data that including passing and shot assist numbers for Barkov and Thornton. Oh, wait… All data is at 5v5 because no one cares about special teams except for Arik Parnass.

Continue reading →