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Top Guns: Winnipeg Jets Best Possession Players

Over the past three seasons, underlying numbers have increased greatly in understanding for the general public. At the same time, Winnipeg has enjoyed three seasons of the Jets second edition as a NHL franchise.

In this mini-series, Arctic Ice Hockey takes a look at how the Jets’ roster has performed in these metrics relative to each other in finding the best of the best. We also look at how new Jets Mathieu Perreault and T.J. Galiardi have performed in these numbers over the same time period.

In this edition, we look at each player's possession numbers and open play possession numbers, although without any adjustment for line matching or linemates (such adjustments are still in their infancy). I recently have been able to acquire the Corsi% numbers under certain situations for the Jets forwards. I plan to do some more in depth analysis, but this can be a teaser of what is to come.

Top End Players

First let's look at the players most likely to fill the top end of the roster.

Player Corsi% OP Corsi%
Andrew Ladd 53.4% 53.4%
Michael Frolik* 52.9% 53.3%
Bryan Little 52.5% 52.7%
Blake Wheeler 51.3% 51.5%
Evander Kane 51.1% 51.4%
Mark Scheifele 48.6% 49.1%
Mathieu Perreault 53.0% 52.9%

OP Corsi% (Open Play Corsi%) removes the first ten seconds from any face off, severely diminishing the effects of face off effects and zone starts
*Frolik and Halischuk's numbers are only for their 2013-14 season, due to being new additions to the Jets

Thoughts:

* The Jets top forwards Little, Wheeler, and Kane have all had their time to shine, so it is about time the Jets' captain got his moment in the sun. Andrew Ladd has been the Jets best two-way forward in terms of results, and he's done it when matching up against the other team's top lines.

* When Paul Maurice constructed Ladd-Little-Frolik, he made a super possession line. All three players are in the top 90 in the NHL for OP Corsi% for those with 1000+ 5v5 minutes over the last three seasons. It should be noted that not all players in the top 90 face tough line matching like they do. They are top notch possession players.

* Wheeler's and Kane's talents lie more in their ability to produce rather than two-way play, but they are still out possessing their opponents.

* Scheifele's numbers are interesting. Since he is a player that has been sheltered and deployed mostly in the offensive zone, you'd expect his numbers to to be swapped. It is likely he struggled as a young player in faceoffs -both wins and losses- which pulled down his numbers.

* Perreault has dominated softer competition.

Bottom End Players

Now let's look at the players most likely not to fill the top end of the roster.

Player Corsi% OP Corsi%
Eric Tangradi 52.7% 52.7%
Jim Slater 43.5% 44.0%
Chris Thorburn 43.9% 43.9%
Matt Halischuk* 44.1% 43.2%
T.J. Galiardi 50.0% 50.4%

OP Corsi% (Open Play Corsi%) removes the first ten seconds from any face off, severely diminishing the effects of face off effects and zone starts
*Frolik and Halischuk's numbers are only for their 2013-14 season, due to being new additions to the Jets

Thoughts:

* The Jets bottom forwards have been pretty embarrassing. Their one player who has respectable numbers (Tangradi) has not been much of a point producer.

* The rest have terrible two-way numbers and not strong enough production rates to make up for their inefficiencies

* Galiardi is a nice change of pace. His point productions are not black hole levels and his possession numbers are respectable for a bottom six player.

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