By The Numbers: Measuring The Winnipeg Jets’ Penalty Kill Effectiveness

In our look at how Winnipeg Jets defenders performed on the penalty kill, I speculated that some of our forwards could have dragged down Mark Stuart’s numbers, of course the opposite is also possible.

Let's continue our look at who excelled at preventing shots and goals on the penalty kill.

Note: Statistically, shot totals have been proven to be more repeatable than goal totals as they rely less on chance, but scoring and preventing goals are the aim of players. Therefore, it will also be included in this analysis.

In order to remove small samples, this analysis will be limited to players who played twenty games or more.

Here is a look at how the Jets forwards did on the penalty kill.

Of Note:

• The Jets busiest penalty killing forwards were Jim Slater, Alexander Burmistrov, Nik Antropov and Tanner Glass in that order.
• Burmistrov is an incredible penalty killer, especially if you consider his experience level. When he figures out the offensive side of his game, this kid will be a pleasure to watch.
• For all the flack they got, Nik Antropov and Antti Miettinen were very effective on the penalty kill.
• The same can’t be said about Jim Slater, Chris Thorburn or Tanner Glass. They were terrible by all four measures and compared favorably to Evander Kane who is credited with zero defensive ability.
• Two things really stand out to my about GST. First, they allowed a lot of shots against. Second, they generated about half as many offensive opportunities relative to everybody else. Those two numbers quite clearly show their inability to get the puck out of the zone.
• In case you forgot or missed it, GST was awfully ineffective at 5 on 5 too. Stinky stinky stinky. Hopefully the team’s improved depth moves Slater and Throburn away from these tough minutes.
• I can’t imagine what these numbers would have looked like if Jim Slater wasn’t a solid faceoff man. If you consider that neither Antro or Burmi is effective in the circle, is it possible that the value of winning draws on the PK is overrated?
• Evander Kane and Blake Wheeler didn’t play enough for their numbers to mean anything.
• Andrew Ladd and Bryan Little were both solid on the penalty kill, but Claude Noel prefers to keep his first powerplay unit fresh from PK minutes. If Olli Jokinen and Evander Kane eventually supplant them on the first powerplay unit, I expect them to get a little more PK time.

Which numbers impress you or disappoint you the most? Does anything else stand out to you? Or is there anything that I may have been overlooked? Please let us know in the comments section.