Below you will find a compendium of interesting stats. Take from them what you will. Or, if you're feeling particularly sluggish, take from them what I have taken from them. Whatever.
2047 - There is one year remaining on coach Willie Desjardins’ contract with Vancouver. With yet another bottom finish this season, I’d rate the chances of him playing out that final year pretty low. Yet the fact that he survived to the end of this season is pretty impressive, five other NHL coaches (with a combined total of 2047 career wins) were fired in 2016-17.
11 - The number of goals Vancouver will need to score against Edmonton over the next two games to avoid an ignominious record. If they don’t, they’ll finish with the lowest goal totals in franchise history, again. We started from the bottom and now we’re… still here.
2 - I just ran a draft lottery simulator and Vancouver landed second. “They” selected Nico Hischier, in case you were curious. That’s the dream right there, isn’t it? Surprisingly, Detroit jumped up five spots to select Nolan Patrick first. Here it is, click away, dream away.
12.1% - Speaking of draft chances, if the Canucks finish 29th in the League (where they currently sit), they will have a 12.1% percent chance of winning the first overall draft pick in the 2017 NHL draft lottery. That’s a tad lower than in years past due to the inclusion of the Vegas Golden Knights, but a full 2% higher than before yesterday’s loss against Arizona, when they were camped out at 28th. The Coyotes gained two standing points and lost two percentage points.
7.6% - The lowest possible chance Vancouver will have at selecting first overall. In order to end up there, they would need to win both upcoming games against Edmonton and New Jersey would have to lose one out of their next two games. So from a draft perspective (if not a morale one), it’s best if Vancouver hangs on to 29th place.
9th - If the Canucks were to win the next two games and New Jersey lost at least one of their next two, 9th overall is the lowest that the Canucks could statistically select. Don’t fret, getting there requires some seriously long odds… if they finish 27th, they have just a 2% chance of landing the 9th pick.
47 - Vancouver’s first overall pick drought. During almost half-century, they have never once won the draft lottery or selected first. That’s the longest such stretch of any team. They did hold the first overall pick once, briefly, but Brian Burke famously traded it off to the Atlanta Thrashers to select Daniel and Henrik Sedin. I give him a hindsighted high-five for that one.
0.5 - The point-per-game pace of Alex Burrows in Ottawa right now. Since being traded to the Senators in exchange for Jonathan Dahlen, Burrows has notched six goals and nine points, including the tying goal against none other than the Boston Bruins on Thursday. Oh, and that goal clinched a playoff spot for the Sens. No big deal.
51.23 - Guess who has the highest Corsi rating on the team? Excluding anyone who played fewer than 12 games this season, Brendan Gaunce is the big winner. Surprised? Don’t be, he is good at hockey. He may not play a ton of minutes, but he’s logged 57 games against tough opponents. This lends credence to the theory that he may be targeted by the Golden Knights come June.
562 - The difference in team shot attempts between Vancouver (28th in the league) and Los Angeles (1st). The only two teams with lower shot attempt totals are New Jersey and Detroit. It’s interesting to see how shot attempts correlate with scoring success. The top three teams are Los Angeles, Boston and Montreal. Most high scoring teams are in the upper-middle portion of the pack.
It’s clear that gross shot attempt count is not necessarily a perfect yardstick for success, but on the other hand, a low number of attempts correlates very strongly with a bottom place finish.
16:39 - The average ice time of defenceman Nikita Tryamkin this season. That’s lower than any other defender who has played at least 30 games, lower even than Philip Larsen. (OK, technically Alex Biega is lower, but he’s played half the season as a forward, so he doesn’t count.) It’s been a long and frustrating campaign and I have to wonder if the big guy is wearing out.
14:07 - But it’s not all bad news on the Russian ice time front. Nikolay Goldobin played a season high 14:07 against Arizona, riding shotgun alongside the Sedin twins. Interestingly, he didn’t have that many more shifts than usual, but he clearly benefited from the Sedin’s ability to maintain puck control. Or did they benefit from him? Pretty sure I saw some serious Goldy cycle action. More please.
15% - Brock Boeser has three goals in seven games. In case you’re worried about an unsustainable shooting percentage, don’t be. He’s scoring at a 15% clip, just a bit better than the 12.1% he managed in the NCHC this year, and considerably lower than the 20% he bullseyed the previous season. There's nothing lucky about Brock's success. He gets in position, he shoots a lot, and his shot is really accurate.
