Why Is He Still In the Lineup?

With Leafs losses piling up, the question that has been bothering Leaf fans is certainly ‘Well why don’t they call up some of the kids?’. This is the methodology, playing whoever plays best, was what Brian Burke seemed to want to follow at the start of the year, but as of yet, the lineup has stayed fairly consistent over the Leafs dreadful start. Although Christian Hanson was called up for tonight’s game in Tampa Bay, this seemed to be a move simply to get a replacement for the injured John Mitchell. So the real question is, when a team is losing like the Leafs are, what keeps certain guys in the lineup? They have to be bringing something positive to the team, right?

This analysis, which looks at all Leafs forwards that have played 10 games or more, gives the top 3 and bottom 3 performers on the team in what would be considered important statistical categories. These categories are fairly balanced in that, if the player is not a scorer, they should be contributing in other categories, like fighting majors or defensive categories. At the bottom, there is a tally for each player. If they were in the top 3 in a category, they recieve a +1, the bottom 3 a -1. Based on Brian Burke’s team-building methods, most of the players should be hovering around 0. Unfortunately this is not the case. Take a look:

Goals Per Game:
Top: Kessel (0.6), Hagman (0.43), Ponikarovsky (0.36)
Bottom: Mayers (0.0), Orr (0.0), Wallin (0.0)

Assists Per Game:
Top: Blake (0.55), Stajan (0.48), Grabovski (0.45)
Bottom: Primeau (0.00), Orr (0.05), Mayers/Wallin (0.10)

Points Per Game:
Top: Kessel (0.9), Stajan (0.71), Blake/Grabovski (0.64)
Bottom: Orr (0.05), Mayers/Wallin (0.10)

Plus/Minus:
Top: Ponikarovsky (+2), Kessel (+1), Mayers/Primeau (-2)
Bottom: Hagman/Stajan (-6), Wallin/Stempniak/Grabovski (-5)

Shots Per Game:
Top: Kessel (5.80), Blake (3.32), Stempniak (3.23)
Bottom: Orr (0.68), Mayers/Wallin (0.8)

Hits Per Game:
Top: Ponikarovsky (1.95), Kulemin (1.83), Mitchell (1.59)
Bottom: Kessel (0.30), Hagman (0.48), Wallin (0.50)

Blocked Shots Per Game:
Top: Mitchell (0.68), Stajan (0.52), Wallin (0.50)
Bottom: Kulemin (0.17), Orr (0.18), Kessel (0.20)

Fighting Majors Per Game:
Top: Orr (0.32), Mayers (0.3), Hagman (0.05)
Bottom: Primeau/Ponikarovsky/Wallin/Blake/Stajan/Stempniak/Kulemin/Kessel/Grabovski (0.00)

Takeaways Per Game:
Top: Blake (1.09), Stempniak (0.95), Grabovski (0.59)
Bottom: Orr (0.00), Primeau (0.13), Ponikarovsky (0.18)

Minor Penalties Per Game:
Top: Grabovski (0.05), Kessel (0.1), Kulemin (0.11)
Bottom: Mayers (0.70), Ponikarovsky (0.50), Stajan (0.33)

Giveaways Per Game:
Top: Orr (0.00), Mayers (0.00), Primeau (0.07)
Bottom: Kessel (1.00), Grabovski (0.86), Stempniak (0.73)

Faceoff Percentage:
Top: Primeau (57.8%), Mayers (55.8%), Stajan (53.6%)
Bottom: Wallin (43.5%), Mitchell (48.7%), Grabovski (49.8%)

Power Play Points/Time on Ice (for forwards avg. >1:00/game):
Top: Stajan (1/8.05 mins.), Hagman (1/10.01 mins.), Blake (1/10.41 mins.)
Bottom: Ponikarovsky (1/32.45 mins.), Grabovski (1/15.95 mins.), Mitchell (1/14.48 mins.)

Penalty Killing (for forwards avg. >1:00/game):
Top: Hagman (1 GA/27.65 mins.), Stajan (1 GA/10.24 mins.), Mitchell (1 GA/9.35 mins.)
Bottom: Mayers (1 GA/3.7 mins.), Primeau (1 GA/3.83 mins.), Stempniak (1 GA/6.38 mins.)

Blake: +4
Stajan: +3
Hagman: +2
Kessel: +1
Mitchell: +1
Kulemin: 0
Grabovski: -1
Ponikarovsky: -1
Primeau: -1
Mayers: -2
Stempniak: -2
Orr: -4
Wallin: -7

Based on these numbers, Jason Blake has been the most well-rounded forward for the Leafs, while Rickard Wallin has been the worst. Sometimes other things than scoring should be looked at before calling for a player’s head.

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