I’m always interested to see how players compare to their competition across the NHL. When analyzing and evaluating defencemen we can look at many different aspects. Points are pretty important, since goals have the biggest impact on the outcome of a games, but there are many other factors to consider.

Today I wanted to look at passing and transporting the puck out of the defensive zone.

With the data from SportLogiq (and lots of help) let’s look at the top-100 defenders in outlet pass attempts, stretch pass attempts, pass ups and carry outs.

Here is how each pass is defined:

Outlet pass:  Any completed pass (up ice) inside the defensive zone. This does not include lateral passes to defence partner, or passes off boards behind the net.

Stretch pass: Any pass from inside the blueline that is completed beyond the centre ice red line.

Carry out: When the defender carries the puck out of the defensive zone under control into the neutral zone.

Pass up: A completed pass across the blueline, but not past centre.

Let’s start with Outlet passes as they are the most common among defenders.

These numbers match with much of what we see in games. You would like Nurse to complete a few more outlet passes. Could he improve to 69%? I think that is a realistic ask and to do so he would need to complete 25 more passes next season. Essentially one more completed pass every third game.

It is also important to note that Bear and Nurse played almost exclusively together this season. Bear was more of the passer, while Nurse more of the transporter. More on that below.

Caleb Jones was similar to Bear, albeit with 40% fewer attempts and against lesser competition. Keep in mind outlet passes includes making passes under pressure.

How do the Oilers compare to the top-100 pass attempt defenders in the NHL? Take a look.

Any completed pass (up ice) inside the defensive zone. This does not include lateral passes to defence partner, or passes of boards behind the net.

Cam Fowler had the best completion% at 81.9%, followed by Rasmus Anderson (79.1%), Justin Holl (77.6%), Neal Pionk (77.4%) and Tyson Barrie (76.4%).

The bottom five are interesting with Henri Jokiharju (65.5%), Thomas Chabot (65%), Brent Burns (64.9%), Oliver Ekman-Larsson (64.4%) and Jeff Petry (63.4%).

I think it illustrates that, while quality of competition might play a factor (Chabot v. Holl), the perception of who are great outlet passers might not always match what occurs on the ice.

Bear is sixth in pass attempts and 41st in success rate.
Nurse was 52nd in pass attempts and 95th in success rate.
Klefbom was 74th in pass attempts and 25th in success rate.

Any pass from inside the blueline that is completed beyond the centre ice red line.

Here are the Oilers numbers:

It is interesting to note that Bear, Klefbom and Larsson’s success rate was lower in stretch passes, while Nurse’s improved. Can he work on improving his outlet passes by a few percent? I’m not sure, but it is something to watch for next season. There is only a 4.3% spread among the top seven defenders.

Here is how the Oilers compare to the rest of the NHL. Again, via Sportlogiq, we used the top-100 in attempts. Which are usually the D-men who played the most.

The top-five in successful passes were Noah Hanafin (79%), Henri Jokiharju (78.2%), Ivan Provorov (77.9%), Justin Faulk (77.4%) and Cale Makar (76.3%).

But what stood out most was the bottom-five with Erik Karlsson (59.3%), Keith Yandle (58.9%), Duncan Keith (58.6%), Roman Josi (58.5%) and Torey Krug (58.5%). All five of those defenders are considered very good offensive players and good passers. I wonder if they tried passes that others wouldn’t (low success rate), because they felt they could thread the needle? Or maybe some are just better at the shorter, more direct passes, (which are used more) while other D-men are better at the long bomb (just like some quarterbacks).

It was fascinating to me and something I want to dig into deeper.

Passing happens more of course, but the ability to skate with the puck is vital in today’s game.

Carry out: When the defender carries the puck out of the defensive zone under control into the neutral zone.

Pass up: A completed pass across the blueline, but not past centre.

Here are the numbers from the Oilers defenders:

Nurse had significantly more carry-outs and pass outs than any other Oilers defender. While his outlet passing can improve, he is much more efficient passing the puck out of the zone. And it seems he and Bear, who played 89% of Bear’s TOI together, played to each other’s strengths. Bear had 200 more outlet pass attempts, while Nurse had many more carry-outs and pass-outs.

I’d like to look at film to see if Nurse is a better passer when he is in motion compared to standing still. Does that impact why he has a higher success rate in completing pass-outs and stretch passes?

Nurse was among the league leaders in both categories.

Roman Josi was on a completely different level in zone exits. He led in both carry-outs and pass-outs and his 417 zone exits were 62 more than second place Thomas Chabot. And Chabot was 90 ahead of third place Colton Parayko. It is interesting to see Chabot and Nurse both in the top-five in zone exits, but much lower in successful outlet passes.

Nurse was 10th in carry-outs, sixth in pass-outs, fifth in zone exits and 37th in successful exits.
Klefbom was 87th in carry-outs, 81st in pass-outs, 93rd in zone exits and 68th in successful exits.
Larsson was 95th in carry-outs, but wasn’t in the top-100 of total zone exits. He did have a very good 84% success rate, but that is due to him carrying it out and rarely passing it with only 11 pass outs.

I enjoyed this process, and want to thank Mike and Kenny from SportLogiq for being patient with my multiple requests. They were awesome and provided some incredible data.

It is great to dig a bit deeper into puck movement, both passing or transporting the puck, for defenders. The game is evolving and you need defenders who can excel in one or the other, and ideally both.

I wanted to look at the numbers, because I think hyperbole has become too rampant in analyzing players. Often I read or hear, “He is a terrible skater,” or “He can’t make a pass,” which is asinine considering these are the best players in the world.

Would you like Nurse to improve as a passer? Yes. He should improve by a few % points, and I think that is possible when he works more with his skills coach, Adam Oates, in the off-season. I don’t expect Nurse to suddenly become an elite outlet passer. He doesn’t need to be, but if he can improve 3-5% on successful outlet passes, that is a good improvement and realistic.

But while his passing needs work, he is among the NHL’s elite at transporting the puck out of his zone. It is important to look at the areas a player succeeds at rather than only focus on where they struggle. If we focus too much on the latter, it overshadows what they do well.