THE TRUTH AT 20

EXPLAINING THE NUMBERS

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1. LW Jakub Vrana, Washington Capitals 2.862
2. LW Hunter Shinkaruk, Calgary Flames 2.778 (acquired from Vancouver)
   


3. RW Tobias Lindberg, Toronto Maple Leafs 2.564 (acquired from Ottawa)


4. C Jason Dickinson, Dallas Stars 2.52
   


5. LW Nikolay Goldobin, San Jose Sharks 2.461
6. LW Anthony Mantha, Detroit Red Wings 2.448
   
7. LW Kerby Rychel, Toronto Maple Leafs 2.273 (acquired from Columbus)
   


8. LW Nick Ritchie, Anaheim Ducks 2.246


9. RW Justin Bailey, Buffalo Sabres 2.226
10. C Nic Petan, Winnipeg Jets 2.145
11. RW Ryan Hartman, Chicago Blackhawks 2.143
    
12. LW William Carrier, Buffalo Sabres 2.109
    
13. LW Cole Ully, Dallas Stars 2.102
14. LW Danick Martel, Philadelphia Flyers 2.084
15. RW Oliver Bjorkstrand, Columbus Blue Jackets 2.00
16. C Nick Baptiste, Buffalo Sabres 1.979
17. RW Emile Poirier, Calgary Flames 1.945
18. C Michael McCarron, Montreal Canadiens 1.894
19. C Bogdan Yakimov, Edmonton Oilers 1.788
20. LW Michael Bunting, Arizona Coyotes 1.784
21. LW Adam Tambellini, New York Rangers 1.763
22. C Ivan Barbashev, St. Louis Blues 1.745
23. LW Sergey Tolchinsky, Carolina Hurricanes 1.728
24. C Chase De Leo, Winnipeg Jets 1.693
25. LW Tyler Bertuzzi, Detroit Red Wings 1.633
26. RW Nikita Scherbak, Montreal Canadiens 1.591
27. C Nick Paul, Ottawa Senators 1.538
28. C Colby Cave, Boston Bruins 1.527
29. LW Adam Erne, Tampa Bay Lightning 1.497
30. C Ryan Kujawinski, New Jersey Devils 1.488
31. C Kyle Platzer, Edmonton Oilers 1.46
32. C Frederk Gauthier, Toronto Maple Leafs 1.454
33. RW Valentin Zykov, Carolina Hurricanes 1.435
34. C Laurent Dauphin, Arizona Coyotes 1.371
35. RW Remi Elie, Dallas Stars 1.344
36. LW Jean Dupuy, Buffalo Sabres 1.327
37. LW Anton Blidh, Providence Bruins 0.962
38. LW Nick Moutrey, Columbus Blue Jackets 0.917
39. C Jeremy Gregoire, Montreal Canadiens 0.862
40. RW Hunter Smith, Calgary Flames 0.853
41. LW Morgan Klimchuk, Calgary Flames 0.790
42. RW Jimmy Lodge, Winnipeg Jets 0.754
43. RW Cole Cassels, Vancouver Canucks 0.553

• The Capitals are excited about Jakub Vrana, for good reason.
• All of the players in italics (over 2.00) should have a very good shot at NHL careers (barring injury).
• In that group, Tobias Lindberg, Cole Ully and Danick Martell are not famous—but showed terrific results.
• AHL contract Marco Roy posted a 2.075 number—that ranked him No. 15 on the list. Edmonton did not (or has not) signed him.
• The Toronto Maple Leafs traded for two guys who were near the top of the list. Coincidence? Their advanced metrics team may be pick pockets.
• Calgary acquired a dandy prospect in Shinkaruk.
• Bogdan Yakimov—who will play in the KHL this season—shows pretty well here.
• Kyle Platzer is in the bottom group, and that is probably a fair assessment of his offense. A player without a ton of offense will need to bring a lot of two-way ability, and that does dovetail with Platzer’s resume.
• Cole Cassels is regarded as an exceptional checking forward, but the offense was the worst of the available group this season.

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

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