Much has been made this season of Nazem Kadri’s growth as a defensively capable centre. Dom Luszczyszyn noted that the 26-year-old centre has shown the ability to play a “shutdown” role, while others have been even more effusive in their praise.



On a team that has regularly iced six rookie forwards (and now seven, with Frederik Gauthier in the mix), Kadri’s ascension to the stopper role was as much about necessity as anything else. Now a veteran on a team in the throes of a full youth movement, Kadri has handled the call to match against the top centres in the league with some success.



Still, there is debate within the hockey stats community about the real value and importance of coaches matching certain players up against others, particularly at faceoffs. The question has revolved, to a degree, around the impact of defensive zone starts (and other zone starts too) on the statistical performance of players.



Is it really possible...