YEAR Bergeron/Chara Together Bergeron Without Chara Chara Without Bergeron 2007-14 57.6% 56.3% 53.7% 2014-15 57.8% 59.4% 55.8%

The analytics community has long held up Zdeno Chara as one of the league’s most extraordinary of talents. Withstanding Sidney Crosby, I’m not sure there’s been a more terrifying player since the 2004 lockout. What does that say about Patrice Bergeron, a guy who consistently exhibits the ability to excel with or without Zdeno Chara on the ice?



R – Jakub Voracek, Philadelphia Flyers

Philadelphia’s a lot like Calgary in that the gap between their top-group and the rest of their team is the size of the Grand Canyon. Part of that is because there’s virtually zero competent depth on the roster. Part of it is because the top group has unique, game-changing talent –

Calgary’s is the Mark Giordano and T.J. Brodie defensive pairing, and Philadelphia’s is the forward duo of Jakub Voracek and Claude Giroux.

Giroux’s the perfect pivot for Voracek, but Voracek’s making the most of the opportunity again this season. Through nineteen games, Voracek’s second in per-60 scoring at 3.9, trailing only youngster Ryan Strome of the New York Islanders. A lot of his scoring is embedded in his high frequency individual shooting rates – this year, just a recurrence of what he’s established in years past.

The on-ice rate numbers with Voracek are impressive, too. With Voracek on the ice, Philadelphia’s in the black +1.6 goals per 60 minutes, +13.1 shot-attempts per 60 minutes.

Now, if only Philadelphia’s second, third, and fourth lines could replicate what Voracek and company are doing.

D – Ryan Ellis, Nashville Predators

Here is a comprehensive list of NHL defensemen with a better Corsi% than Ryan Ellis through the first quarter of the season: Jonas Brodin. End list.

A lot of smart people have pointed to a lot of different reasons why Nashville’s so improved this season, and I think each argument has some merit. Coaching influence – Peter Laviolette’s hyper-aggressive neutral zone system, in particular – seems to fit the roster beautifully. A bunch of smart, cheap signings by David Poile gave him the arsenal to enact such a strategy. And the growth of younger forwards like Colin Wilson, Filip Forsberg, Craig Smith, and so on have given the team plenty of attacking options.

The improvement of the blue line cannot be overlooked, though. The young defenders are finally starting to put together sequences of favorable offensive zone time, and it’s turned Nashville into a legitimate playoff contender. Chief among those improvements have been with Ryan Ellis.

Now, the Ellis/Mattias Ekholm pairing are certainly receiving favorable usage – they’re starting 57% of their shifts in the offensive zone, and by most quality of competition standards, they’re getting the softest minutes. But, it’s important to remember that there are many, many, many other defenders getting comparable zone starts and competition – none of whom are playing as strongly as Ellis.

I pulled out some deployment comparables for Ryan Ellis, and have noted the Relative Corsi% for each defenseman -- or, the difference in the shot-attempts a team receives with a player on the ice versus the shot-attempts a player receives with a player off of the ice. You’ll quickly notice that one of these players is not like the others.