Over the past five to ten years – probably closer to the five – the NHL has changed in significant ways. Most teams have abandoned having a Designated Face Puncher on their fourth lines, analytics have highlighted how important puck possession is to winning, and the dump-and-chase has largely gone the way of the Dodo.



Most of these changes make a ton of sense. It turns out every roster spot is valuable, you can’t get scored on when you have the puck, and there’s rarely a reason to voluntarily forfeit possession when you already have it.



The problem is, the bulk of the stats we have about zone entries come from the regular season, which means half the time you’re playing a team that isn’t playoff-quality, which likely means they’re easier to play against. Carry-ins come a lot easier. In turn, the numbers tell us to tell players that dumping the puck in is bad, carrying it in is good, and the odd turnover is worth what can...