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Last week, we examined the best and worst players in the NHL at drawing and taking penalties. Additionally, we examined the worst penalty takers and their zone ratings, especially compared to their teammates.
This week, we are going to examine just how beneficial these penalties drawn and taken really are to these particular teams—taking into account each team’s power play and penalty killing units.
Here are the updated top 30 players in terms of penalty drawing differential:
NAME POS TEAM TAKEN DRAWN Plus/Minus
DUSTINBROWN RW L.A. 9 41 32
NIKLASHAGMAN LW CGY 5 28 23
ZACHPARISE LW N.J. 9 31 22
PAVELDATSYUK C DET 3 25 22
RYANKESLER C VAN 13 32 19
PATRICKKANE RW CHI 6 24 18
DANIELCARCILLO LW PHI 15 32 17
PETRPRUCHA RW PHX 5 22 17
CALCLUTTERBUCK RW MIN 8 24 16
MARTINST. LOUIS RW T.B. 5 21 16
NIKOLAIKULEMIN RW TOR 3 19 16
MIKERICHARDS C PHI 12 27 15
DARRENHELM C DET 6 21 15
TOMWANDELL C DAL 7 21 14
BRYANLITTLE C ATL 4 18 14
BRANDONSUTTER C CAR 0 14 14
MASONRAYMOND LW VAN 10 23 13
DEVINSETOGUCHI RW S.J. 6 19 13
JORDINTOOTOO RW NSH 2 15 13
EVANDERKANE C ATL 20 32 12
RICKNASH RW CBJ 11 23 12
BOBBYRYAN RW ANA 8 20 12
MATTDUCHENE C COL 5 17 12
MILANMICHALEK LW OTT 1 13 12
JAMIEBENN LW DAL 11 22 11
JAROMEIGINLA RW CGY 9 20 11
JONSIM LW NYI 9 20 11
VERNONFIDDLER C PHX 7 18 11
**Stats as of Saturday, March 20**
So, how much is this penalty drawing really worth to the above teams? Well, let’s post the same chart with each team’s power play percentage included:
NAME POS TEAM TAKEN DRAWN Plus/Minus Power Play Percentage
DUSTINBROWN RW L.A. 9 41 32 20.60%
NIKLASHAGMAN LW CGY 5 28 23 16.10%
ZACHPARISE LW N.J. 9 31 22 17.90%
PAVELDATSYUK C DET 3 25 22 19.60%
RYANKESLER C VAN 13 32 19 21.60%
PATRICKKANE RW CHI 6 24 18 18.90%
DANIELCARCILLO LW PHI 15 32 17 23.00%
PETRPRUCHA RW PHX 5 22 17 15.10%
CALCLUTTERBUCK RW MIN 8 24 16 18.40%
MARTINST. LOUIS RW T.B. 5 21 16 18.80%
NIKOLAIKULEMIN RW TOR 3 19 16 15.20%
MIKERICHARDS C PHI 12 27 15 23.00%
DARRENHELM C DET 6 21 15 19.60%
TOMWANDELL C DAL 7 21 14 18.20%
BRYANLITTLE C ATL 4 18 14 16.90%
BRANDONSUTTER C CAR 0 14 14 17.80%
MASONRAYMOND LW VAN 10 23 13 21.60%
DEVINSETOGUCHI RW S.J. 6 19 13 22.10%
JORDINTOOTOO RW NSH 2 15 13 18.10%
EVANDERKANE C ATL 20 32 12 16.90%
RICKNASH RW CBJ 11 23 12 18.90%
BOBBYRYAN RW ANA 8 20 12 19.00%
MATTDUCHENE C COL 5 17 12 18.80%
MILANMICHALEK LW OTT 1 13 12 15.20%
JAMIEBENN LW DAL 11 22 11 18.20%
JAROMEIGINLA RW CGY 9 20 11 16.10%
JONSIM LW NYI 9 20 11 16.50%
VERNONFIDDLER C PHX 7 18 11 15.10%
**Stats as of Saturday, March 20**
Instead of looking at the stats sheets and glossing over which goals against came with which players in the box, let’s assume that the above players’ teams scored at their exact team clip listed above. More plainly, let’s assume that of the 32 power plays created this year by Dustin Brown, his team converted on 20.6% of its chances. Well, this would be worth a total of 6.6 goals so far this season for the Kings. That is a significant figure. If Brown scores 25 goals this season, in reality he could actually be worth over 30. If you go by the assumption that a win is worth six goals, then Dustin Brown’s ability to draw penalties may be worth over one win to the Kings.
Let’s take a look at the rest of the top 30 in this category:
NAME Plus/Minus Power Play Percentage Goals
DUSTINBROWN 32 20.60% 6.60
NIKLASHAGMAN 23 16.10% 3.70
ZACHPARISE 22 17.90% 3.90
PAVELDATSYUK 22 19.60% 4.30
RYANKESLER 19 21.60% 4.10
PATRICKKANE 18 18.90% 3.40
DANIELCARCILLO 17 23.00% 3.90
PETRPRUCHA 17 15.10% 2.60
CALCLUTTERBUCK 16 18.40% 3.00
MARTINST. LOUIS 16 18.80% 3.00
NIKOLAIKULEMIN 16 15.20% 2.40
MIKERICHARDS 15 23.00% 3.50
DARRENHELM 15 19.60% 2.90
TOMWANDELL 14 18.20% 2.50
BRYANLITTLE 14 16.90% 2.40
BRANDONSUTTER 14 17.80% 2.50
MASONRAYMOND 13 21.60% 2.80
DEVINSETOGUCHI 13 22.10% 2.90
JORDINTOOTOO 13 18.10% 2.40
EVANDERKANE 12 16.90% 2.00
RICKNASH 12 18.90% 2.30
BOBBYRYAN 12 19.00% 2.20
MATTDUCHENE 12 18.80% 2.30
MILANMICHALEK 12 15.20% 1.80
JAMIEBENN 11 18.20% 2.00
JAROMEIGINLA 11 16.10% 1.78
JONSIM 11 16.50% 1.80
VERNONFIDDLER 11 15.10% 1.70
**Stats as of Saturday, March 20**
What about the reverse? First let’s look at the chart of the 30 worst plus/minus players in terms of drawing/taking penalties, as well as look at their respective team’s penalty killing percentage.
NAME POS TEAM TAKEN DRAWN Plus/Minus Penalty Killing Percentage
KYLEQUINCEY D COL 24 12 -12 82.70%
MICHALROZSIVAL D NYR 24 12 -12 83.30%
MATTCARKNER D OTT 21 9 -12 83.90%
MARCSTAAL D NYR 15 3 -12 83.30%
RYANO'BYRNE D MTL 14 2 -12 83.40%
CORYSARICH D CGY 13 1 -12 83.30%
MIKECOMMODORE D CBJ 13 1 -12 82.30%
TODDBERTUZZI LW DET 24 11 -13 83.30%
RYANGETZLAF C ANA 23 10 -13 79.30%
IANWHITE D CGY 18 5 -13 83.30%
ROBBLAKE D S.J 17 4 -13 85.20%
ETHANMOREAU LW EDM 16 3 -13 77.10%
FILIPKUBA D OTT 14 1 -13 83.90%
SEANO'DONNELL D L.A 13 0 -13 81.40%
RENEBOURQUE LW CGY 26 12 -14 83.30%
SAMILEPISTO D PHX 22 8 -14 83.90%
ANDYSUTTON D OTT 20 6 -14 83.90%
KENTHUSKINS D S.J 18 4 -14 85.20%
CRAIGRIVET D BUF 18 4 -14 85.70%
CAMERONBARKER D MIN 16 2 -14 82.30%
NICKBOYNTON D CHI 18 3 -15 84.40%
MATTGREENE D L.A 18 3 -15 81.40%
CHRISTOPHSCHUBERT D ATL 22 6 -16 80.50%
ROMANHAMRLIK D MTL 18 2 -16 83.40%
AARONWARD D ANA 23 6 -17 79.30%
SHANEO'BRIEN D VAN 20 3 -17 81.40%
JONIPITKANEN D CAR 27 9 -18 80.80%
ROBYNREGEHR D CGY 22 3 -19 83.30%
HALGILL D MTL 22 3 -19 83.40%
PAVELKUBINA D ATL 21 1 -20 80.50%
**Stats as of Saturday, March 20**
Just how much are, or more aptly— how much should certain player’s penalties be hurting their teams?
NAME Plus/Minus Penalty Killing Percentage Goals
KYLEQUINCEY -12 82.70% 2.1
MICHALROZSIVAL -12 83.30% 2.0
MATTCARKNER -12 83.90% 1.9
MARCSTAAL -12 83.30% 2.0
RYANO'BYRNE -12 83.40% 2.0
CORYSARICH -12 83.30% 2.0
MIKECOMMODORE -12 82.30% 2.1
TODDBERTUZZI -13 83.30% 2.2
RYANGETZLAF -13 79.30% 2.7
IANWHITE -13 83.30% 2.2
ROBBLAKE -13 85.20% 1.9
ETHANMOREAU -13 77.10% 3.0
FILIPKUBA -13 83.90% 2.1
SEANO'DONNELL -13 81.40% 2.4
RENEBOURQUE -14 83.30% 2.3
SAMILEPISTO -14 83.90% 2.3
ANDYSUTTON -14 83.90% 2.3
KENTHUSKINS -14 85.20% 2.1
CRAIGRIVET -14 85.70% 2.0
CAMERONBARKER -14 82.30% 2.5
NICKBOYNTON -15 84.40% 2.3
MATTGREENE -15 81.40% 2.8
CHRISTOPHSCHUBERT -16 80.50% 3.1
ROMANHAMRLIK -16 83.40% 2.7
AARONWARD -17 79.30% 3.5
SHANEO'BRIEN -17 81.40% 3.2
JONIPITKANEN -18 80.80% 3.5
ROBYNREGEHR -19 83.30% 3.2
HALGILL -19 83.40% 3.2
PAVELKUBINA -20 80.50% 3.9
**Stats as of Saturday, March 20**
If you look from top to bottom in terms of penalties drawn and penalties taken there is a swing of 10.5 goals through this past weekend’s game. Considering how difficult it is for teams to find 20 goal scorers, it sure is interesting to see that a player who draws a lot of penalties compared to a player who takes a lot of penalties can actually result in such a significant swing in goals for and goals against. Never mind the fact that players drawing penalties place the opposing team at a two minute disadvantage in terms of generating goals for and that the players taking penalties hurt their teams chances of scoring for the next two minutes.
Remember, as evidenced last week, there are many factors at play when it comes to taking penalties and some players are put into far more favorable situations than others. However, in fairly simple terms, drawing a lot of penalties and taking too many can create a considerable goal differential. For example, Rene Bourque has 22 goals this season and Dustin Brown has 17 goals; however, when you take into account their penalty taking, Bourque actually should account for 19.7 goals this season for Calgary and Brown should account for 23.6 goals this season for Los Angeles. Quite a swing isn’t it?
Thanks to Gabe Desjardins for the terrific statistics
Richard Pollock is Editor for the hockey website Illegal Curve. | 
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