One of the advantages of having more down time while the NHL’s season is on hold, is you get to go through the lesser-known stories in the league and talk about some players who don’t normally get featured in big stories about the best performers in the league.
When I asked for questions to answer in last week’s Analytics Mailbag, Spencer had one that piqued my interest into a broader topic:
I realize this is a vague question, but how good is Andrew Mangiapane? He was playing with Tkachuk and Backlund, who have a history of elevating players.
— Spencer (@sathome14) March 23, 2020
Andrew Mangiapane is a name you don’t see talked about much on the national stage, but if you venture into Flames Twitter, he comes up a lot. On pace for his first 20-goal season before everything was put on hold, Mangiapane is a bit of a fan favourite.
That got us thinking that there’s probably a good, but not star player, on every Canadian team that the fans really love, so why not look into the details and see what makes them special? We’re going to start out West, and get to the Eastern teams in another piece next week. First up…
Andrew Mangiapane, Calgary Flames
While he’s shown promise for a while now after being a consistent scorer in the American Hockey League, Mangiapane has only really managed to get an opportunity to show off his skills at the NHL level this season.
Playing with Matthew Tkachuk and Mikael Backlund certainly helps to elevate him to the next level, but the reason why he works so well with those two is precisely because he’s a strong complementary offensive player.
Only 32 players in the NHL this season have put up more shots on net from the slot at 5-on-5 per minute than Mangiapane has, with 1.74 of them every 20 minutes of ice time. That’s the same rate as Evgeni Malkin and Alex DeBrincat. Mangiapane’s not the finisher those two are, but he brings a lot to the table.
Beyond just being a high volume slot shooter, Mangiapane is a top-10 player in getting shots from the inner slot, and top 20 per cent in completing slot passes, rush passes, recovering loose pucks in the offensive zone, and he’s even in the top quarter of the league in controlled entries.
That’s a lot of strong offensive tools to work with, and the Flames might want to start using him more on the power play.
In limited minutes, Mangiapane has put up unreal underlying numbers on the power play, posting top two per cent of the league numbers in inner slot shots, deflections on net, and loose puck recoveries on rebounds. He’s also been excellent at receiving slot passes from his talented linemates. He hasn’t struck yet with the man advantage, but don’t be surprised if he’s a mainstay on the top unit before long.
Kailer Yamamoto, Edmonton Oilers
More of a household name than Mangiapane due to being a first round pick in 2017, Yamamoto is finally sticking with the big club in Edmonton after two seasons of getting a cup of coffee, but not finishing enough to earn his spot.
This season his shooting percentage has skyrocketed to where he’s scoring on a quarter of his shots, and he has essentially been a point per game player for the Oilers since being called up on New Year’s Eve.
Looking at Yamamoto’s tendencies and playing style, he shares a lot in common with Mangiapane as two smaller but gritty forwards willing to go to the net. Yamamoto shoots at a nearly identical rate to Mangiapane from the slot, but actually gets to the inner slot slightly more often at 5-on-5. The pint-sized powerhouse puts up shots from the inner slot more often than all but nine players in the NHL this season, with 1.14 every 20 minutes, which is a big reason why his shooting percentage is so high.
Yamamoto also boasts one of the highest slot pass success rates in the NHL at 46.9 per cent, which makes him a dangerous playmaker who forces opponents to play the pass and allow him a better shooting lane.
Also like Mangiapane, Yamamoto has deadly power play numbers from the net front. Though Yamamoto isn’t quite as strong on the puck, he’s a slightly better shooter, and has room to grow at just 21 years old.
Scoring on a quarter of his shots isn’t going to last forever, but the Oilers have a dangerous offensive contributor here.
One of the reasons the Jets have been able to remain competitive this season has been the performance of players outside of their top-six group. The Jets’ top line has been outshot and outchanced for a couple of seasons now, but kept things in order by simply being more talented than their opponents. Mark Scheifele and company have been doing more of the same, while Adam Lowry’s lines have consistently posted team-high results.
The Jets haven’t been able to control shots very well at 5-on-5, but Copp is one of only six Jets forwards with a shot attempt differential above 50 per cent. Only Nikolaj Ehlers has posted better numbers by shot volume, with the Jets controlling 54.1 per cent of the shot attempts while he’s on the ice compared to 52.7 per cent while Copp is skating, but Copp has had a stronger impact on inner slot shots, with a team high 49.5 per cent in favour of the Jets.
Yes, all Jets forwards are below 50 per cent in inner slot shot differential.
Copp also has one of the strongest impacts on slot passes on the roster, with the Jets controlling 55.4 per cent of them while he’s on the ice. And his on-ice impacts are paired with career-high numbers in personal inner slot shots and slot passes.
Forechecking is Copp’s greatest strength, though. His ability to win puck battles and loose pucks puts him in the top five per cent of all players in that area, creating longer offensive zone possessions for his teammates.
Playing most of his career on third and fourth lines, no one should be confused into thinking Copp is suddenly a top-six forward, but he is an excellent middle-of-the-lineup contributor who has helped float the Jets through what should have been a much rougher season considering the losses their lineup suffered last summer.
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A cast off from the Mike Babcock era of the Toronto Maple Leafs, it was always clear that Leivo had shooting talent, but whether he could play solid two-way hockey was questionable.
Since he’s been out with an injury since the middle of December, not many people had the time to recognize how far Leivo had come on the defensive side of the puck this season.
In the defensive zone Leivo still isn’t that involved overall, but he’s in the top 15 per cent of all forwards this season in rebound recoveries in his own zone per minute played, bailing out Jacob Markstrom swiftly on the odd occasion the Canucks’ MVP needed some help.
While that’s a good thing to excel at, where Leivo really stood out before his injury was in neutral zone defence. There, he was in the top 10 per cent of all forwards in blocked passes, top 15 per cent in removing possession from opponents, and top 20 per cent in loose puck recoveries.
On top of that, he posted a very strong 50 per cent controlled entry denial rate when he was called upon to fall back and defend a rush when a defenceman was caught up ice.
Combine those defensive skills that hadn’t really been apparent in the past with consistently strong forechecking and top five per cent of the league ability to get deflections on net, and you’ve got a player with a lot more utility than he’s given credit for.
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