NHL Twitter Mailbag: What Is Hockey's Most Overrated Statistic?

The only ice most people care about probably this week is in their summer drinks, but that will not stop us from doing another NHL Twitter Mailbag.

The questions keep coming in, and we live to serve here in this here section of the Interweb, so let's get on with it.

Oh goodie, a chance to tee off on analytics! First off, get off my lawn. Second, you can take your Corsi and. ... No, actually I'm not an anti-analytics guy. Do I think some of the new breed of stats are a bit tedious and borderline silly? Yeah. But overall, I'm a guy who believes the more information, the better. 

Generally, I like all the possession stats, things like Corsi percentage and Fenwick, and I like the new iteration of stats that show where shots came from and how often certain players shoot from certain spots and the percentage of closer-in shots some goalies face than others.

If I have to name one overrated stat here, though, I'm going to go with "giveaways." How can it ever be good for a player to have a high number of giveaways or for their occurring at all to be considered insignificant? How is giving the puck away a lot not considered a horrible thing?

Well, let's take a look at the top five giveaway leaders, according to Sportscharts.com, in the league this past season, according to Sporting Charts. They were: 1, P.K. Subban (106); 2, Brent Burns (102); 3. Joe Thornton (98); 4, Drew Doughty (97) and, 5, Erik Karlsson (96). 

Would anyone say any of those five guys had a bad year...that they wouldn't want them on their team? No. Well, maybe the Montreal Canadiens would with Subban, but we digress. You can't turn the puck over if you don't have the puck on your stick. And these five guys have the puck on their sticks a lot. Doughty, in fact, led all players with a 58.1 Corsi percentage. That's a big reason why he won his first Norris Trophy this year.

Yet, if anyone were to be easily swayed by giveaway stats, they would likely think Doughty is a turnover machine and not worth having. Now look, some guys do turn the puck over too much, and the stats accurately portray them as shaky. Andrej Sekera, with Edmonton last year for instance, was charged with 82 giveaways in 81 games. But his Corsi percentage was only 49.1. He was a liability with the puck even when he had it, which wasn't very often. 

The top five giveaway leaders, though, all had Corsis over 50. That's why the giveaway stat is the most deceiving in my book.

As of Thursday night, only two players on the General Fanager list of arbitration-eligible players who filed against their teams had yet to settle prior to a hearing. They were Tyson Barrie of the Colorado Avalanche and Martin Marincin of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The other 23 players had all settled with their clubs rather than go through the arbitration process, which as I detailed in a story last week, is something most players and teams dread.

Barrie, 24, had a hearing scheduled for Friday, July 29, in Toronto. It is still possible the sides could settle, but the difference in money between them is fairly stark. The Avs want to pay Barrie, who made $2.6 million last season, a two-year deal with salaries of $4 million and $4.25 million. The Barrie camp, led by longtime agent Don Meehan, is asking for $6 million on a one-year deal.

If the case actually does "go to trial", the arbitrator is almost certain to award something in the middle. There are comparables out there the arbitrator can point to and say, "OK, this is what you're worth." Take Boston's Torey Krug, for instance. He's a 25-year-old, 5'9" offensive defenseman who posted 44 points in 81 games and signed a new four-year, $21 million deal with Boston. 

David Zalubowski/Associated Press

Barrie, also 5'9", posted 49 points for the Avs. Krug is one of his main comparable players, and so I expect a minimum $5.25 million deal for Barrie too, maybe a bit more.

There is a misconception out there that the Avalanche feel pressured to trade Barrie, either before arbitration or, once the deal is settled, right after. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Avs own his rights for three more seasons. Barrie cannot become an unrestricted free agent until July 1, 2019. 

Unless the Avs get some kind of knockout offer for him, which hasn't happened yet, they plan to avail themselves of Barrie's services for those three years if they choose. They can always make him a sweet long-term offer if he has a big year or two or trade him at top market value if he doesn't want to re-sign. They're in the driver's seat on this one either way.

As far as any potential strains to a relationship between Barrie and the Avs, the potential is there. You never know what might be said in an arbitration hearing that gets taken personally. That's the danger of going through with them.

But the relationship between Barrie and the Avs has always been fine before. I see this as a situation where both sides know this is just business, nothing personal, and no matter what, both sides will be cordial to one another moving forward.

What about none of those teams? What if I told you the Chicago Blackhawks have a keen interest in the Harvard product Jimmy Vesey, who posted 104 points in 70 games his final two seasons for the Crimson. Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman, according to Mark Divver of the Providence Journal, watched Vesey skate recently in Massachusetts—a sure sign he's interested in the Hobey Baker winner—a 6'2" left wing who can really skate and handle the puck. 

The Buffalo Sabres gave a third-round pick to Vesey's original draft team, Nashville, to land the exclusive negotiating rights to him until he can become an unrestricted free agent Aug. 15. But the Sabres have not been able to sign him, and the betting line is he will wait until the 15th to hear every team's best offer.

Vesey is from Massachusetts and played at Hah-vahd, so the Boston Bruins have to be considered on his short list. And it's not like teams can blow anyone else out of the water on an offer. Being a rookie, Vesey has to take an entry-level deal, though he is sure to get some nice bonus incentives. 

I really think the Blackhawks have a big chance at getting Vesey. If he goes to Aug. 15 like he said, Vesey is likely to get the full-court press from Chicago, still one of the best franchises in the league. No doubt Bowman would use Jonathan Toews and/or Patrick Kane as recruitment agents. Chicago needs another top-six forward, and they have around $7 million in cap space. 

I think chances are good Jimmy Vesey will become a Chicago Blackhawk. Then again, I've been wrong before.

Good question, and I think some of the answer is: It depends. In conjunction with our previous question, I think some of the teams who might lose out on Jimmy Vesey might be forced to look at older, shorter-term solutions such as a Jiri Hudler or Radim Vrbata.

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press/Associated Press

Arizona Sports' Craig Morgan reported recently that Vrbata has drawn interest from at least four teams, and it wouldn't shock if a team such as Chicago might be one. Vrbata is a former Blackhawk, after all. Another of his former teams, the Arizona Coyotes, are said to be interested, per Morgan.

As for Hudler, the Florida Panthers hoped he would be a big addition for a playoff run, but after parting with draft picks for him at the deadline, things didn't work out. He posted 46 points last season—a steep drop from the 76 of a year before. 

I think teams are very wary of overpaying for him, especially at his age (32). But he has undeniable talent, and he'll be employed somewhere. If I had to name three teams where he might land, I'd say: NY Rangers, the Kings and maybe a wild-card team such as Ottawa.

Kris Russell? I think teams are wary about him. He's been a pretty average player on defense, so I think teams are not interested in gambling on some long-term, high-priced deal just because he's one of the few unsigned D-men out there. He's not big (5'10", 170 lbs) and has bounced around a lot in his career. I think he'll be lucky to find anything more than a three-year deal out there, and as of Thursday night, nobody had agreed to anything with him.

Since the Avalanche play in the lone state in the NHL union where it is legal to consume marijuana, it's a good question. 

The answer is: It would be legal for Avs players to use it, provided they do so under the existing state law, which means it has to be done in the privacy of their own home. People in Colorado, contrary to public opinion perhaps, are not out on the street smoking up big piles of reefer. You can't consume it in any public location. Well, you can, but you can be busted for it.

The NHL, though, does NOT have marijuana on its list of banned substances. That said, teams can impose their own discipline on players if they test positive for weed in their system. It's like alcohol; if they get caught with too much in their system, they can be disciplined. The league does not condone its use, but it is not an automatic suspension if pot showed up on a test of their urine.

Consumption of marijuana remains illegal under federal law. But in the state of Colorado, on your private property, you can use it legally. A hotel, by the way, is not considered a legal place to indulge.

I live in Colorado and have covered hockey a long time. Have I heard of increased use of marijuana among players as they pass through town? Yeah, I have. But I don't think it's a big deal. I don't think there is any risk of NHL players needing "Cheech" and "Chong" on the backs of their sweaters when they play in Denver.

Most players in the league want to stay out of trouble and be in the best shape they can be. Getting high on the night before games isn't something they give top priority. But does it happen? I think so, yeah. And in Colorado, at least, that's legal.

Adrian Dater covers the NHL for Bleacher Report.

Some statistics provided by Hockey-Reference.com