New Jersey Devils' Andy Greene: By the Numbers

If you had to name only one player on the Devils who has really stepped up this year, especially on defense, it would have to be Andy Greene. He went from barely having a roster spot, to being the Devils' best defenseman after Paul Martin went down with an injury.

To prove this point, I've scoured the Internet in search of proof in statistical form. So look over the information I've gathered during hundreds of hours of research (OK, maybe it was only a few hours on Behindthenet), and judge for yourself.

Once you go through these stats, feel free to comment and let me know if you think that Andy Greene, as has now become the norm to say about him, equals wins.

Andy Greene equals the following stats:

• He has played in 44 of the New Jersey Devils 47 games this season.
• In those 44 games, the Devils are 32-12.
• In the three games he hasn’t played in, the Devils are 0-3.
• In the 19 games where he has registered a point, the team is 17-2.
• In the four games where he has two points, the Devils are 4-0.
• The team is 3-1 when Andy Greene scores a goal.

OK, that was fun…but let's get to some real stats.

• When he is on the ice, the team scores 2.13 goals per 60 minutes. They let up 1.47 G/60. That’s plus-0.66 goals more that the team scores over what the team gives up when he is on the ice. Mark Fraser is a plus-0.88, but he plays almost a full seven minutes/game less than Greene. Fraser has also played in only 39 games to Greene’s 44. The next best D-man (w/ 30 games or more played)  is Johnny Oduya at plus-0.65.
• The team has scored 29 goals with Greene on the ice and given up 20. That plus-nine margin is the best on the team among defenseman. Next best is Fraser with a plus-seven (17/10). Mike Mottau? Minus-four (30/34).
• The 2.11 goals per 60 that the team gives up when Greene is off the ice is the most that the team gives up when any of the defenseman on the team with regular playing time is off the ice
• He is the only defenseman on the team with regular playing time who draws more penalties (0.4) than he takes (0.1) per 60 minutes. Bryce Salvador takes 1.2 penalties per 60 and draws 0.5.
• His 0.73 points per 60 mark is the best among defenseman with regular playing time. The team is a plus-0.66 when he is on the ice, a plus-0.31 when he is off the ice. That plus-0.35 margin is second on the team to Fraser’s plus-0.72

So there you have it. You can now judge for yourself whether you feel Andy Greene equals wins. Going through the stats, it seems Mark Fraser has a bigger impact on the team, but the fact that he plays just over 12 minutes per game may affect those numbers a bit.

There’s no question that Andy Greene has become a fan favorite because of the way he has stepped up this season for a team that has lost its best defenseman for an extended period of time.