NHL Plus-Minus: The 5 Best and 5 Worst Performances So Far This Season
The plus/minus statistic in the NHL has always been a bit of a controversial metric.
First employed in the 1950's by the Montreal Canadiens, the stat became officially tracked by the NHL in 1968.
As it tracks the amount of even strength or short-handed goals scored while a player is on the ice, the idea that simply stepping on the ice surface at the right, or wrong time, can change a player's rating, unfairly so, has always rubbed some the wrong way.
In the short-term, such instances are common, however, over the length of a season, a plus/minus rating, when compared with a player's ice-time, point totals and position can tell you something about their overall ability.
What the hell does all of this have to do with this slide show?
Well, instead of simply putting out a Top 5 Best/Worst list, I figured I'd get all hockey up in here and go with a plus/minus rating instead.
The following list will take a look at five good/better than expected/surprising performances so far this season, and five bad ones.
Both teams and individual players are subject to inclusion and will be awarded a 'plus' or 'minus' rating of 1-5.
A plus-five, being the best, a minus-five being the worst.
Just for good measure, between the two, we'll throw in an 'even' rating for a team/player that is performing as expected, but is still worthy to note.
Let's get the bad news out of the way first...
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New Jersey Devils: -5
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At this point, Ilya Kovalchuk is on pace for 60 points this season.
Given the cap hit his salary represents to the Devils this year, that's $111,111 per point; that's a rip-off.
After drawing more attention to themselves over the summer than Lindsay Lohan on a bender at a Hollywood nightclub, the Devils were expected to come out of the gates guns blazing.
The absurd 15-year, $100 million contract the Devils decided Ilya Kovalchuk was worth, in and of itself, brought on huge expectations for the Devils offense.
So far, the Devils are tied with Edmonton for dead last in goals scored with 15, and are eclipsed only by Anaheim in goals-against with 30.
While Kovalchuk is the largest and most convenient target for the Devils woes (after all, the guy's contract alone has shortened their bench due to cap constraints), he's not the only thing not going right in the swamp.
The Devils defense, for over a decade their biggest strength, has been about as solid as Jell-0, and though he's already posted two shutouts this season (which, coincidentally, represent New Jersey's only wins so far), Martin Brodeur has looked like less than his usual stellar-self in net.
Relying on shutouts to get you wins is a terrible strategy for success in the NHL, however, to this point, that appears to be the only thing working in New Jersey.
Roberto Luongo: -4
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I know, I know.
"Roberto's a slow starter."
"He'll heat up when it counts."
"The offense isn't as good as it could be."
Spare me.
When you make $10,000,000 a year in the NHL, the one thing you cannot afford is the luxury of "easing into a season".
You need to be your team's best player night in and night out, period.
This season will likely determine how Roberto Luongo's name will be spelled the rest of his career.
If he can help Vancouver make it to the Stanley Cup Finals, it will remain as it is now. If he, once again, falls apart in the post-season, his middle name will permanently become, "Overrated".
His stats aren't great, but not atrocious either, he has a 2.93 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage.
However, when your team has won only one out of six games (1-3-2) with you in net, and are 2-0 with your back-up between the pipes, you don't need stats to see that something clearly is not right.
Slow-starter or not, Luongo must improve his game, and fast, if the Canucks have plans on being a force in the West this season.
Antti Niemi: -3
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Saying that Antti Niemi won a Cup for Chicago is like saying Ringo Starr made The Beatles rock legends.
Yeah, they were a part of it, but so were Zamboni drivers and drum roadies.
Through four games played, Niemi has a ghastly .854 save-percentage and an obese 4.49 goals-against average.
Contrast that with the Sharks' other net-minder. Antero Niittymaki's stats through the same number of games (1.80 goals-against, .932 save-percentage), and one finds that it's more than San Jose's defense to blame for Niemi's poor performance.
Honestly, it was Chicago's world-class defense that made Niemi look as good as he did last season. Clearly, Chicago's hopes for a Cup-repeat did not leave with Niemi.
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Tyler Myers: -2
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When teams win the President's Trophy in the regular season, they rarely touch the thing as they fear doing so may bring about some bad ju-ju in their run to win a Stanley Cup.
Honestly, Calder Trophy winners might start adopting the same, "look but don't touch" policy.
After a phenomenal rookie season in which Tyler Myers became Buffalo's No. 1 defenseman, the towering, 20-year-old, Texas native is struggling mightily in year two.
He is currently a team-worst minus-8 and is on pace for 27 points, 21 points below his totals from a year ago.
Buffalo's problems extended beyond their struggling rearguard, but, as Myers remains the team's ice-time leader, he's got to regain his form if the Sabres have any hope of making the playoffs this year.
Taylor Hall: -1
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So, why pick on Edmonton's young, developing, first overall pick after just six games, you say?
Well, on top of the fact that he was this year's first overall draft pick, Taylor Hall is a damn good hockey player and should be sporting better numbers than a single assist and a minus-three rating.
While the Oilers are by no means a stacked team, Hall was brought in to be a franchise player, a center-piece around which to build, an icon.
So great was the Oil's faith in the young forward that Team President, and five-time Stanley Cup winner, Kevin Lowe, passed on his iconic No. 4 jersey to Hall, and with it, significant hope and expectations for the future.
Hall has time to live up to the potential he so clearly has, but, his performance to date suggests the Oilers faithful will be waiting a while for that to happen.
Jimmy Howard: Even
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Detroit's second-year 'tender is off to a great start, with a 2.14 GAA and .924 save-percentage, nearly identical to the numbers he put up last season.
All signs point to Howard having just as good a year as he did in 2009-10, a performance that earned him a Calder Trophy nomination.
Given Detroit's improved depth and health this season, that should be more than enough for a serious playoff run.
Nashville Predators: +1
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The only reasonable excuse for Barry Trotz not yet having won a Jack Adams Trophy is that the NHL is secretly planning to award the 12-year Predator's coach a new "Coach of the Decade" award this June.
He's won with super-stars, he's won with grinders, he's won with no-namers, and up-and-comers.
No matter what roster he has to work with, Barry Trotz always finds a way to get his team either into, or just this side of the playoffs in April.
This season, the red-hot streak that has come to define Nashville's finish to a season is now defining their start.
The Preds sit first overall in the NHL with 13 points and have yet to lose in regulation.
Scoring by committee (they have 18 players with at least one point) and solid goal-tending (rookie Andres Lindback is having a great start behind Pekka Rinne), are old, but well-proven ways to earn 'W's in the NHL and that's exactly what Trotz's squad will continue to use to win games.
Dallas Stars: +2
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Raise your hand if you thought Dallas would start off 5-2 behind a stifling defense and top-notch goal-tending.
Yeah, I didn't think so.
Despite some head-scratching moves by GM Joe Nieuwendyk such as firing Dave Tippet in 2009, and unceremoniously showing franchise-icon, Mike Modano the door this summer, there appears to be some method to the former star's madness.
Kari Lehtonen looks to be rounding into the form that was supposed to be seen in Atlanta, but never quite materialized and the Stars' balanced attack and up-tempo style are proving too tough to defend against on most nights.
They may yet fall to Earth as the season wears on, but, for now, the Stars' play suggests they are aptly named.
New York Islanders: +3
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Losing defenseman Mark Streit and power-forward Kyle Okposo should have been an insurmountable obstacle for the Islanders to overcome in order to have a good start to their season, but, the Isles have proved resilient thus far.
Though the losses of Streit and Okposo are large, and damaging, the Islanders are benefiting from great goal-tending from Dwayne Roloson and solid contributions from up and down their line-up.
They currently sit one point behind Pittsburgh for the Atlantic Division lead and are the second-highest scoring team in the East behind said Penguins and the Tampa Bay Lightning.
That's pretty good company to be in for a team missing their No. 1 defender and top power-forward.
Tampa Bay Lightning: +4
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Aside from Simon Gagne, who has no points and a team-worst minus-eight rating, the Lightning made no major moves over the summer.
Well, at least on the ice.
Hiring Steve Yzerman as GM is perhaps the best move the Tampa Bay Lightning has ever made.
Few people on Earth, in any business, can change the direction and culture of an organization as dramatically as Steven Gregory Yzerman.
Over the summer, players said that his presence alone instilled a new sense of hope, professionalism and respect for the heretofore floundering franchise, and it shows in their on-ice performance.
With the Yzerman-hired, former AHL coach of the year, Guy Boucher behind the bench, the Lightning, went on a 5-0 tear to start the season and remain in second place over-all in the Eastern Conference.
Steven Stamkos looks to be on his way towards an Art Ross Trophy, and Martin St. Louis is on pace for another 90+ point season.
Now, if Stevie can figure out the goal-tending situation, Tampa Bay could turn into one of the most dangerous teams in the NHL.
Tim Thomas: +5
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I don't care if you're the most rabid Montreal Canadiens fan on the planet, if you say you hate Tim Thomas, you don't have a soul.
After spending 13 years bouncing around North American minor league teams and several stints with European squads, Tim Thomas finally found regular NHL employment in 2005, with Boston, at age 31.
Written off several times as a minor-league-lifer, unfit for NHL play, the former ninth-round pick (1994, Quebec), established himself as one of the best goalies in the NHL over the next few seasons.
After wining the Vezina Trophy in 2009, Thomas took a backwards step last season he lost the starter's job to back-up Tuukka Rask.
The 23-year-old Rask was slated to be the No. 1 guy in Beantown this season, with the aged Thomas penciled in as, hopefully, a reliable back-up.
In four games played this season, Thomas has a microscopic 0.75 GAA and a gaudy .978 save-percentage.
Apparently, Thomas isn't comfortable playing when he's considered the best goalie in the game, but prefers to be written off as a lost cause.
If that's the case, the Bruins should start each game by telling Thomas how worthless and old he is...he might never let in another goal.
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