When I was with the Calgary Flames I developed a series of player archetypes that I think really helped understand the strengths and weaknesses of players. I’ve been reluctant to try to do this publicly because I know I cannot do as good of a job as I was able to do with the data NHL teams have access to. There are some player skills that I cannot measure with public data. However, I have decided that something is better than nothing and despite the limitations I believe it can still help us tell important stories. So with that said, here are the archetypes I have developed, what they mean and how they are calculated.
Archetypes Availability
Archetypes can now be seen on TheStanleyCap.com player pages in the Archetypes Tab and are now incorporated into newly designed player cards, also found on the player pages. Archetypes will soon be available as searchable tables on TheStanleyCap.com and Puckalytics.com.
Archetypes Summary
Here is a high level description of the 15 Archetypes, each telling a different story about what the player is good at or how they are being used.
- Producer – Measures a players ability to produce goals and assists, adjusted for quality of teammates.
- Playmaker – Measures whether a players points come from passes.
- Shooter – Measures whether a players points come from shots (goals or assists on rebounds from his shots).
- Sniper – Measures the to score above the expected goal rate.
- Rebound – Measures the percent of a players shot attempts that come from rebounds (forwards only).
- Rush – Measures the percent of a players shot attempts that come from rush plays
- Skating – An indicator of a players skating ability, or speed bursts above 20mph per mile skated.
- Defend – An indicator of a players ability to suppress shot quality against.
- 5v5 TOI – The percentage of his teams 5v5 TOI that the player was on the ice for.
- 5v4 TOI – Powerplay ice time, calculated as the percentage of his teams 5v4 ice time that the player was on the ice for.
- 4v5 TOI – Penalty Kill ice time, calculated as the percentage of his teams 4v5 ice time that the player was on the ice for.
- Possession – An indicator of a players ability to improve his teams puck possession game.
- Drive – Measures a players ability to drive puck possession and generate shot attempts for his team.
- Suppress – Measures a players ability to suppress opponent puck possession and shot attempts against.
- Faceoffs – Faceoff Winning Percentage (min. 75 faceoffs taken).
As mentioned above, this is a far cry from what I was able to do with the data NHL teams have but these archetypes will go a long way to describing the skillsets of a player and how a player is getting uses. All archetypes are 5v5 except for the TOI archetypes, skating which is even strength, and faceoffs which is all situations. Archetypes use regular season data only.
Archetypes Details
Below are in depth details on how the archetypes are calculated. All archetypes are expressed as z-scores, or standard deviations from the mean, except for Faceoffs which are expressed as face off winning percentage.
Producer (Points/60 * IPP)
Producer is a measure of offensive production. The core of this is 5v5 points per 60 with quality of teammates/opponents adjustments, but the adjustment to the best of my knowledge is new to public hockey analytics. The underlying metric is calculated as Points/60 * IPP where IPP is individual points percentage calculated as points / on-ice goals for. IPP measures the percentage of goals scored while a player was on the ice that the player was involved in (had a goal or an assist).
The theory behind this is, if you are integral to your teams offense when you are on the ice you will post a high IPP and it can be assumed that you ‘earned’ your high point totals. However, if you have a low IPP it indicates that you are not integral to your teams offense when you are on the ice so your linemates may be boosting your point totals.
Think of it this way. Playing with Connor McDavid is likely to boost your point totals more than if you are playing with Adam Henrique. When you play with McDavid, McDavid is likely driving the offense so McDavid might be pulling your point totals up. However, when you play with Adam Henrique, you might be the one driving the offense and Henrique might be pulling your point totals down (or you pulling his up). By using IPP as an adjustment, when you play with McDavid your Points/60 will be adjusted down more than when you are playing with Henrique.
Playmaker (PassAssists/60 * IAP)
This is calculated the same way as Producer but only looks at Pass Assists and then is adjusted by IAP. PassAssists include all assists except those resulting from a shot (i.e. you shoot the puck, a teammate collects the rebound, shoots and scores). IAP is Individual Assist Percentage which is the percentage of goals that were scored while the player is on the ice that the player had an assist on.
Shooter (ShotPoints/60 * IGP)
This is calculated the same way as Producer and Playmaker but only uses Goals and ShotAssists with ShotAssists being defined as shots that lead to a rebound goal being scored. IGP is Individual Goals Percentage which is the percentage of goals that were scored while the player was on the ice that the player scored.
Sniper (Sh% – xSh%)
Sniper is calculated as shooting percentage minus expected shooting percentage.
Rebound (Rebound SA / SA)
Rebound is the percentage of a player shot attempts that are after rebounds (Shot Attempts after a rebound divided by All Shot Attempts). Shot Attempts are defined as unblocked shot attempts (goals, shots on goal and missed shots).
Rush (Rush SA / SA)
Rush is the percentage of a players shot attempts that came from rush plays (Rush Shot Attempts divided by all Shot Attempts). Shot Attempts are defined as unblocked shot attempts (goals, shots on goal and missed shots) and do not include shots that were blocked.
Skating (Bursts over 20mph per mile skated)
Skating is derived from the NHL Edge statistics and is calculated as Bursts over 20mph divided by the miles skated by the player. It is a measure of how often a player ‘skates fast’ when they are skating.
Defend (Sv% Rel)
Defend uses Sv% Rel which is calculated as On Ice Save Percentage – Off Ice Save Percentage. It is an indicator of how well a player suppresses shot quality against relative to his teammates.
Possession (SAF% Rel)
SAF% Rel is calculated as On-Ice SAF% – Off Ice SAF% where SAF% is calculated as Shot Attempts For / (Shot Attempts For + Shot Attempts Against).
Drive (SAF/60 Rel)
SAF/60 Rel is calculated as On-Ice Shot Attempts For/60 – Off-Ice Shot Attempts For/60.
Suppress (SAA/60 Rel)
SAA/60 Rel is calculated as On-Ice Shot Attempts Against/60 – Off-Ice Shot Attempts Against/60.
Faceoffs (Face Win%)
Face-off winning percentage (minimum 75 faceoffs taken). That’s it.
5v5 TOI
This is the percentage of team 5v5 playing time that the player is on the ice for. Team playing time is only in games that the player played in. Mean and Standard Deviation is calculated only with players who have at least 10 minutes of ice time.
5v4 TOI
This is the percentage of team 5v4 playing time that the player is on the ice for. Team playing time is only in games that the player played in. Mean and Standard Deviation is calculated only with players who have at least 10 minutes of ice time.
4v5 TOI
This is the percentage of team 4v5 playing time that the player is on the ice for. Team playing time is only in games that the player played in. Mean and Standard Deviation is calculated only with players who have at least 10 minutes of ice time.