This series will shine a light on the most unusual NHL players — the guys who stand out from their peers in one way or another. Part 5 looks at players who differentiate themselves in the way their teams use them.
Previous articles: Size, Nationality, Physicality, and Shooters
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Every NHL player is unique, but sometimes what makes them stand out the most are the qualities their coaches see in them.
A coach often identifies something in a player’s skill set that makes them a fit for a highly specific role, and opts to use them in a way that wouldn’t make sense for most guys.
The players highlighted below are those who are utilized in ways that set them apart from their peers.
It’s not entirely surprising to see the guy with the most power-play goals in NHL history (299) stand out when it comes to ice time with the man advantage, but Ovechkin is truly in a league of his own.
Leon Draisaitl may have overtaken him as the league’s deadliest power-play weapon, but the nine-time Rocket Richard Trophy winner is still deployed like he’s the top dog. Over the last three seasons, Ovechkin leads all players with 899:43 of PP time, and he’s stayed on the ice for 94.0% of Washington’s power-play minutes.
Draisaitl ranks second in percentage of his team’s power-play time and he sees the ice for 83.4% of the Edmonton Oilers’ man-advantage minutes. That’s a massive gap between one and two as Ovechkin simply doesn’t come off in these situations — likely because he often spends his time floating around the left circle readying himself to unleash a massive one-timer.
Ovechkin remains one of the most dangerous offensive threats in the NHL as he approaches his 38th birthday, and the Capitals aren’t likely to change how they use The Great Eight.
No one kills penalties the way Ovechkin patrols the offensive zone during the power play like a lurking apex predator. The reality is that penalty killing is simply too labour intensive.
That said, Lindell is the closest thing to Ovechkin’s equivalent on the PK. Last season he led the NHL in penalty-killing ice time with 294:35 and he was present during 69.4% of the Stars’ time a man down. While Andrew Peeke of the Columbus Blue Jackets managed a similar number (69.0%), Lindell earns outlier status because he’s been doing this for years.
Since the beginning of the 2018-19 season, Lindell has 169:69 more minutes of penalty-killing ice time than any other player, and his 67.3% on-ice rate during his team’s kills is far more than anyone else who has logged 200-plus games (Brayden McNabb is second at 59.3%).
That span has included three different head coaches (Jim Montgomery, Rick Bowness, and Peter DeBoer), but each one has entrusted Lindell to anchor his penalty kill.
During those five seasons the Stars rank eighth in the NHL in penalty killing (81.0%) and Lindell has received praise from his teammates for his workmanlike performance.
Wahlstrom has never topped 24 points in a season during his brief NHL career, but the former 11th-overall pick was consistently put in advantageous positions last season.
No player topped his 5-on-5 offensive-zone faceoff rate (81.1%) and the player second on the list — Mathew Barzal (76.4%) — was the center Wahlstrom played more than 75% of his 5-on-5 minutes with.
The way Wahlstrom was used likely had more to do with Barzal than himself, as Islanders coach Lane Lambert prioritized putting his center in positions to score while the young winger came along for the ride. Another factor may have been Barzal’s horrendous record as a faceoff man (35.6% in 2022-23 and 42.6% in his career), making Lambert reluctant to have him take defensive draws.
Neither Wahlstrom nor Barzal excelled due to the many opportunities they were given. Barzal put up just 32 even-strength points in 58 games, while Wahlstrom’s production was modest — even for less than half a season of work.
Wahlstrom is still young and he’s flashed a combination of offensive skill and physicality in the past. He’s also never played more than 12:23 per game in a season.
A breakout is not out of the question for him by any means, but last season he got plenty of offensive-zone chances and rarely converted them into tangible production.
The most defensively-deployed player: Tomáš Nosek, C, New Jersey Devils
While his Boston Bruins teammates soaked up the glory of a historic regular season, Nosek was grinding away in the defensive zone. His 5-on-5 offensive zone faceoff rate of 12.5% was the lowest in the NHL by a significant margin, as Nic Dowd came in second with 16.4%.
Nosek only started in the attacking zone 28 times all season at 5-on-5, which helps explain why he posted a 44.9% Corsi For despite playing for such a strong squad.
While freeing up other players to get better opportunities wasn’t glamorous, it was undoubtedly effective. Despite being constantly buried in the defensive zone, Nosek was only on the ice for 14 goals against at 5-on-5 all season long. It helped that he was an excellent faceoff man (59.3%) who helped his team consistently gain possession of the puck and get moving on offense.
Nosek has never been known for his offensive production, but it’s worth noting that he tied his career-high with 18 points despite his extreme deployment.
The good news for the 30-year-old is that he signed with the Devils in free agency and he may get a few more offensive-zone starts with his new squad.
There are quite a few players who are notable for how little they play, but Smith stood head and shoulders above the rest in 2022-23.
Among guys who laced up the skates at least 20 times last season, Smith’s average ice time per game (7:00) was the lowest by more than a minute — Dryden Hunt came in second at 8:04.
To be clear, it’s not surprising that Smith doesn’t see the ice too often. He put up just four points in 36 games and is best known for mixing it up physically.
His 4.52 penalties taken per 60 minutes led the NHL last season, and his six major penalties were tied for 23rd despite the fact he rarely saw the ice and played less than 40 games.
The Sharks clearly saw some value in the type of presence he brought as they signed him to a two-year deal worth a total of $1.6 million during the offseason. They are unlikely to radically change how often he sees the ice.
