Three Rivers is lacking one thing on the PP to this point, and that's a bonafide stud to quarterback the man advantage from the blueline. We have shooters in place with Rocket and Bowie, so we'll add this beauty of a right handed shot to the group.
He brings tremendous skating, passing, a good shot, and calmness with the puck. His calling card throughout his career was skating and offensive IQ/flair, but did manage to become a very solid defensive presence once he got into a certain coach's system in Dallas.
He led the 1994 Rangers in regular season scoring (over Messier and Leetch), which I believe, is the only time a defensemen led his team in scoring, on the eventual SC winner. Speaking of playoffs/SC winner, he put up, as a 23 year old, 19 points in 22 games and was a +10 overall. In game 7 of the SCF, he assisted on the first 2 goals of the game for NY, with the Rags obviously prevailing 3-2.
He was fantastic for the Stars during their run to the Cup in 1999, leading the team in scoring among defensemen (13 points) and led the entire playoffs in +/- w/a +13 rating. No one was higher than +8 on the Stars roster otherwise. He also played a team leading, and whopping number, 30:16 minutes per game.
His playoff resume is strong overall with 117 points in 164 games, showing his scoring didn't fall off at all from his regular season pace.
Welcome aboard:
Sergei Zubov, D
An overview of Zubov's ability and influence on the PP:
Overpass did a wonderful study on players and special teams roles a number of years ago and this guy stands out very well, against anyone not named Orr.
His PP% usage is 8th best all time (1960-2017) and you can see the teams he played on scored 14% above the league average on the PP. You can see some of the names he's ahead of not only in terms of usage, but also output.
As requested by Hockey Outsider, here are the players with the largest and smallest roles on special teams (minimum 500 GP) since 1967-68.
Edit: Updated to include 1959-60 through 2019-20
Essentially, PP% is the percentage of the team's power play goals for that the player was on the ice for in his career, and PK% is the percentage of the team's power play goals against that the player was on the ice for in his career. There is also an adjustment for games played to put it approximately on a per-game basis. This should be clear by looking at Mario Lemieux's numbers - he certainly didn't...
Power Play (defencemen)
Player | Pos | GP | $PPG/82 | $PPP/82 | PP% | TmPP+ |
Bobby Orr | D | 657 | 11 | 45 | 98% | 1.39 |
Ray Bourque | D | 1612 | 8 | 33 | 88% | 1.08 |
Brian Leetch | D | 1205 | 7 | 33 | 87% | 1.09 |
Denis Potvin | D | 1060 | 10 | 35 | 87% | 1.06 |
Al Macinnis | D | 1416 | 8 | 36 | 87% | 1.17 |
| D | 747 | 7 | 30 | 84% | 0.97 |
| D | 1495 | 6 | 28 | 84% | 1.00 |
Sergei Zubov | D | 1068 | 6 | 29 | 82% | 1.14 |
Brad Park | D | 1115 | 7 | 27 | 81% | 1.08 |
| D | 1145 | 5 | 29 | 80% | 1.12 |
Paul Coffey | D | 1409 | 6 | 30 | 78% | 1.15 |
| D | 340 | 6 | 27 | 78% | 0.99 |
| D | 562 | 6 | 25 | 77% | 1.02 |
| D | 648 | 7 | 30 | 77% | 0.96 |
| D | 622 | 4 | 27 | 76% | 1.17 |
| D | 425 | 4 | 27 | 76% | 0.98 |
| D | 1024 | 6 | 25 | 75% | 0.96 |
Erik Karlsson | D | 736 | 4 | 32 | 75% | 0.93 |
| D | 1301 | 7 | 27 | 73% | 1.04 |
Nicklas Lidstrom | D | 1564 | 7 | 29 | 73% | 1.25 |
| D | 1108 | 4 | 24 | 73% | 1.06 |
| D | 428 | 4 | 15 | 71% | 0.97 |
Pierre Pilote | D | 660 | 4 | 20 | 70% | 1.05 |
| D | 523 | 5 | 32 | 70% | 1.13 |
| D | 1093 | 6 | 23 | 70% | 1.04 |
| D | 990 | 5 | 25 | 69% | 1.04 |
| D | 875 | 6 | 24 | 69% | 1.05 |
| D | 984 | 3 | 22 | 69% | 1.00 |
| D | 1289 | 6 | 24 | 69% | 0.99 |
Chris Pronger | D | 1167 | 6 | 26 | 68% | 1.11 |
Here you can see a few videos that highlight Zubov's ability controlling the point, directing play with aplomb. Even when pressured he makes the smart pass. When shooting, he gets the puck on net.
Here is a great look at Zubov's awareness of where Modano is before executing a perfect no-look, spin-o-rama pass on the tape.
And finally, a really cool interview with Craig Ludwig on what is was like to play with Zubov. Says Zubov was underrated defensively and really spoke to his pinpoint passing and ability to control the PP. Plus added in some funny stories about SZ (also backs up claims that Mario forced him out of Pittsburgh) and other hockey moments