Again though, I’m saying for the fourth time that it could be a partial effect.
Say it’s 1/8. Is that not 13% and very statistically relevant? So why brush it off as “ridiculous” and not worth talking about even in concept? Seems a strangely “don’t think outside this box” attitude to adopt regarding advanced stats.
Of course the root of all these issues is that it’s all being derived from a tiny sample size. His goal scoring pace likely won’t stand up, and his decreased shot generation likely won’t stand up either. It’s all an object lesson in trying to project a small selection of largely random events into some overarching pattern, and getting into arguments about it.
Again, I thought about it, it's just not a meaningful impact to the point of being worth considering.
Getting lost in thinking through every meaningless piece of noise is a waste of time.
Again, you are talking about 60 seconds, or about 0.5% of his ice time, and even that 60 seconds, assumes he wasn't going to be taken off at the whistle anyway when the goalie covers (assuming they make the save), or that those additional seconds had significantly better opportunity for shot generation.
Saying 1 shot was a way to make you feel better.
Hence why, instead of wasting time looking at every tiny factor (next should I take a look at time of period to see how fresh the ice is, or time since the shoveling crew last went out), it is simpler to simply acknowledge the % for error.
for example, hey, his 22-23 and 23-24 shot generation numbers are pretty similar.
However, we look and see a pretty significant decrease this year. That is now something to think about.
With the same linemates and very similar usage, a gap like this is MEANINGFUL.
In summary, think high level. Don't bog yourself down trying to think about the impact of meaningless things with virtually no statistical impact or relevance.
If you want to do a very deep statistical dive into your favourite player, I'd say sure, go look at all the little things you want.