Post-Game Talk (GBU): Dodging a Bullet in Hogtown

[La Cosa Nostra]

Another good thing, Vanek's ice time.Over the first 2 games Vanek has gotten 19 minutes a game, which would be a career high for Vanek.I really hope Lindy continues to give him the premier ice time, I can see Tommy contending for the Art Ross this year as long as he is given 18-19+ mins a game, instead of his 16 minutes like Ruff usually gives him.

 

[Zip15]

Another good thing, Vanek's ice time.Over the first 2 games Vanek has gotten 19 minutes a game, which would be a career high for Vanek.I really hope Lindy continues to give him the premier ice time, I can see Tommy contending for the Art Ross this year as long as he is given 18-19+ mins a game, instead of his 16 minutes like Ruff usually gives him.

His ES time isn't too far off where it was in the last the two seasons. He's averaging 14:49 ES/TOI this year. He averaged 13:36 last year, and 14:01 the year before. I'd imagine when he's not scoring around 3pts/game and the schedule gets even more condensed, that ESTOI will level out around 14 mins.

The big difference is he's getting 4:15 of PPTOI/game, which is the phase where he excels. That's over a full minute more than the previous two seasons, and is largely driven by the league again calling interference, and, thus, more penalties. I wouldn't be too surprised if this heightened sensitivity to interference goes the way of the dinosaurs as the season progresses, thereby decreasing his PP time.

I think he'll finish around an average TOI of 17:45/game. That's about right for him considering he's not an elite ES player, and he doesn't play the PK. It's a safe bet, though, that he leads the team in ES + PP TOI, though that may not be enough for some who simply look at overall TOI.

 

[struckbyaparkedcar]

Vanek doesn't average 13 minutes at ES because he's not great there, he does it because Ruff balances his ESTOI more than any coach in the league who isn't Julien. Virtually no other coach plays their best forwards, whoever they are, as little 5v5 as Lindy.