Getting back to the TOI discussion. There are 5 forwards in the NHL with over 22 minutes of TOI.
- Barkov
- McDavid
- Scheifele
- Kopitar
- MacKinnion
Anyone want to guess what they have in common?
That all except for Scheifele play on essentially 1 line teams with no depth?
That all of them other than Scheif/Mac also play for coaches who are coaching for their jobs as their coach has either already been fired (McDavid, Kopitar) or in danger of being fired (Barkov)? No surprise that coaches fighting to keep their jobs would run the top guys on their 1-line teams. Not sure why Scheifele is showing up on that list as none of that applies to the Jets.
I looked into this a couple of weeks ago (
2018-19 stats and underlying metrics thread). Every forward in top 10 in ice time other than Scheifele/Wheeler/Mac either has had their coach already fired or in the danger of being fired. Those coaches are fighting for their jobs in the short term. Maurice is not.
Also interesting to note that Scheifele/Wheeler and MacKinnon are the only forwards in top 10 in ice time whose teams are in the playoffs. Every other forward playing that much does not have their team in the playoffs, perhaps hinting at their team's depth and explaining why they are playing so much. There's a reason Crosby, Tavares, Bergeron, Kucherov, Stamkos, Panarin, Forsberg don't show up on these lists...