There is this stat on NST called IPP, and it's really useful for this sort of thing. Basically, it's the percentage of goals for a team while a specific player is on the ice and that player earned a point on. It's typically lower for defensemen because they are on the ice for a lot of goals that they don't gain points on. It gives you a good indication of who is driving a line. So let's say someone like Hertl who's on a struggling SJ team is on the ice for 8 scored goals all year. However, of those 8 goals scored he has points on 7 of them. That's a high IPP.
The average for forwards hovers around 68-70%. Over 80 is damn good. A good example of this is QB, he's right at 80. And you can see it on the ice, he's all over the place, he's driving that line. Kempe is at 67, and Kopitar is down at 59. You need some context of course, because Kopitar isn't a passenger by any means, but it's apparent that anyone who watches that line that QB is a monster right now. He literally can't be contained, he's coming out with pucks when outnumbered and is creating left and right. Moore is even higher at 82.3, he's driving play at a similar rate. PLD leads the team in this stat at 83.3, basically anything his lines generate goes through him.
The lowest forwards on the team are JAD (33.3) followed by Laf (36.4). The next lowest is Lewis with 55.6. Lewis is 36 and was never a scorer, so that's pretty respectable. You can see the rookies struggle with this, and it's not just bad luck. It's ice awareness, positioning, and familiarity.
Just another piece of the puzzle, but when you are involved in 80% of your line's goals you are doing something right. You wouldn't guess that kind of production came out of PLD, because he looks like one of the lumbering 12-14 roster players on a team full of high-paced skaters.
