As analytical models have gained in popularity, dissecting hockey into a series of micro statistics, the importance of faceoff percentage has declined. Don’t tell NHL coaches that, though. There’s nothing that makes a bench calmer than having a reliable option to take defensive zone draws, and at the very least avoid losing them clean.
When it comes to the trade deadline, relatively one-dimensional centers (often called two-way players, despite not having much upside in a rather important direction) are swapped regularly. So, while most will be focused on big names like Bo Horvat or Jakob Chychrun as trade season arrives, there should also be some time spent considering these depth additions, and which teams are on the lookout for help in the dot.
In his latest 32 Thoughts column for Sportsnet, Elliotte Friedman pointed out two clubs that are already poking around in this area. The Seattle Kraken, ranked 32nd overall in faceoff percentage, and the Colorado Avalanche, 31st, are looking for centers.
Seattle’s struggles there are to be expected. The pivot position was always going to be a weakness for the team as they started their NHL journey, as clubs were loath to leave centers exposed in the expansion draft. Add in the youth of Matthew Beniers, who has taken the second-most draws on the club, and you have a recipe for disaster on the dot. Young centers often struggle with faceoffs, as they try to learn the tricks and techniques that veterans use to get an advantage. Take Auston Matthews, for instance, who was a 46.9% faceoff man in his rookie year, only to reach 56.2% last season.
While Beniers will likely get better, the same can’t be said for Alexander Wennberg, who has been under 50% for every year of his career. Yanni Gourde has been up-and-down but is struggling with a 45.9% this season. All three of them are left-handed, leaving 24-year-old Morgan Geekie as the only right-handed option for them at the moment.
For Colorado, it really comes down to the fact that Gabriel Landeskog hasn’t been healthy this year. A winger by trade, he is the team’s best faceoff player and often takes the most important draws of the game. He has taken at least 400 faceoffs in each of the last five seasons, and won more than 54% of them. Without him, the team has to rely on Nathan MacKinnon, who has always been below average, and J.T. Compher, whose best season reached 51.4%.
Faceoff percentage isn’t as important as some believe. After all, a 40% player still wins four of every ten draws. But if you are trying to find trade targets that a club might go after, it still carries significant weight.