Emil Lilleberg

Last Season

Four goals and eight assists in 50 games — 12 points, plus-15, at 17:18 a night with 61 penalty minutes. Thirty-two games missed.

The Finesse Game

Seventy-one unblocked attempts from a median of 57 feet, 72 per cent from beyond forty, four goals. Thirty-six points in 163 career games.

Eight assists in 50 games is thin, and the offensive game is not the reason he is in the lineup.

The Physical Game

Six foot three, 215, and heavy. Sixty-one penalty minutes in fifty games is a high rate and it comes from a Norwegian defenceman who arrived in the league with a reputation for being difficult to play against and has lived up to it.

He clears his crease, blocks shots, and fights when required.

The Intangibles

Fifty-two per cent of the expected goals, 70th percentile, and 51.3 per cent of the shot attempts, 70th, across 772 minutes, with the goals 39-32 in his favour.

Those are solid third-pair figures on a club where solid third-pair figures are the standard.

Six points in his last ten, two of them goals. He is 25, a hundred and seventh overall pick out of Arizona, and the fifth or sixth defenceman on a Stanley Cup contender. Thirty-two games missed is the only thing here to worry about.