John Tavares

This Season So Far

The 2022-23 season has not started. The empty row above is his, and both it and this paragraph fill in on their own from the morning after he first plays: what he has done, what it is worth against his own last season, and the run he is on when the two disagree.

Last Season

79 games, 27 goals and 49 assists at 18:04 a night, minus-8, thirty-two penalty minutes, 237 shots. Ten of the twenty-seven came on the power play. First overall in 2009 by the Islanders, thirteen seasons, 949 games, 895 points.

The Finesse Game

Sixty-three per cent of his attempts came from the slot at a 19-foot median, the 87th percentile among forwards.

That is a materially different shot chart from the three men above him on this roster, all of whom shoot from twenty-six feet or further. He is the only one of Toronto’s top four who gets his goals from the paint.

9.96 shots per 60 is the 88th percentile at 11.4 per cent, and 2.52 even-strength points per 60 is the 83rd.

Thirty-four per cent of his points came on the power play, the 89th percentile, off three minutes a night.

2.73 giveaways per 60 is the 23rd-most of all 393 forwards, against 1.68 takeaways at the 54th percentile. That ratio is the worst in the club’s top six and it is the one column where he is clearly below his line-mates.

54.0 per cent of the expected goals is the 79th percentile, out of 57.2 per cent offensive-zone starts, the 118th-highest of 652 skaters.

The Physical Game

6-1 and 217 pounds, thirty-two penalty minutes in seventy-nine games, and 3.78 hits per 60 at the 47th percentile.

1.85 blocks per 60 is the 56th percentile and the penalty ledger is level: 0.76 drawn against 0.67 taken.

The Intangibles

2.4 bursts over twenty miles an hour per 60 is the 13th percentile and 9.17 miles per 60 the 14th, against a 22.6 mph top speed at the 60th.

A middling top end reached rarely, and less ground covered per minute than 337 other forwards. At 31, on a second line, that is the measurement worth watching, and his shot is still 95.0 mph at the 84th percentile.

He is 31, with 895 points in 949 games across thirteen seasons. Seventy-six points, a net-front shot chart and a 79th-percentile chance share are what a second-line centre is supposed to look like. The giveaways, the sprint count and the ground covered are three separate places the record says 31 is starting to show.