Joshua Mahura

Last Season

One goal and two assists in 23 games — three points, plus-eight, at 15:40 a night with sixteen penalty minutes.

The Finesse Game

Minimal. Twenty-seven unblocked attempts from a median of 51 feet, 74 per cent from beyond forty, one goal.

Fifty-seven points in 278 career games, forty-six of them assists. Two assists in 23 games is the honest version of a third-pair defenceman who moves the puck adequately and creates nothing.

The Physical Game

Six foot even, 193, and light. Sixteen penalty minutes in 23 games is a higher rate than the size supports.

He skates well, closes gaps, and loses net-front battles. The mobility is the reason he has stayed in the league for eight seasons without ever holding a full-time job.

The Intangibles

Forty-four point two per cent of the expected goals, 11th percentile, and 40.7 per cent of the shot attempts, first percentile, across 323 minutes.

The plus-eight on top of that is one of the more misleading numbers in this edition — 323 minutes is a small sample, the chances underneath were 10.4 to 13.1 against, and Seattle’s goaltending beat its expected total by sixteen and a half goals.

Two points in his last ten. He is 28, a third-round pick, and the seventh defenceman. Plus-eight in twenty-three games is exactly the sort of figure this book exists to take apart.