Players

C · Minnesota Wild

An undrafted German centre who has made a career out of faceoffs, penalty killing and being where he is supposed to be.

C · Ottawa Senators

Eighty-three points, and forty-five per cent of his shots from inside twenty feet.

C · St. Louis Blues

Five hundred and forty-five games, a Stanley Cup, and the nought-th percentile in shot attempts.

C · St. Louis Blues

Five foot eleven, a hundred and seventy-two pounds, and fifty-six per cent of his shots from the slot.

C · Montréal Canadiens

A hundred-point captain who does not have a single spectacular tool, and is the best player on his team by a distance.

C · Colorado Avalanche

A first-round Russian centre in a fourth-line role, defensively sound and offensively invisible.

RW · Carolina Hurricanes

Thirty-one goals, and the first season in a while that looked like the second overall pick.

G · Boston Bruins

The reason a mediocre team finished with a good record.

LW · Utah Mammoth

Six hundred and eight games, undrafted, and no goals at all.

G · Detroit Red Wings

Six foot five, a career .897, and a backup job that keeps finding him.

C · Toronto Maple Leafs

Twelve hundred and sixty-six games, eleven hundred and eighty-five points, and minus twenty-eight.

C · Chicago Blackhawks

Minus thirty, six penalty minutes, and eight hundred and twenty-seven games of doing it the same quiet way.

RW · Anaheim Ducks

The most complete forward here, and the one most likely to be somewhere else.

LW · Montréal Canadiens

A French winger with real skill who has never turned it into consistent production in seven seasons.

D · Vegas Golden Knights

Six hundred and thirty-four games, three hundred and fourteen assists, and the eighty-sixth percentile.

C · Vancouver Canucks

Twenty-five games, three points, and no five-on-five record.

C · St. Louis Blues

Sixty-four points in sixty-four games, and sixteen in his last ten.

D · Vancouver Canucks

Thirty-one games, four goals, and ten points.

G · Washington Capitals

A .9118, four shutouts, and the best goaltending in the National Hockey League.

C · Buffalo Sabres

Six foot six, forty goals, and a shot chart that says he is doing it the hard way.

D · Buffalo Sabres

Seventy shots, no goals, and the longest average shot distance in this edition.

RW · Philadelphia Flyers

Twenty-eight goals, and the seventy-eighth percentile behind them.

LW · Florida Panthers

Sixty per cent of the expected goals — ninety-ninth percentile — and his club still got outscored with him on the ice.

LW · Florida Panthers

Thirteen feet — the shortest average shot in this book — from a man who played thirty-one games.

D · Colorado Avalanche

The defenceman who makes the best defenceman in the world possible, and gets a fraction of the attention.

C · San Jose Sharks

Nine hundred and sixty-nine games, three hundred and nine goals, and fifteen minutes a night.

G · Vancouver Canucks

Six foot six, undrafted, and a .8814.

RW · St. Louis Blues

Six foot six, three hundred and twenty-four games, and the third percentile.

C · Minnesota Wild

A checking centre who plays the shifts nobody wants and finished plus-thirteen on a team that was mostly under water.

C · Utah Mammoth

Eight hundred and sixty-eight games, six hundred and thirty-one points, and the eighteenth percentile.

D · San Jose Sharks

Nine hundred and six games, and seventy-eight per cent of his shots from beyond forty feet.

RW · Calgary Flames

Four points in forty-nine games, and the best on-ice rate of anyone joining this club.

RW · Washington Capitals

Six foot four, thirty-three goals, and plus twenty-four.

D · St. Louis Blues

The two hundredth pick, eighty-one penalty minutes, and the seventy-third percentile.

C · Los Angeles Kings

The fifth pick in 2019, six years on, still trying to prove he belongs in an NHL lineup.

G · Ottawa Senators

A career .9138, a season at .8907, and the best defence in the league in front of him.

D · New York Rangers

A first-round pick, two hundred and twenty-one games, and three goals.

D · Carolina Hurricanes

A first-round pick, two hundred and seventy games, and not enough ice to judge him on.

G · New York Islanders

A .8834, in front of the same defence that made Sorokin look like an All-Star.

G · New York Islanders

Six hundred and twenty-one games at a career .9156, and none last season.

G · Tampa Bay Lightning

Five hundred and ninety-eight games, three hundred and seventy wins, and a .9166 career.

RW · Anaheim Ducks

A hundred and eighty-six career goals, five of them last season, and underlying numbers that fell off the table.

G · Utah Mammoth

Sixty-four appearances, thirty-eight wins, and a .8961.

C · New York Rangers

The thirtieth pick in 2018, and five points in sixty-one games.

C · Florida Panthers

A third-round pick who has scored a hundred and seventy-two goals, and shoots from thirty feet.

LW · Tampa Bay Lightning

Undrafted, ninety-nine games, and seventy-nine penalty minutes in forty-five.

C · Winnipeg Jets

A big, skilled winger who finally stayed healthy for a full season and scored thirty goals.

G · Philadelphia Flyers

A career .8978, a season at .9057, and twenty-nine wins.

D · Chicago Blackhawks

Six foot six, twenty-one minutes a night, and the third percentile in expected goals.

LW · Columbus Blue Jackets

Six foot five, and the shortest average shot distance of any player in this edition.

LW · St. Louis Blues

Five foot nine, two hundred and seventy-five games, and the first Australian in the National Hockey League.

D · Carolina Hurricanes

Undrafted, twenty-two minutes a night, and the ninety-ninth percentile in shot attempts.

G · Minnesota Wild

A twenty-three-year-old who outplayed the starter in his first real NHL season.

D · Edmonton Oilers

A skating, shooting, slightly reckless defenseman who was a spare part on three teams before anyone noticed how good he had gotten.

RW · Los Angeles Kings

An undrafted winger who reached the NHL at twenty-seven and spent last season proving he can hold a fourth-line job.

C · Anaheim Ducks

Undrafted, twenty-five, and shooting from the right places without the puck going in.

G · Colorado Avalanche

A career backup who, at thirty-three, posted the best save percentage of any goaltender in this edition.

D · Utah Mammoth

Minus thirty-three, twenty-two and a half minutes, and the seventy-eighth percentile.

C · San Jose Sharks

Sixty-four per cent of his shots from inside twenty feet, and minus twenty-five.

D · Columbus Blue Jackets

Eighty-one points and twenty-six and a half minutes a night, and the goals still went against him.