Pius Suter

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

15 goals and 21 assists in 82 games — 36 points, a minus-11 and 22 penalty minutes at 16:55 a night, the 64th percentile among forwards. 1:42 a night short-handed is the 80th percentile.

47.3 per cent of the expected goals at five-on-five over 1,107 minutes, the 30th percentile. His ice went 42-49 against an expectation of 45.48-50.59.

The Finesse Game

60 per cent of his shots came from the slot, the 80th percentile, at a median of 20 feet, the 18th — a close, honest shot chart. Fifteen goals on 166 shots is 9.0 per cent, the 29th percentile, so the places are right and the conversion is not.

1.69 even-strength points per 60 is the 43rd percentile, and only 8 per cent of his points came on the power play, the 33rd — thirty-three of his thirty-six points came at five-on-five and short-handed, which is a rare shape.

1.99 takeaways per 60 is the 74th percentile against 1.56 giveaways at the 52nd — the best turnover ledger of any Detroit forward.

86.4 mph is the 24th percentile. A soft shot taken from the right places.

The Physical Game

5-11 and 172, which is the lightest skater in this chapter.

1.04 hits per 60 is the 23rd-fewest of the 393 qualified forwards. Eighty-two games and almost no contact at all. At 172 pounds that is not a criticism, it is a description, and it is the reason he is a checking centre who checks with his stick.

21.4 mph is the 17th-lowest top speed of the 365 forwards the tracking covers and 0.82 bursts over 20 mph per 60 is the 8th-fewest. He is one of the slowest forwards the league measures and he almost never sprints, at 9.55 miles per 60, which is the 41st percentile.

38.5 per cent of his even-strength time was spent in the attacking zone, the 6th percentile.

The Intangibles

Undrafted, out of Switzerland, and 137 NHL games at 26 across two seasons — 27 points in his first and 36 in his second.

With Tyler Bertuzzi he took 54.0 per cent of the chances over 515 attempts and 44.9 without him, which is the largest gap any Detroit forward posts and says plainly what he is: a useful third piece rather than a driver.

Among the Detroit forwards the pair file lists alongside Moritz Seider, he is the only one whose share is better with him than without — 48.4 against 46.8.

A small, slow, non-contact centre who wins the puck back with his stick, kills penalties and scores fifteen goals is a real NHL player and a strictly bounded one. The ceiling is on this page and there is nothing hidden behind it.