NHL Player Performance Analysis: Vegas Golden Knights 2022-2023 Season

This analysis explores the statistical performance of Vegas Golden Knights players during the 2022-2023 NHL season. Using pivot charts created in Excel, we examine shooting efficiency, the relationship between ice time and goal production, and special teams scoring contributions.

Shooting Percentage Analysis

Shooting Percentage Per Player

Key Insights: The chart reveals the variation in shooting efficiency in all the Vegas Golden Knights players, including non goal scoring focused positions. Reilly Smith is clearly a standout player at above 50%, much higher than the team average. The majority of players are between 5-20% shooting efficiency, with several key scorers like Ivan Barbashev (21.1%), Noah Hanifin (7.3%), and Tomas Hertl (17.0%) showing at the higher end. Some players like Alex Pietrangelo (3.4%) show minimal shooting percentage, likely based on their positions (he is in defense). This visualization identifies which players are most efficient with their scoring opportunities, which could inform coaching decisions about who should be encouraged to shoot more. Since this percentage is taken out of their attempts on goal, it is more representative of shooting skill than just total goal count.

Goals vs. Time on Ice Analysis

Goals over Time on Ice per Game

Key Insights: This line chart reveals the correlation between ice time per game and goal-scoring. Players with more time on ice (15-27 minutes per game) generally score significantly more goals than those with limited ice time. While the line is far from even, the trend shows a dramatic decline in goal production for players as the time per game decreases. Interestingly, peak goal production occurs in the 17-21 minute range, suggesting that optimal goal scoring efficiency might not require the absolute maximum ice time. This could be partially due to exhaustion or inability to continue high energy performance for the maximum time on the field, as well as being partially attributed to position. Players with extremely low ice time (under 10 minutes) show minimal goal production. This analysis could help coaches optimize ice time distribution to maximize scoring potential.

Power Play vs. Shorthanded Goals Analysis

Comparison of Goals in Power v. Shorthand

Key Insights: This comparison chart highlights the distribution of power play goals (PPG) versus shorthanded goals (SHG) across the team. Power play goals indicate the team had an advantage in number of players on the ice, while shorthand is the opposite. As expected, power play goals significantly outnumber shorthanded goals, with several players showing notable success in power play situations. Tomas Hertl (3) and Pavel Dorofeyev (5) stand out as the most productive power play scorers with 12 and 11 PPG respectively, likely indicating their regular presence on the first power play unit, which is linked to their position as centers. Shorthanded goals are rare but players Jack Eichel (#1), Brett Howden (#8), Tanner Pearson (#11), and William Karlsson (#14) each were able to make 1. Many players record neither forms of goals. This visualization helps identify which players are most effective in specialized game situations, providing valuable information for coaching staff when deciding who to put on the team in certain situations.

Original Dataset: Vegas Golden Knights Player Statistics

Name GP G A PTS +/- PIM TOI/G PPG PPA SHG SHA S SPCT
Jack Eichel C 66 21 59 80 26 6 20:51 4 26 1 1 206 10.2
Mark Stone RW 53 17 41 58 18 8 19:39 5 18 0 1 107 15.9
Tomas Hertl C 67 27 28 55 -6 20 17:13 12 9 0 0 159 17.0
Shea Theodore D 55 7 41 48 10 20 22:02 2 17 0 0 111 6.3
Pavel Dorofeyev LW 67 27 16 43 -5 26 16:27 11 4 0 0 200 13.5
Ivan Barbashev C 56 19 23 42 20 10 16:51 2 0 0 0 90 21.1
Noah Hanifin D 67 9 23 32 2 14 21:32 2 5 0 0 123 7.3
Brett Howden C 65 18 13 31 9 35 14:51 0 0 1 0 108 16.7
Alex Pietrangelo D 64 4 24 28 7 16 22:29 0 1 0 2 116 3.4
Keegan Kolesar RW 67 12 14 26 5 46 13:27 0 0 0 1 75 16.0
Tanner Pearson LW 64 11 13 24 5 4 11:54 0 0 1 0 90 12.2
Nicolas Roy C 56 9 15 24 -5 41 15:06 1 2 0 0 79 11.4
Victor Olofsson RW 45 11 11 22 11 12 14:36 6 1 0 0 79 13.9
William Karlsson C 38 7 11 18 7 0 17:10 0 2 1 0 89 7.9
Brayden McNabb D 67 4 12 16 33 22 20:11 0 0 1 1 74 5.4
Alexander Holtz RW 49 3 8 11 -3 8 11:31 0 1 0 0 62 4.8
Zach Whitecloud D 60 4 7 11 4 25 16:58 0 0 0 0 59 6.8
Nicolas Hague D 56 4 6 10 -5 40 16:36 0 0 0 0 67 6.0
Brandon Saad LW * 15 5 3 8 3 0 15:04 0 1 0 0 29 17.2
Cole Schwindt RW 40 0 7 7 2 0 9:12 0 0 0 0 31 0.0
Kaedan Korczak D 29 0 7 7 6 0 14:26 0 0 0 0 23 0.0
Reilly Smith RW * 6 0 2 2 2 0 14:31 0 0 0 0 7 0.0
Tanner Laczynski C 8 1 0 1 -1 6 8:36 0 0 0 0 2 50.0
Callahan Burke C 7 1 0 1 2 2 10:50 0 0 0 0 12 8.3
Grigori Denisenko LW 1 0 0 0 0 2 8:27 0 0 0 0 0 0.0
Jonas Rondbjerg RW 12 0 0 0 -3 0 9:20 0 0 0 0 9 0.0
Raphael Lavoie C 9 0 0 0 -4 2 10:04 0 0 0 0 10 0.0
Robert Hagg D 2 0 0 0 0 0 11:08 0 0 0 0 0 0.0
Mason Morelli LW 1 0 0 0 -1 0 7:31 0 0 0 0 0 0.0
Ben Hutton D 5 0 0 0 0 0 11:10 0 0 0 0 6 0.0
Brendan Brisson C 9 0 0 0 -3 0 9:52 0 0 0 0 7 0.0

Statistics Legend: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, +/- = Plus/Minus, PIM = Penalties in Minutes, TOI/G = Time on Ice per Game, PPG = Power Play Goals, PPA = Power Play Assists, SHG = Shorthanded Goals, SHA = Shorthanded Assists, S = Shots, SPCT = Shooting Percentage