A Quick Mid-Season Ish Take

This is a shorter look at the Anaheim Ducks in terms of some stats through 41 games of this season (compared to the same time last season). I am using score adjusted shot attempts (SAC) whenever possible.

The Ducks are right around the same place this season as they were last season. Through 41 games in 2014-15, Anaheim has a SAC of 51.2%, good for only 16th in the league. During the same time in 2013-14, the Ducks had a SAC of 51.0%, which ranked 11th. The first halves of the seasons are playing out more or less the same in overall numbers.

Here's what that looks like, using a 10-game rolling average:

I included the team's goals for relative to its SAC to show how that breaks down (since goal scoring is key). A very strong start and subsequent drop is the key trend in the Ducks possession play in 2013-14. Here is this season:

A bit of a weaker start followed by a surge of good games (coinciding with that Eastern Conference roadie) is how this season began. When Anaheim began playing the West, its possession play dipped again before the team played its way back to level.

Because the team is playing at the same clip in terms of SAC, it is the teams around Anaheim that have improved more than the Ducks have changed its play. That's interesting to keep tabs on going forward.

That's basically the meat of it, but for fun I'm throwing out individual relative SAC charts for Ryan Getzlaf, Cam Fowler, and Hampus Lindholm (as three key, full time players), as well as Ryan Kesler. In the latter's case, his 2013-14 stats are relative his Vancouver Canucks teammates, which is meaningless in terms of the Ducks but meaningful in showing his individual trends.

GETZLAF

2013-14:

2014-15:

KESLER

2013-14:

2014-15:

FOWLER

2013-14:

2014-15:

LINDHOLM

2013-14:

2014-15:

I chose these four players because they represent the SAC of the top six and top two pairings, respectively. Obviously in 2013-14, Saku Koivu was getting the Ducks second line minutes. I have written about him previously, as it was his head injury in Columbus that signaled the team's 2013-14 plunge in possession. I don't need to get into that too much since there's no real argument that Kesler is an improvement at the position.

So this is a very quick, dirty take on some score adjusted numbers through the Ducks first 41 games. The face-offs post will come soon! Thanks.