Penguins Update: Points per Sixty

Being a bit of a nerd, I’ve always had a fascination with numbers. And the myriad of today’s ever-evolving hockey statistics truly boggle my mind.

Heck, you can track everything from a player’s zone starts to how their teammates perform with or without them (WOWY). Corsi, Fenwick…the list is endless.

Lately, I’m enamored of a relatively new stat—points per sixty minutes. To me, it provides a truer indication of a player’s production than points per game because it takes into account how much he’s actually on the ice.

Take Bryan Rust. The speedy winger’s averaged a good-but-not-great 0.50 points per game. However, his points per sixty rate of 2.23 compares favorably with the team’s top performers.

Another, albeit extreme example? Pens heavyweight Tom Sestito. He’s averaged a paltry 0.18 points per game. His points per sixty minutes? A surprising 2.21.

On the flip side, star defenseman Kris Letang boasts an impressive average of 0.83 points per game. Only slightly off the pace set by high-scoring forward Phil Kessel. Yet his points per sixty minute mark of 1.95, while decent, lags a full point behind “Phil the Thrill’s.”

The reason? “Tanger” logs a ton of minutes when healthy.

Of course, there are many factors to consider when evaluating a player’s productivity. Their role, for one. Are they used in offensive situations, such as the power play? Or are they strictly a five-on-five guy or defensive specialist. Are they are a forward or a defenseman?

Without further ado, the following table displays the Penguins’ points per sixty minutes (P/60), as well as points per game (P/GP). For good measure, I’ve included their Corsi for 60, too.

I found the results intriguing, if not entirely unexpected.

Player	Pos	GP	TOI	PTS	P/GP	P/60	Corsi for 60
Archibald	RW	3	28	2	0.67	4.34	54.1
Malkin	C	62	1154	72	1.16	3.74	51.9
Crosby	C	65	1292	80	1.23	3.71	53.8
Sheary	RW	51	800	47	0.92	3.53	53.6
Kessel	RW	71	1277	63	0.89	2.96	48.1
Guentzel	LW	34	548	25	0.74	2.74	52.2
Hornqvist	RW	60	955	39	0.65	2.45	55.1
Rust	RW	50	671	25	0.50	2.23	52.7
Sestito	LW	11	54	2	0.18	2.21	35.6
Schultz	D	68	1355	47	0.69	2.08	51.9
Streit	D	9	153	5	0.56	1.96	52.7
Letang	D	41	1046	34	0.83	1.95	52.9
Wilson	LW	68	727	23	0.34	1.90	51.5
Cullen	C	62	847	25	0.40	1.77	49.2
Kunitz	LW	65	995	28	0.43	1.69	49.9
Gaunce	D	7	76	2	0.29	1.58	46.8
Bonino	C	70	1148	30	0.43	1.57	46.8
Kuhnhackl	RW	46	465	12	0.26	1.55	45.4
Hagelin	LW	61	945	22	0.36	1.40	53.1
Rowney	C	16	154	3	0.19	1.17	51.3
Fehr	C	52	568	11	0.21	1.16	42.4
Daley	D	54	1097	19	0.35	1.04	46.7
Ruhwedel	D	26	435	7	0.27	0.96	50.3
Cole	D	71	1396	22	0.31	0.95	50.7
Dumoulin	D	60	1222	13	0.22	0.64	52.2
Maatta	D	54	973	7	0.13	0.43	49.0
Oleksy	D	11	151	1	0.10	0.40	51.6
Hainsey	D	10	207	1	0.09	0.29	51.5
Pouliot	D	10	144	0	0.00	0.00	46.9
Sundqvist	C	4	34	0	0.00	0.00	44.3
Warsofsky	D	6	91	0	0.00	0.00	50.9