Montreal Canadiens prospects Jared Davidson and Joshua Roy have only participated in two games this year, but the early results suggest they have already made their mark.
Montreal Canadiens Expected Goals
Even though the Habs are in the midst of a frustrating losing streak, it should be noted that they’ve actually improved their underlying numbers in the last stretch of games.
The most significant development has been Montreal’s ability to control expected goals, a metric that uses shot types, shot distances, and other factors to determine whether the process has the potential to yield good results down the road.
It’s particularly important for the Habs, as they’ve struggled to maintain a decent control of the expected goals since the rebuild began in earnest.
For example, they finished 28th in xGF% last year, controlling just 47 percent of the expected goals.
At the other side of the spectrum, the two teams that battled it out for the Stanley Cup, the Florida Panthers (55.1 xGF%) and the Edmonton Oilers (54.4%), finished second and third, respectively, in that very critical statistical category.
Jared Davidson And Joshua Roy Impact
In October, the Montreal Canadiens were once again in the bottom-half of the league, sporting a 47.7 xGF%.
But things have improved in that regard, as the Canadiens managed to control an impressive 55.2 xGF% in November, the fifth-best result among all NHL teams in that stretch.
It must be said that both Davidson and Roy have certainly done their part.
Again, we’re dealing with a limited data set.
I am sure a few people on social media will yell at me for discussing statistics after just two games, but it’s important to remember that data analysis was designed for this exact purpose. The goal is to project future results based on a relatively limited sample size.
The projections aren’t ironclad, but they do give us a good idea of what to expect.
Davidson, in particular, has shown his highly-entertaining, rough-and-tumble playing style can translate to the NHL, which was far from a guarantee.
With Davidson on the ice, the Habs have controlled almost 70 percent of the expected goals. As for Roy, he’s comfortably above 60 percent, one of only three Canadiens players to hit that mark.
Montreal Canadiens Brass Tacks
This development comes at the ideal team for a reeling club that is short on confidence. It seems that the AHL call-ups have stabilized the bottom six, doing so sustainably.
Not only is this a very encouraging situation for the third and fourth lines, it should also remove some of the pressure placed on Nick Suzuki‘s line, at a time when it’s clear that the team’s captain is dealing with a few nagging injuries.
All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted, via Natural Stat Trick.
