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Oliver Ekman-Larsson | #23 | D


-AJ-

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well so far, great skating and positioning, strong defensively, great passing and dangerous wristshots. im very happy with the way hes played and somehow i get the iompression he has a certain connection to garland where garland finds open surfaces and OEL then finds him with passes. This is a solid D that id have on my team any day.

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8 minutes ago, Mrwipeout said:

well so far, great skating and positioning, strong defensively, great passing and dangerous wristshots. im very happy with the way hes played and somehow i get the iompression he has a certain connection to garland where garland finds open surfaces and OEL then finds him with passes. This is a solid D that id have on my team any day.

I agree you can see the chemistry with garland.  That will build up with the rest of the roster over time.

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I'm liking what OEL has brought to the table so far, though it is notable that he has just 2 points in 10 games. I'd rather this and solid defense like we have than 5 points with mediocre defense like was in Arizona, but it's an area where he can improve.

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4 minutes ago, -AJ- said:

I'm liking what OEL has brought to the table so far, though it is notable that he has just 2 points in 10 games. I'd rather than and solid defense like we have than 5 points with mediocre defense like was in Arizona, but it's an area where he can improve.

I think as the team starts putting goals in the net this will change a little for OEL, but he has definitely been better than the media was making him sound after the trade. Hopefully he can keep his play at this level for the majority of the remaining years on his contract  

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2 minutes ago, SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME said:

I’m usually on the side of the analytics guys (at least on balance), but this just makes me :picard:

 

 

 

At least he’s acknowledging the obvious improvement, but JFresh’s refusal to post current season stats is disappointing.

 

Because you know if OEL was struggling, he’d be painting Twitter with flashy charts and “Yikes OEL” posts, and not citing sample size and a need to wait for a full season’s worth of results.

 

It’s ten games in, and OEL has already contributed the best defensive GAR he’s had in a season since 2015-16.
 

And he’s already nearly half a win above replacement, after just an eighth of a season played.

 

Of course, there’s a chance he doesn’t maintain these numbers. 10 games isn’t a very large sample.

 

But if OEL does keep this up, we’d be looking at a season that would rank among the top-3 of his entire career.

 

The improvements so far, over last season, have been nearly global. But most encouraging has been the massive gain in defensive impact (EV defence +44%; 2.1 GAR) while playing the most defensive deployment (zonestarts) OEL has seen in 5 years.

 

OEL’s defensive stats were always the most concerning, when you looked at his career trend lines, but so far, at least, this ten game sample has not only seen him buck that trend, but return to the level of positive defensive impact he enjoyed in his prime.

 

Hopefully this continues. And not just for this season, but several more. :) 

Sadly that's the schtick of clowns like this guy. Cherry picks the statistics that he draws from to suit his narrative and add gravitas to his smarmy tweets. Analytics have their place in the game, but I have a feeling for guys like this jackass and others, it gives them a sense of misguided superiority. 

 

The way you use the statistics as part of your thorough breakdowns of games makes a lot more sense, and gives people not used to, or interested in, analytics a far fuller picture of a player's performance and how the stats reflect it.

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9 minutes ago, SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME said:

I’m usually on the side of the analytics guys (at least on balance), but this just makes me :picard:

 

 

 

At least he’s acknowledging the obvious improvement, but JFresh’s refusal to post current season stats is disappointing.

 

Because you know if OEL was struggling, he’d be painting Twitter with flashy charts and “Yikes OEL” posts, and not citing sample size and a need to wait for a full season’s worth of results.

 

It’s ten games in, and OEL has already contributed the best defensive GAR he’s had in a season since 2015-16.
 

And he’s already nearly half a win above replacement, after just an eighth of a season played.

 

Of course, there’s a chance he doesn’t maintain these numbers. 10 games isn’t a very large sample.

 

But if OEL does keep this up, we’d be looking at a season that would rank among the top-3 of his entire career.

 

The improvements so far, over last season, have been nearly global. But most encouraging has been the massive gain in defensive impact (EV defence +44%; 2.1 GAR) while playing the most defensive deployment (zonestarts) OEL has seen in 5 years.

 

OEL’s defensive stats were always the most concerning, when you looked at his career trend lines, but so far, at least, this ten game sample has not only seen him buck that trend, but return to the level of positive defensive impact he enjoyed in his prime.

 

Hopefully this continues. And not just for this season, but several more. :) 

 

2 minutes ago, PhillipBlunt said:

Sadly that's the schtick of clowns like this guy. Cherry picks the statistics that he draws from to suit his narrative and add gravitas to his smarmy tweets. Analytics have their place in the game, but I have a feeling for guys like this jackass and others, it gives them a sense of misguided superiority. 

 

The way you use the statistics as part of your thorough breakdowns of games makes a lot more sense, and gives people not used to, or interested in, analytics a far fuller picture of a player's performance and how the stats reflect it.

I suspect he's worried about sample size, which is somewhat understandable, but I still don't see that as reason not to post the stats at all. Just post them with the caveat of sample size issues.

 

It's kind of crazy, but it feels like OEL changed from an OFD into Chris Tanev over the course of one off-season. He doesn't put up points anymore, but has really strong defense. A weird change, but a welcome one. We need the defensive acumen more than another OFD IMO.

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Just now, -AJ- said:

 

I suspect he's worried about sample size, which is somewhat understandable, but I still don't see that as reason not to post the stats at all. Just post them with the caveat of sample size issues.

 

It's kind of crazy, but it feels like OEL changed from an OFD into Chris Tanev over the course of one off-season. He doesn't put up points anymore, but has really strong defense. A weird change, but a welcome one. We need the defensive acumen more than another OFD IMO.

OEL may show some offense as the season progresses, but seeing how he and the entire defense are performing, at least to me, speaks to the effect that Brad Shaw is already having on how they're deployed. The D has needed more structure for a while now, and with the additions of players like OEL and Poolman, it's showing. There's a lot more composure on the backend. Hopefully, this will lead to more structure through the neutral zone, and impact how the forwards enter and play in the opposition's end.

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9 minutes ago, -AJ- said:

 

I suspect he's worried about sample size, which is somewhat understandable, but I still don't see that as reason not to post the stats at all. Just post them with the caveat of sample size issues.

 

It's kind of crazy, but it feels like OEL changed from an OFD into Chris Tanev over the course of one off-season. He doesn't put up points anymore, but has really strong defense. A weird change, but a welcome one. We need the defensive acumen more than another OFD IMO.

That’s definitely the excuse.

 

And like I said in the post, it is a small sample size.

 

I just don’t think JFresh would be holding back on posting a 2021-22 chart if OEL was currently >2 goals below replacement.

 

He’ll need to maintain this level of performance for a lot longer before anyone can say that OEL has completely reversed the overall trend that was so concerning in his analytics, but he’s made a damn good start at doing this, since the move to Vancouver.

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4 minutes ago, PhillipBlunt said:

OEL may show some offense as the season progresses, but seeing how he and the entire defense are performing, at least to me, speaks to the effect that Brad Shaw is already having on how they're deployed. The D has needed more structure for a while now, and with the additions of players like OEL and Poolman, it's showing. There's a lot more composure on the backend. Hopefully, this will lead to more structure through the neutral zone, and impact how the forwards enter and play in the opposition's end.

His OZ%, while not super low, is the lowest it's been in his entire career, showing he's being used more defensively than ever before. 

 

His TOI/Game is also 24:03, which is the most he's played in about five years. Green/Baumer are clearly relying on him a lot.

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3 minutes ago, SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME said:

That’s definitely the excuse.

 

And like I said in the post, it is a small sample size.

 

I just don’t think JFresh would be holding back on posting a 2021-22 chart if OEL was currently >2 goals below replacement.

 

He’ll need to maintain this level of performance for a lot longer before anyone can say that he’s completely reversed the overall trend that was so concerning in his analytics, but he’s made a damn good start at doing this, since the move to Vancouver.

Agreed, he's probably more than willing to expose negative stats with small samples, but more hesitant to show them when they paint a positive picture. Inconsistency and bias at it's finest.

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1 hour ago, -AJ- said:

 

I suspect he's worried about sample size, which is somewhat understandable, but I still don't see that as reason not to post the stats at all. Just post them with the caveat of sample size issues.

 

It's kind of crazy, but it feels like OEL changed from an OFD into Chris Tanev over the course of one off-season. He doesn't put up points anymore, but has really strong defense. A weird change, but a welcome one. We need the defensive acumen more than another OFD IMO.

 

I just think he's always been a smart player. His shot allowed him to score more in the past, but his ability to read the play & be in great position is what made him great. Along with the skill to move the puck.

 

I remember seeing a VAN/Arizona game in 2017 & OEL stood out immediately with how he could control the game whenever he was on. It was kind of in a way you might not fully appreciate on TV. (And I wasn't keying on him or anything either, he just was the best player on the ice)

 

I think we are seeing those elements now. He's so calm going back for the puck under pressure, very good at breaking up plays in the Dzone, and a very good puck mover. 

 

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6 hours ago, -AJ- said:

I'm liking what OEL has brought to the table so far, though it is notable that he has just 2 points in 10 games. I'd rather this and solid defense like we have than 5 points with mediocre defense like was in Arizona, but it's an area where he can improve.

We have Huggy for the points.  If OEL - Hughes can be the D-pair that Hammer - Ehrhoff were in 2010-11 (Hammer taking the tough minutes, letting the Hoff get the offensive time with Edler) that just might be the best way to utilize the current composition of the team.  Of course hopefully the 3rd LD can be upgraded but having OEL is already a major upgrade defensively (not to mention his chemistry with Myers, plus Poolman and Hamonic at least looking solid).

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Just now, Phil_314 said:

We have Huggy for the points.  If OEL - Hughes can be the D-pair that Hammer - Ehrhoff were in 2010-11 (Hammer taking the tough minutes, letting the Hoff get the offensive time with Edler) that just might be the best way to utilize the current composition of the team.  Of course hopefully the 3rd LD can be upgraded but having OEL is already a major upgrade defensively (not to mention his chemistry with Myers, plus Poolman and Hamonic at least looking solid).

I agree, though I will say that Hammer actually put up some decent offensive totals in his prime too.

 

Things could definitely change though. OEL could go on a 5-game point streak and all of a sudden his numbers look pretty good.

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27 minutes ago, -AJ- said:

I agree, though I will say that Hammer actually put up some decent offensive totals in his prime too.

 

Things could definitely change though. OEL could go on a 5-game point streak and all of a sudden his numbers look pretty good.

Not saying OEL wouldn't put up points either, think he was on pace for around 40 points/ 82 despite not doing well defensively in ARI.
I agree that he could have monster all-around games here and there and really win over the fans.

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2 hours ago, J-P said:

OEL might not reach 40 pts with a more defensive oriented deployment, which is fine, but I still think it's a bit hasty to determine that he's not producing offensively. More of a team stat IMO, hard to get a lot of points when the team only scores 1-2 goals a game, which will hopefully change. 

I imagine the assists will start showing up once the forward group works itself out of the funk they're in. Hard for a defenseman to net apples when your top scorers are snakebitten.

 

As far as his defensive play goes, I'm beyond happy with him so far. The fact that he's been able to do this with Myers as his partner (all due respect) is a testament to just how special of a player he is. 

 

So glad to see him proving people wrong. Let's just hope he can keep it up for a whole season.

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