Number That May Interest Only Me, Sean Couturier Edition: .406
by Derek Zona on Apr 19, 2011 10:00 AM MDT
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When I last looked in on Sean Couturier, his Drummondville Voltigeurs were reveling in a four-game sweep of Chicoutimi in the QMJHL playoffs:
Sean Couturier's Drummondville Voltigeurs swept through the first round of the QMJHL playoffs, outscoring the Chicoutimi Saguenéens 21-12. Couturier scored 3 times and tallied 5 assists for 8 points in the four games. He posted 9 dangerous shots in those four games, or 2.25 per game. That's slightly lower, but not significant, than his 2.379 dangerous shots per game in the regular season, but those 9 DS accounted for 13.8% of Drummondville's total, slightly higher than his 11.2% in the regular season, but again, it's not significant.
What intrigues me about Couturier's performance in this series is his 24.25 faceoffs per game. He took 97 faceoffs and won 56 of them for a faceoff percentage of 57.7%
He was dominant in all aspects of the game. The Voltiguers started their second-round series against the Gatineau Olympiques the way they'd ended their first - Drummondville jumped out to a 2-0 series lead. Couturier, however, slowed significantly. Gatineau not only climbed back into the series, they won four games in a row to knock Drummondville from the playoffs.
In the six game series, Couturier scored three goals - his only points. His 57.7% performance in the circle against Chicoutimi was a distant memory because Couturier won only 56 faceoffs while losing 82 - a .406 faceoff percentage. Even his shots / game rate fell from 4.75 to 3.17. It was a brutal series for Couturier.
The lone bright spot for Couturier was his ability to generate scoring chances. In six games against Gatineau, he generated 17 scoring chances, or 2.8 / game, compared to his 2.25 / game against Chicoutimi. The Voltigeurs were able to generate only 78 chances as a team over the six games (compared with 65 chances in four games in the first round), meaning Couturier accounted for 21.8% of all of Drummondville's scoring chances, compared 9.1% in the first round.
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Draft Status
It will be interesting to see how much impact CHL playoffs will have on the final draft rankings. Overall the top end guys have been out of the playoffs fairly early.
At the top end I can’t imagine it’ll hurt them much. Scouts have seen all these guys countless times and won’t base their evaluations off a couple below average games. Couturier wasn’t good in the second round but neither was RNH in the Rebels series against Medicine Hat. In 5 games he registered 2 assists and went -5 as the Rebels were outscored 22-7. A pretty ugly performance by a potential #1.
Everyone knows rock attained perfection in 1974. It's a scientific fact.
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No I don’t think that it will bump them down but I could see someone moving up if they had a long, deep, successful run. I’m not sure the Oilers would have picked Hall if not for his postseason run. If rolls had been reversed, and Seguin had the same run it might have been his name that was called out by ST
by Peacecountry on Apr 19, 2011 4:32 PM MDT up reply actions
Never moved away from Larsson.
Everyone knows rock attained perfection in 1974. It's a scientific fact.
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Who is “we”? If “we” is me, then Ryan is correct, I’ve never moved from Larsson. I’m still 100% behind drafting Larsson at #1 and trading up to draft the Iron Sheik.
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My argument for Couturier was made in defense of his steep fall. As I said in the Larsson article, I’m a sucker for defense. If I were a GM, I’d need an assistant GM that was enamored with forwards and only forwards to balance my take.
I do think they should do everything they can to trade up for the Iron Sheik, though.
Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.
Couturier and Siemens
1. Couturier – his numbers speak volumes, his size is an asset, and he had no big talent for teammates. Huberdeau had a great season but he also had 3 of the top 7 players in the league as teammates. Even on a team with few other offensive threats, Couturier had a phenominal plus/minus (+55 in 58 games). He is leading in points per game, plus/minus, percentage of team’s points and his hockey IQ is off the charts (some say a relatively unteachable skill). Size, smarts, offense and defense? Am I missing why he isn’t #1? Because he appears to not be working as hard? That’s a ridiculous notion. Is the offense first ‘Q’ to blame? Tell that to Lemieux, Bossy, Lafontaine, Lafleur, Robitaille, Savard and Hawerchuk. And why is Heberdeau so high? And if it is because the ‘Q’ isn’t as defensive, then it should mean his plus/minus is even more impressive. I don’t get it. Couturier is a guarantee. RNH worries me. No doubt he is talented, but what if RNH can’t handle the physicality of the NHL?
2. Duncan Siemens is also underrated. He is a few days away from being too young to be drafted. Imagine if he was a few days younger how his game would have matured with an extra year of seasoning and growth. I think he would be being considered for the top 5 in the 2012 draft, maybe even top 2.
by Maurey Loeffler on Apr 19, 2011 1:26 PM MDT reply actions
Siemens? Don’t see it. He’s a solid defensive prospect, but his shot is bad and he played for a dynamic team to add a lot of cheap assists. He was partnered with Stefan Elliott most of the year, who was the top offensive d-man in the WHL.
Siemens is a safe pick for a team in the middle of the first round. They’ll get a guy that will reach the NHL, potentially a top 4 pick, but he hasn’t shown an elite upside.
Talk about a guy that was underrated his draft year: Stefan Elliott.
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Huberdeau also appears to stir the pot on that team. If it were the other way around, we’d be talking Shremp. But since he led the other players on his team, and was well over the top wingers, I would not hold it against him. In fact, why wouldn’t you want a player that shows the best amongst a reasonably strong crew?
Rob Schremp isn’t a very good comparison for anyone in the conversation for first overall. He just didn’t score that much (82 points in 75 games). I know that’s just echoing your point, but I thought it would be helpful to remind us that there’s a hefty gap there.
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by Scott Reynolds on Apr 25, 2011 5:53 AM MDT up reply actions
If I wasn’t clear on that, then thanks for the clarification.
Huberdeau finished 10 points ahead of the next Sea Dog, and 40 points ahead of the top winger (Stanislav Galiev) during the regular season, and has 22 points in 11 playoff games so far (according to Hockeydb.com). He was also tops on the team in plus/minus and currently leads the team in plus / minus in the playoffs. That’s pretty impressive and the reason he’s talked about as top 5 rather than mid to late 1st round like Shremp.
Couturier chokes in big games. This along with his skating problems should drop him out of the top 3.
Right, but I don’t know who near the top hits. I know Couturier is too oafish and lazy to throw hits though, as you showed earlier.
I bet Landeskog hits.
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by Scott Reynolds on Apr 20, 2011 11:15 AM MDT up reply actions
here here!!
I’m gonna bet ST trades away next years 1st in hopes that its outside the top 10
by One_Roy_Save_On_The_Calendar on Apr 22, 2011 1:07 AM MDT up reply actions
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