Behind the Net provides a lot of statistics that give us a better insight into what players are doing, and the situations they are succeeding or failing in.One of the statistics is penalties drawn vs. penalties taken. The relevance of this should be obvious- Edmonton scored 57PPG and allowed 10 SHG for a total of +47 on the powerplay. On the penalty kill they allowed 56 goals and scored 7, for a total of -49. Thus, players that draw more penalties than they take are an obvious asset.
With that in mind, here are the numbers for Oiler forwards, ranked by penalties drawn per 60 minutes minus penalties taken per 60.
Hemsky- 1.9PD-.8PT = +1.1
Cogliano- 1.6PD-.5PT= +1.1
Nilsson- 1.3PD-.5PT = +.8
Brodziak- 1.0PD-.5PT= +.5
Gagner- .9PD-.4PT= +.5
Penner- 1.1PD-.7PT = +.4
Glencross- 1.5PD-1.1PT = +.4
Sanderson- 1.3PD-1.3PT = 0
Pisani- .9PD-1.0PT= -.1
Stortini- 1.8PD-1.9PT= -.1
Horcoff- .6PD-.8PT= -.2
Stoll- 1.4PD-1.7PT = -.3
Torres- 1.1PD-1.5PT = -.4
Reasoner- .7PD-1.3PT= -.6
Moreau - 1.8PT-.8PD = -1
One thing to note about this statistic- all of the forwards should be in the green, as this statistic is one that is stacked against defensemen. A defenseman is far less likely to draw a penalty, since most penalties are taken defending. Here are the numbers for defensemen.
Gilbert- .4PD-.3PT= +.1
Grebeshkov- .6PD-.5PT= +.1
Souray- .3PD-.8PT= -.5
Greene- .5PD-1.0PT= -.5
Smid- .4PD-.9PT= -.5
Staios- .4PD-1.1Pt= -.7
Pitkanen- .5PD-1.3PT= -.8
My conclusions:
A) Ethan Moreau was beyond brutal in limited ice time. He was hurt, yes, and when healthy he does a lot of good things, yes, and he plays tough opposition, yes, but he should not be taking penalties at the rate he is.
B) Cogliano's speed and Hemsky's puck possession generate a ton of power play time.
C) Gagner, Nilsson and Brodziak were all more effective than I expected, and they should only improve with experience (although as Brodziak's level of opposition increases, he likely will take more penalties.
D) None of the defensemen are really awful by this metric- Pitkanen comes closest, and without a doubt he takes too many penalties, but he neutralizes that somewhat by also generating powerplays.