"...Jordan Eberle Is Even Playing On The Penalty Kill"

Another point being made in the shelter arguments concerns Jordan Eberle's time on the penalty kill, most often paired with Shawn Horcoff.  80% of Eberle's total penalty kill scoring chances have come with Horcoff on the ice.  And while Tom Renney's use of Eberle on the penalty kill may speak volumes about the young forward and his level of responsibility, if Eberle is performing at a level well below average, is his penalty kill time really significant?

One way to determine Eberle's level of effectiveness on the penalty kill is to compare his scoring chance against to the other forwards on the team. If Eberle is in the mix, his short-handed minutes are even more impressive when speaking to his overall effectiveness as a rookie. If he's lagging this group of forwards on the worst penalty kill in the NHL and one of the worst penalty kills in NHL history, his short-handed minutes mean little.  Below is a table with that comparison, where TSCA is total scoring chances against and CA/15 is chances against per fifteen minutes of ice time.

Without getting too technical, Eberle's performance lags behind the team average somewhat significantly.  The true surprise is Cogliano's number, the best on the team amongst the regular forwards and trailing on the small sample size of Liam Reddox.

For good measure, I've listed the defensemen below.  The small sample sizes of the non-regular defensemen have helped the Oilers overall, as Jeff Petry, Taylor Chorney, Jason Strudwick, Shawn Belle, and Kurtis Foster all clock in with a better chances rate than all of the regular defenseman.