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In the comments of my morning article on the assignments faced by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Gabriel Landeskog and Sean Couturier have faced, Woodguy wondered what impact the defensive pairings behind the kids has on their results:
I wonder how the defensive pairing playing behind the forwards affect the possession metrics.
Renney’s been running 3rd pair with RNH and his Ozone starts all year. Lots of Sutton, Peckham, Tuebert and Barker when he played.
You would think with the QC that Landeskog is getting he has Johnson or Quincey behind him.
Which is more important for driving possession, QC or QT. Chicken or egg?
Thanks to the venerable and terrifying Gabriel Desjardins and his behindthenet.ca, we can figure that out. The numbers below show even strength time on ice for each of the 18-year-old forwards at the top of the table. Below each player is a listing of the even strength time on ice with each corresponding defensive teammate.
| Rookie | ES TOI | Rookie | ES TOI | Rookie | ES TOI | ||
| Ryan Nugent-Hopkins | 505.1 | Gabriel Landeskog | 700.15 | Sean Couturier | 426.82 | ||
| Defensive Teammate | ES TOI | Defensive Teammate | ES TOI | Defensive Teammate | ES TOI | ||
| Tom Gilbert | 170.7 | Shane O`Brien | 236.0 | Matt Carle | 173.7 | ||
| Ladislav Smid | 149.0 | Jan Hejda | 228.2 | Braydon Coburn | 163.9 | ||
| Theo Peckham | 147.5 | Kyle Quincey | 226.1 | Andrej Meszaros | 152.8 | ||
| Jeff Petry | 135.9 | Erik Johnson | 225.4 | Kimmo Timonen | 103.7 | ||
| Corey Potter | 120.2 | Ryan O`Byrne | 200.9 | Marc-Andre Bourdon | 88.4 | ||
| Andy Sutton | 82.3 | Ryan Wilson | 153.3 | ||||
| Ryan Whitney | 70.2 | Stefan Elliott | 101.5 |
*Time on ice figures courtesy behindthenet.ca