| Rangers' Fenwick before Carl Hagelin | 0.447 |
| Rangers' Fenwick since Carl Hagelin | 0.519 |
And if Fenwick is too confusing for you, how about shots percentage?
| Rangers' Shots % before Carl Hagelin | 0.433 |
| Rangers' Shots % since Carl Hagelin | 0.520 |
Carl Hagelin wears #62 for the New York Rangers. He started the season with the Connecticut Whale of the AHL, totaling 13 points in 17 games, not an eye-catching total for an older rookie. But the parent club was struggling to drive play and called on Hagelin to provide a spark. Hagelin was drafted in the 6th round (#168) in the 2007 draft out of Sodertalje, Sweden and made his way to the University of Michigan, where he posted stellar offensive numbers during his NCAA career.
Before making the call to Hagelin, the Rangers played 18 games and were 10-5-3, largely on the back of Henrik Lundqvist and his ridiculous .950 even strength save percentage. But the Rangers were beaten badly at the possession game during those 18 games. During that stretch, they were nearly as bad as the Minnesota Wild when the game was close.
Then Hagelin arrived. Even though the goaltending is slowly (not nearly fast enough for Pens or Flyers' fans) falling back towards earthly levels, (.950 to .941) the team is 21-7-1, in part thanks to an amazing turnaround in possession. Hagelin himself carries a .547 Fenwick close ratio through his first 29 games and has keyed a remarkable transformation in the Rangers' even strength play. In addition to his amazing underlying numbers, he has 16 points in 29 games, better than his NHLE projections suggested. The indomitable George Ays noticed Hagelin's impact immediately, and called out the team's transformation over a month ago.
John Tortorella isn't protecting him, either. Hagelin's quality of competition suggests second-toughs and his offensive zonestarts are just 40%. His results are striking compared to other rookies.
Either Hagelin's sample size is only 29 games and this is simply a mirage, or the Rangers have discovered (perhaps stolen) the secret to uncovering late-round Swedish ice-tilters.