New York Islanders Tavares’ Revolving Door Part 2 – State of the Wing

After Part 1, we know where the New York Islanders have been in regards to the wings they’ve provided for John Tavares over the years.  Now the question is, barring an amazing and unlikely move from Garth Snow, what should we be doing with what we have?

Below is a list of every forward on the team that has logged more than twenty minutes on the the ice with John Tavares since the start of the season.

GF% = Goals for / Goals for + Goals against

PDO = Save percentage + Shooting percentage

CF% = Corsi for / Corsi for + Corsi against

OZFO% = Offensive Zone Face Offs / Neutal Zone FOs + Defensive Zone FO + Offensize Zone FOs

The first thing that strikes me about this is the ridiculous numbers, albeit, in a small sample, that Anthony Beauvillier has put while on the ice with Tavares. Those numbers look very similar to what Vanek was doing.

A few other things I see from this chart:

• Strome’s overall numbers are way below what has been produced in other years when playing with Tavares. It shouldn’t be out of the question to give him a turn on the top line even though the team is supposedly still trying to work him in at center.
• The team is still doing just as well with Brock Nelson playing with Tavares as they are without. That to me says that as much as I love him on the top line considering how well they’ve been producing lately, that he has the potential to carry a line of his own.

More from Analysis

• Islanders, Finally, Have Cap Space – What Can They Do With It?
• Islanders: Consequences of the Nick Leddy trade
• Islanders Ilya Sorokin Proves He Was Worth the Wait
• Islanders Power-Play Cannot Continue Playing the Same Way
• Islanders: Analyzing Mathew Barzal’s Evolving Play-Style

On a team that is as starved for offense as the Islanders have been this season, we should not be ignoring this combination. Note here that Shane Prince, built from a similar mold to Beauvillier, also very good numbers, but in an even smaller sample size.

The second thing I would point out is that when sorted for PDO and GF%, the fifth best in each category is Tavares’ stat line without Ladd. This leads me to two possible conclusions.

Either the team’s horrendous start suppressed everyone’s numbers to start the season, or Ladd just does not make for a good pairing with Tavares.

The former seems more believable to me and since he was brought here to play alongside Tavares, Ladd should be given another chance.

Next: Isles Belmont Dream Might Still be Alive

So what’s the solution? Well, its more of the same bounce these players around and hope to God Capuano stumbles on something. Beauvillier and Ladd are the better options on the current crop of Isles players. With the former being the absolute best option.