New York Islanders Nick Leddy Is Good Not Great

When the New York Islanders acquired Nick Leddy from the Chicago Blackhawks we knew we were getting something good. But just how good is he compared to the rest of the D-men in the league?

Just before the start of the 2014 season, the New York Islanders acquired Nick Leddy from the Chicago Blackhawks for two prospects – T.J. Brennan and Ville Pokka – and the rights to a third; goaltender Anders Nilsson.

We gave the Chicago Blackhawks a hope and a prayer and the New York Islanders finally got the answer to their “we need a stud, number one defenseman” prayers.

We know Leddy can move the puck, we know he’s a slick skater, and we know he can put up points. But in terms of how he stacks up to the rest of the league. Where does he sit?

As in, when considering all other defensemen in the league where does he rank in terms of production, possession, quality of opposition and defensive play?

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How He Stacks Up

For those four categories I want to look at points (production), 5on5 Corsi-For (possession), opposition Corsi-For per 60 (quality of opposition) and goals against per 60 (defensive play).

I then ranked Leddy, in terms of percentile to the rest of the NHL’s defensemen that played over 500 minutes last season. There isn’t any sense in adding Jacob Larsson and his 52 minutes played to the mix. Which leaves 197 defenders to match up against.

*All stats taken from stats.hockeyanalysis.com, except points they came from NHL.com

Some of those numbers are absolutely fantastic. While others are quite the opposite and make Nick Leddy look seem like he’s got some work to do in the offseason.

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Leddy’s production should never be in question, with 46 points last season Leddy was one of the New York Islanders most productive player. And by far the most productive on the back end. After Leddy’s 46 Calvin de Haan is next with 25. A 21 point drop off.

We also know that Leddy faces some the toughest competition for the Isles, night-in, and night-out. But at a 55.58% OppCF60 Leddy equals what Erik Karlsson sees.

But those possession numbers and defensive numbers are absolutely atrocious. Ranking in the 25th and 28th percentile in the league for possession and defensive play is embarrassingly bad. Maybe with a good partner next season Leddy might fare better.

In terms of possession, Leddy fared better with Boychuk at his side than with Travis Hamonic or Adam Pelech. Getting a 50.9% with Johnny B and a 43% with Hamonic and 46.7% with Pelech. Away from the last two Leddy’s numbers jump seven to two percent respectively. Take a look at the WoWy stats from 2016-17 for yourself.

In terms of the defensive play, so goals-against per 60, I’m willing to chalk that up to a bad season for the team. In 2014-15, Leddy hit a GA60 of 1.77 ranking him in the 87th percentile of the league.

Next: Why Stop At Tampa When We Talk Tavares? What About Dallas?

Nick Leddy is a great defender, but he’s clearly got his downfall and that’s oddly enough the defensive side of things. He’s not terrible, but he’s not great. He doesn’t need to change his game or anything, he just needs the right partner in 2017-18 to help him out.

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