Reviewing Joakim Nordstrom’s Top 6 Experience

Thank you to Manny Perry, Micah Blake McCurdy, and the Evolving Wild twins for having the resources available to get this up so quick.

When the Bruins signed Joakim Nordstrom this summer, they expected him to be a depth forward. Not that we have seen this role change, but as of tonight, he is filling in for Ryan Donato on David Krejci’s wing. Unlike most depth forwards, there was a time when Joakim Nordstrom received top six minutes.

Micah Blake McCurdy makes these beautiful skater cards that give a good summary of that player. While receiving 14 5v5 minutes a night on Jordan Staal’s wing, the Canes were outshooting and outscoring their opponents far more with him off of the ice than on the ice. Nordstrom scored at a fourth line rate while creating little offense in terms of shots and their quality. Most of the shots for his team can from the perimeter. Furthermore, although the Canes didn’t give up a large volume of shots when Nordstrom was on the ice, they did give up a large proportion of high-quality ones.

Manny Perry’s wins above replacement had Nordstrom at 0.21 wins above replacement in 71 games in 2015-16. That’s not what you’d like to see out of a top six forward. Furthermore, he was replacement level outside of his ability to draw and not take penalties.

The Evolving Wild twins also have similar results in their model.

It is important to understand, this information is practically useless for predicting what will happen tonight. If this was a long term vision for Cassidy, there is a reason to be upset. However, I don’t think that is the case. There have been far worse players receiving top six or top four playing time. I wouldn’t worry too much about this one game.