Comparing Jeff Schultz
by Yoshietree on Feb 28, 2009 1:56 AM EST
18 comments
Because Jeff Schultz has become the whipping post for Caps fans everywhere I thought it'd be fun to see how he stacks up against other defensemen from his draft class. Because I'm lazy, I only went through the first round. However, if anyone expresses interest, I'll do the leg work for other rounds and defensemen his age from other draft classes:
|
Pick |
Name |
Team |
Games |
Goals |
Assists |
Shots |
+/- |
PIM |
TOI |
Hits |
|
3 |
Cam Barker |
CHI |
47 |
4 |
26 |
62 |
-2 |
49 |
18:19 |
55 |
|
9 |
Ladislav Smid |
EDM |
46 |
0 |
7 |
24 |
-7 |
47 |
15:21 |
78 |
|
10 |
Boris Valabik |
ATL |
36 |
0 |
5 |
14 |
-4 |
93 |
14:29 |
60 |
|
12 |
AJ Thelen |
MIN* |
20 |
1 |
7 |
|
+3 |
17 |
|
|
|
23 |
Andrej Meszaros |
TBL |
52 |
2 |
14 |
87 |
-4 |
36 |
24:10 |
68 |
|
27 |
Jeff Schultz |
WAS |
45 |
1 |
9 |
30 |
+17 |
14 |
19:52 |
30 |
|
28 |
Mark Fistric |
DAL |
17 |
0 |
1 |
17 |
E |
20 |
14:33 |
42 |
|
29 |
Mike Green |
WAS |
49 |
23 |
31 |
175 |
+24 |
48 |
25:45 |
52 |
|
30 |
Andy Rogers |
TBL** |
34 |
0 |
2 |
|
-19 |
38 |
|
|
*Currently in the ECHL, stats are with that team
**Currently in the AHL, stats are with that team
^No longer on an active roster, stats are this year from Swedish Elite League
Now, anyone that has seen me post should know that I am a staunch supporter of Jeff Schultz and believe that a defender does not need to hit or score to be good at what he does. Understanding that this is an extremely small sample size, I see nothing to change my original opinion of Sarge. If anything, I think it shows how far along he is for a young defender.
If this FanPost is written by someone other than one of the blog's authors, the opinions expressed in it do not necessarily reflect those of this blog or SB Nation.
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Good stuff. I’d love to see career-to-date numbers on these guys.
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by J.P. on Feb 28, 2009 9:17 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
I started to do career number also, but by the time I got started last night I didn’t have the energy as it’s a lot harder to track down some of the info…TOI and hits specifically. But, as you can imagine, the rankings are pretty much the same because it’s such a small sample. I’m more curious about how his career numbers stack up against other top tier defensemen when they were 22/23. But again, some of the stats are harder to find when one is talking about career numbers and guys who were 22/23 3-8 years ago.
by Yoshietree on Feb 28, 2009 12:01 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
But not sure why you´re comparing him to only his draft class – the problem is that he has to play against the entire league. Great, he´s got better numbers than Marc Fistric, didn´t stop Aaron Asham from waking around him on Tuesday.
by katzistan on Feb 28, 2009 12:02 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
The point I was/am trying to make is that he is a young defenseman and it takes and most defensemen don’t mature over night. Caps fans are spoiled because they didn’t have to wait for their top players to mature….they’re world class talent. I’ll do another one with defensemen when they were Schultz’s age and with about his time in service…(# of games). I think you’d be surprised…
The fact that Aaron Asham walked around him on Tuesday doesn’t negate the argument that he’s a strong defender…but the problem with being a defensive defenseman that doesn’t hit or score very often is that when you make a mistake it’s all the more noticeable….Green makes mistakes all of the time, but we, as fans, expect him to score goals so he is judged almost like a winger not a dman.
by Yoshietree on Feb 28, 2009 12:07 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
“The fact that Aaron Asham walked around him on Tuesday doesn’t negate the argument that he’s a strong defender…”
yes it does. asham is a 4th line player; we’re not talking malkin here.
by 202-206 on Feb 28, 2009 4:23 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
By that logic, the Nashville Predators are a much better team than the Red Wings, because they pounded them 8-0 last night. Everyone screws up, or has a bad game, or whatever. It just tends to be more noticeable when it’s a stay-at-home defenseman or a goalie.
by D'ohboy on Mar 1, 2009 1:01 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
your argument is flawed. you can’t define a player by one, two or five plays. you define a player over the course of a season…career.
numbers do not lie. having the 2nd highest +/- on a team says wonders…as does being in the top 2 in SH TOI/G.
by Yoshietree on Feb 28, 2009 5:53 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
+1
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by J.P. on Feb 28, 2009 6:03 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Exactly. Even great goalies have allowed goals to stay at home defensemen and fourth liners to score on them. Even great scorers miss the net. Even bad passers miss wide open passes. Shultz has played 156 games in his career and the fact that he got beat by a bad player once doesn’t negate everything else he’s done.
by David M. Getz on Mar 1, 2009 10:54 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
if the argument is that because the 4th goal is on him and thus he’s a bad defenseman, I’d suggest that you do some fact-checking, and see that his numbers (past +/-) are better than expected for a defenseman his age.
In between this, DMG’s recent article and my fanpost, there’s plenty of reading material which should illustrate this.
In the meantime, let’s not become the WaPo boards on this topic, shall we?
"Good crowd out there tonight, boys, let's really try to win this one."
by Bald Pollack on Feb 28, 2009 7:46 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Oh yeah, rec'd.
"Good crowd out there tonight, boys, let's really try to win this one."
by Bald Pollack on Feb 28, 2009 7:50 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
I can’t believe he only has 14 PIMs. That’s Alzner-esque over the course of the season. And his reach on the PK is invaluable. He’s a keeper.
by treat on Mar 1, 2009 1:39 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Schultz
Interesting statistical comparison. The only 1st round defensiveman to have better Plus/Minus stats than Schultz is his teammate, Green. Yes, it takes a while for D-men to develop. Yet, Schultz seems to be the favorite whipping boy of Caps fans on the boards. Granted, he’s a defensive defenseman who’s not a scorer and when he makes a mistake, no one can see an upside to him.
I’ve also noticed there are only 2 other Caps with a better Plus/Minus rating than Schultz: Alex Semin and Mike Green. And Semin is another favorite person for Caps fans to bash, not to mention ship out in a trade. Not to mention the people that bash Green, for that matter, although there’s been less Green bashing lately.
by CapsFan75 on Mar 1, 2009 10:53 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
What’s also worth noting is that Shultz was tied for second in +/- (tied for first among defensemen) his rookie year and was fourth overall (first among defensemen) in +/- last year, so it’s not as if this season has been a fluke.
I agree 100% that Schultz doesn’t get the credit he’s due because most of the good things he does go unnoticed and his mistakes are more obvious because he’s a defenseman, though I think part of it is people rely too much on knee-jerk reactions. For example: the most common complaint about Schultz is that he isn’t physical enough, but being physical isn’t necessarily a good thing, as evidenced by Shaone Morrisonn is yesterday’s game. Mo laid a pretty big hit on a Florida player near the Capitals bench and the crowd loved it. Meanwhile, Mo is out of position and leave Poti back as the lone defenseman for a two on one.
I’m a big Schultz fan and I can’t say it doesn’t bug me, but I think it’s inevitable that a big, stay-at-home, un-flashy defenseman like Schultz is going to be a whipping boy for a significant portion of the fan base no matter what.
by David M. Getz on Mar 2, 2009 2:02 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Mo laid a pretty big hit on a Florida player near the Capitals bench and the crowd loved it. Meanwhile, Mo is out of position and leave Poti back as the lone defenseman for a two on one.
Glad I wasn’t the only one who saw that yesterday.
"Good crowd out there tonight, boys, let's really try to win this one."
by Bald Pollack on Mar 2, 2009 4:31 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Along the same line with +/-, as I’ve started compiling the career numbers, ol’ 55 has a better +/- than anyone else, to include Monsieur Green.
by Yoshietree on Mar 3, 2009 10:04 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Please. I don’t go to school here, they just fly me in for games.
"Good crowd out there tonight, boys, let's really try to win this one."
by Bald Pollack on Mar 3, 2009 9:09 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
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Southeast Standings
| GP | W | L | OTL | PT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Washington
|
69 | 46 | 14 | 9 | 101 |
|
Tampa Bay
|
68 | 28 | 28 | 12 | 68 |
|
Atlanta
|
68 | 28 | 29 | 11 | 67 |
|
Florida
|
67 | 28 | 29 | 10 | 66 |
|
Carolina
|
68 | 28 | 32 | 8 | 64 |
(updated 3.16.2010 at 8:32 AM EDT)
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