Japers’ Rink Player Card (click for a hi-res version; data via NHL.com, Corsica.hockey and Cap Friendly):
Beagle’s Season, Game-by-Game (via HockeyViz, explained here):
Beagle and His Linemates (chart by @muneebalamcu):
Beagle’s 5v5 Teammates and Competition (via HockeyViz, explained here):
Beagle’s 5v5 Usage (chart by @muneebalamcu):
Beagle’s With-or-Without You (via HockeyViz, explained here):
Beagle’s Rolling Shot-Attempt (Corsi) -For Percentage (chart by @muneebalamcu):
Beagle’s Last SevenSeasons (via Stats.HockeyAnalysis.com):
Beagle’s Goals Against Replacement (GAR) Components (chart by @ChartingHockey, data by @DTMAboutHeart, explained here, Tableau here):
Beagle’s HERO Chart (via Own The Puck):
Key Stat: Jay Beagle’s 56.8 win percentage of face-offs within the defensive zone was the seventh-best percentage in the NHL. Beagle’s success rate was comparable to players like Patrice Bergeron (56.9 percent), Ryan Johansen (55.9 percent) and Joe Pavelski (55.4 percent).
Interesting Stat: Beagle’s 22.69 average shot distance at five-on-five was the closest distance to the net of any player that finished the season on the team.
The Good: This season marked a career year for the fourth longest-tenured Capital on the roster. With 13 goals and 17 assists, Beagle didn’t just near Chuck Gormley’s infamous 2013 prediction of goal totals, he set career highs in both respective categories.
Known as the Capitals’ stalwart defensive-minded forward, Beagle again took command of the team’s penalty kill, leading all forwards with 223:51 minutes of man-down time. The next highest forward? Daniel Winnik, with 181:41 minutes. In addition to Beagle’s outstanding 56.4 face-off win percentage, Beagle won 55.7 percent of his face-offs when shorthanded. His 266 shorthanded draws were the third-most in the NHL, and no one even came close to his success rate. Only Ryan O’Reilly is relatively comparable, winning 53.4 percent of his 294 shorthanded face-offs. Only one other player (Ryan Kesler, 50.4 percent) won more than half their draws and took at least 170 shorthanded face-offs.
The Bad: When the Beagle has scored a goal in the last two seasons, the Capitals have an astounding record of 18-1-1. Beagle serves as a good luck charm for the team.
However, that same production has not translated to the playoffs. Despite the Capitals knowing their bottom six would have to perform to put themselves past the second round of the playoffs, Beagle did not elevate his game. In the 13 playoff appearances, Beagle did not find himself on the scoresheet a single time. And that’s becoming a disturbing trend for Beagle. Despite having a modest 0.24 points per game in the regular season, more than acceptable for a more defensively-utilized fourth line center, Beagle averages just 0.18 points per game in the playoffs. Over the last two season, that average is just 0.12 points per game.
And while Beagle is used as the defensive forward of the team and hold’s Barry Trotz’s full trust in just about any possible line matchup, Beagle is not as successful as it may seem. Considering his defensive utilization and occasional tough matchups, Beagle’s 54.01 shot attempt percentage against per 60 at 5v5 isn’t extremely hateful (though it still is the sixth-highest total among Capitals with at least 25 games played), Beagle simply doesn’t generate enough meaningful offensive possession to make up for it. His 47.94 shot attempt percentage for per 60 is the lowest on the team. In fact, Beagle not only had the lowest percentage on the team, he had the 24th-lowest total among all forwards with at least 500 minutes of 5v5 time played in the entire league. That ranking is worse than Riley Sheahan (46.80). Sheahan didn’t score a single goal the first 79 of his 80 games of the season.
The Video:
The Vote: Rate Beagle below on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best) based on his performance relative to his potential and your expectations for the season – if he had the best year you could have imagined him having, give him a 10; if he more or less played as you expected he would, give him a 5 or a 6; if he had the worst year you could have imagined him having, give him a 1.
The Discussion: Do you foresee Beagle replicating his 2016-17 offensive production? If given a lighter workload, can Beagle’s overall effectiveness on the game greatly increase? What would it take for you to give him a “10” next year?