THE DEFENSIVE FORWARD
Though the definition of what a defensive forward is is somewhat arbitrary, there is still a sense that she/he is important, an integral part of any team, and a person that is often quickly identified by fans, coaches, and teammates alike when a team is thinking of who is deserving of their “unsung hero” awards.
Strict “defensive forwards” would be those who get tough zone starts against tough competition, and don’t give up a lot of goals. It’s really quite simple.
I’m sure a lot of people will want blocked shots, faceoff wins, and hits. Sure, those are nice. But the three most important should be those guys who are called on to stop the other team’s best when starting in the defensive zone.
Defensive forwards:
- Are used against top competition
- Allow fewer shots/scoring chances/goals than expected
- Don’t take too many penalties in exchange
- Do this in any number of ways, not necessarily with hits, blocked shots and takeaways.
- Kill penalties
- Play in the final minutes of tie games or games with 1-goal leads
- Aren’t protected from defensive zone starts
If you want an easy proxy for a good “defensive forward”, take his even-strength ice time and add his short-handed ice time (preferably time 1.25 to compensate for the fact that there are only 4 players on the ice).
One thing that I want to stress is that it is not sufficient to identify a defensive forward as a forward with a high +/-; in fact, this might cause you to overlook a defensive forward with a low +/- who has actually been doing a good job. With some of the suggestions above, you can see that there are special metrics to help us sort this out, including “quality of competition” (please also see this article), “zone starts”, Tom Awad’s “defensive GVT”, and “Corsi numbers”
GUYS THAT SCORE BUT DON’T DRIVE POSSESSION
Consider four types of forwards:
1. Forwards who don’t drive possession and don’t score points
2. Forwards who drive possession forward and score points effectively
3. Forwards who drive possession forward but don’t score points
4. Forwards who don’t drive possession but score points.
The first two types of forwards are easy to think about: Type 1 forwards are bad players, not really giving value through their play and Type 2 forwards are the best type of players, those who provide value in both offense and defense and aren’t a liability if they ever go on a cold streak.
Type 3 forwards are a little trickier, but really aren’t that hard to think about – they’re your ideal 4th and maybe 3rd liner, the guy who might not score but keeps your team in the game while your better guys rest.
Then you have your type 4 forwards – the dudes who can score a bunch of points but really don’t keep the puck out of your own zone and in the opponent’s zone. Perhaps these guys are really bad defensively, perhaps they’re completely inept in the neutral zone, or perhaps they’re guys who score mainly by being in front of the net at the right time, and thus aren’t really being helpful when the puck doesn’t come to them.
These type 4 guys are basically role players. Of course, that role isn’t being a grinder or a checker or some other name for defensive forward, it’s to be an offensive specialist, paying little attention to anything else. You’d like to play these guys in positions that maximize that ability like any other role player – so high ozone starts, alongside guys who might complement those skills (playing them alongside guys who don’t have these weaknesses, and thus can make their line a plus possession line, is another typical way to handle these guys). And scoring lots of points is a pretty important type of role for a player to have.
Again, these players aren’t bad by any means – they can even be elite! Of course, lacking possession driving skills means slumps by these guys will kill you, but for your Kovalchuk’s and Ovechkins, you’ll live with that.
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