Florida Panthers - Player Power Rankings

With the season down to only more two games, and me forgetting to do an Ups and Downs last week, I decided to try something new. Every week at Hockey Prospectus, they have weekly power rankings listing the best players in the NHL by GVT.

GVT stands for Goals Versus Threshold, a stat developed by Tom Awad of Hockey Prospectus that measures a player's value in comparison to an average AHL callup. The statistic works similar to baseball's Wins Above Replacement (WAR), but instead of wins, the player is measured in goals.

A player's GVT added together with three other GVT stats, Offensive GVT (or Goaltending GVT), Defensive GVT, and Shootout GVT.

More after the jump

• Offensive Goals Versus Threshold measures a player's ability to generate goals.
• Defensive Goals Versus Threshold measures a player's value at shot suppression.
• Shootout Goals Versus Threshold is a measure of a skater's or goaltender's value in the shootout./

Feel free to ask any questions you may have in the comments

*These numbers are as of April 1, so the Winnipeg game is NOT included

Skaters

It's a shame that people don't really talk about Garrison's defense. While he is second to Shea Weber and Erik Karlsson in goals by a defensemen (16) he is also second on the Panthers in blocked shots and third in hits (both at 124).

Campbell averages 26:55 of ice time a night, which is the most in the NHL, while playing in all 80 games (so far). He's second in the NHL in points by a defensemen (tied with Zdeno Chara), but still leads in powerplay assists by a defensemen (second in NHL to Claude Giroux).

Weiss is tied with Wojtek Wolski for first in Panther shootout goals at three, two of them game deciding goals. He also leads the Panthers in plus/minus and Panther forwards in ice time at 20:30 (fourth on team).

Flash is having a career season in several categories. Career high in goals (27), assists (34), points (61), even strength goals (21), shots (213), blocked shots (33), and ice time (1526).

Versteeg is having his best offensive season since his rookie year in 2008-09, matching his point total that season (53). He also has set a career high in hits with 50.

With an assist in last night's loss to Winnipeg, Kulikov has set a career high in points. What makes it impressive is he did it in only 56 games (played 74 last season). Makes you wonder what he can do with a full 82.

Next in the trend of Panthers setting career highs is Mike Weaver. Mr. Sunshine has set a career high in assists (16), points (16), hits (112), and blocked shots (136). He's also twelfth on the team in points.

GVT doesn't split for players when they're traded, so a small percent of Samuelsson's numbers might be with the Canucks. Of Samuelsson's 24 points with the Panthers, ten have come from the powerplay (6G/4A).

Interesting to see Matthias as the second Panther to have a DGVT higher than his OGVT. Matthias matched his career high in hits with 50 and has set a career high in blocked shots with 38. Quite the grinder he is becoming.

The Count has matched his season total in points from last season in four more games. Currently he has a career high in shooting percentage at 10.6 while having his second lowest shots in his career (94 this season, career low is 87 in 2007-08).

Goalies

Theodore's March performance is one of the key reasons the Panthers are still on top in the Southeast. He was 5-4-4 with a 2.30 GAA and a .921 Sv%.

Clemmensen has a .650 save percentage in the shootout, which is better than Theodore's (.622). While he has played in only three shootouts, he has won two of them.