Who are the best all-around forwards in the EURO?

/ August 3, 2015

I was thinking about some of the good players who didn’t make the all-star game, remembering that Guybrush Threepwood called Logan Couture the “best all-around LW in the league,” and wondered which players did indeed have the best all-around first half of the season.

If you hate math and statistics, stop reading this because you will get a headache. Go back to whatever it is you were doing.

Here is my thinking: I took the stats of all forwards who played at least 15 minutes per game, added together their points, hits, blocked shots and the difference in takeaways and giveaways, and divided that total by their average ice time (TOI/G). It certainly isn’t a perfect way to determine the best all-around forward, but I think it reflects offensive talent, defensive ability and toughness. I left plus-minus out because players on the best teams would have a marked advantage over those on cellar-dwelling teams.

So according to my new stat – I call it AAR for All-Around Rating – the best all-around forward in the biz is  … drumroll please … a little more drum ….. and just a little more to build the suspense …. a non all-star from the Paris Rouge Eiffels …. drumroll continues … a guy who centers the second line between Joffrey Lupul and David Perron … a Finnish-born dude who makes his NHL home in the state of Minnesota … drumroll still …. Mikko Koivu.

Paris Rouge Eiffel center Mikko Koivu (9) .

Paris Rouge Eiffel center Mikko Koivu (9) .

Koivu plays 15 minutes per game and has 49 points in 48 games. He has 23 more takeaways than giveaways and is in the top 50 in hits and blocked shots.

Second to Koivu on the AAR list is Adam Henrique of the Gothenburg Devils, who was voted in as a starter for last year’s all-star game, his third all-star game in a row. He didn’t make it this year but his stats say he should have.

All-Star game MVP Ryan O’Reilly of Athens is having a monster year and the stats bear that out. He ranks 7th among forwards in AAR. None of the six forwards ahead of him on the list got to play outdoors in Helsinki over the weekend, and four of the six play on bottom-7 teams. One, in fact, recently was traded from Munich to Copenhagen. Dave Bolland was having a good year for the Dire Wolf but is now below Joe Pavelski and Stephen Weiss on the Trident depth chart.

As for Guybrush’s claim that Couture is “the best all-around LW in the league,” I hate to say this, but for the first time ever, he’s right. The 14 forwards ahead of him are all centers.

Here’s my AAR list:

NAME CITY GP PTS HITS TOI/G BS TKA GVA AA total AAR
M. KOIVU PAR 48 49 67 15 27 56 32 167 11.13
A. HENRIQUE GOT 50 36 78 20 39 84 36 201 10.05
B. DUBINSKY EDI 48 37 76 17 25 68 44 162 9.53
R. GETZLAF PRA 48 39 111 20 42 43 45 190 9.50
D. BOLLAND
COP 48 18 88 15 17 59 42 140 9.33
J. PAVELSKI COP 47 33 108 25 48 101 64 226 9.04
R. O’REILLY ATH 49 60 78 20 34 81 76 177 8.85
M. GRABOVSKI OSL 50 33 68 17 33 63 47 150 8.82
S. COUTURIER MAD 49 25 81 17 30 56 45 147 8.65
S. WEISS COP 47 42 68 18 31 61 50 152 8.44
J. JOKINEN ZUR 46 43 64 17 29 58 53 141 8.29
S. MOZYAKIN GEN 49 28 58 17 28 67 41 140 8.24
T. PLEKANEC DUB 50 34 74 19 33 65 50 156 8.21
S. GAGNER LON 49 28 57 15 29 59 50 123 8.20
L. COUTURE BER 48 57 52 21 30 66 33 172 8.19
E. STAAL GOT 50 52 103 25 50 86 88 203 8.12
B. SUTTER MOS 49 28 59 18 28 83 52 146 8.11
A. KOPITAR MOS 47 55 80 24 37 71 51 192 8.00
D. STEPAN MAD 49 56 74 23 39 79 71 177 7.70
C. GIROUX EDI 50 63 39 26 56 95 53 200 7.69
M. RICHARDS STO 46 34 55 18 24 60 38 135 7.50
J. HUBERDEAU SP 50 25 44 16 26 72 48 119 7.44
J. TAVARES LIS 49 70 50 26 35 94 57 192 7.38
P. BERGERON ZUR 46 53 73 25 35 80 61 180 7.20
P. HORNQVIST BER 48 30 53 16 14 52 34 115 7.19
J. STAAL MIN 35 30 44 15 20 43 31 106 7.07
O. PALAT BFT 48 47 44 19 26 58 42 133 7.00
T. JOHNSON MIL 48 37 67 23 51 72 67 160 6.96
P. ELIAS MUN 48 30 56 15 15 30 30 101 6.73
N. YAKUPOV PRA 48 38 52 16 15 32 31 106 6.63
J. SKINNER LON 49 53 39 23 51 78 70 151 6.57
B. WHEELER MOS 50 48 75 24 30 62 58 157 6.54
D. ROY HEL 36 28 40 15 19 35 25 97 6.47
S. CROSBY BFT 42 51 30 23 37 72 43 147 6.39
A. LADD MOS 50 48 37 18 25 53 48 115 6.39
L. ERIKSSON BER 48 61 63 27 32 73 57 172 6.37
J. THORNTON
BNE 36 28 49 17 28 42 40 107 6.29
S. DOWNIE HEL 44 32 44 16 16 36 28 100 6.25
N. BACKSTROM (C) MIN 45 36 59 25 34 64 43 150 6.00
P. PARENTEAU OSL 50 25 46 17 22 33 24 102 6.00
T. POWELL MIN 45 41 30 15 10 38 30 89 5.93
C. MACARTHUR COP 46 40 33 16 18 28 25 94 5.88
W. ZHANG BRA 47 36 60 16 10 27 39 94 5.88
D. PERRON PAR 49 36 35 15 11 36 30 88 5.87
Z. PARISE LIS 49 53 48 20 13 48 45 117 5.85
B. MARCHAND HEL 47 29 52 20 27 48 39 117 5.85
P. SHARP ZUR 46 23 50 18 20 52 40 105 5.83
M. ZIBANEJAD BNE 47 24 57 19 38 58 67 110 5.79
A. ANISIMOV SP 50 16 61 17 13 44 36 98 5.76
H. SEDIN MUN 48 32 69 21 39 56 75 121 5.76
C. HIGGINS COP 45 37 46 17 12 36 35 96 5.65
T. HERTL OSL 49 34 45 18 22 37 37 101 5.61
T. VANEK HEL 47 47 47 20 22 38 42 112 5.60
M. MICHALEK DUB 50 22 55 15 15 31 39 84 5.60
J. BENN EDI 50 53 41 24 33 65 58 134 5.58
M. RUZICKA PRA 48 40 53 16 16 30 51 88 5.50
M. JOHANSSON STO 49 31 42 16 17 26 28 88 5.50
P. STASTNY HEL 47 47 70 25 32 73 85 137 5.48
J. SPEZZA PRA 37 22 42 19 25 53 38 104 5.47
M. OLIMB MIL 48 22 56 17 16 33 35 92 5.41
R. CALLAHAN BER 48 42 57 25 22 73 59 135 5.40
J. VORACEK ZUR 45 35 49 20 21 43 41 107 5.35
D. STAFFORD ZUR 46 44 51 19 20 35 49 101 5.32
S. STAMKOS LIS 49 71 30 26 21 62 46 138 5.31
J. POMINVILLE ATH 49 44 41 16 8 38 47 84 5.25
A. COGLIANO
MAD 49 28 42 16 19 30 35 84 5.25
J. TOEWS BRA 43 49 46 24 27 57 54 125 5.21
M. LUCIC MIN 45 40 60 24 16 52 43 125 5.21
G. NYQUIST MIN 45 40 21 15 7 37 27 78 5.20
B. GALLAGHER STO 49 36 32 21 35 47 41 109 5.19
A. RADULOV HEL 39 33 50 21 19 38 32 108 5.14
V. SHIPACHYOV ATH 47 32 25 16 12 38 25 82 5.13
A. KOSTITSYN BNE 47 37 46 18 23 24 38 92 5.11
M. DUCHENE BFT 40 25 54 16 15 32 45 81 5.06
D. BROWN MOS 50 45 51 20 20 46 61 101 5.05
R. UMBERGER MAD 49 28 59 17 13 32 47 85 5.00
S. KOSTITSYN GEN 49 25 31 16 19 44 39 80 5.00
B. SAAD LON 48 18 35 16 20 38 31 80 5.00
J. FRANZEN BNE 46 13 51 16 20 30 34 80 5.00
B. RYAN STO 49 46 49 24 20 55 51 119 4.96
D. SEDIN LON 38 33 27 20 23 49 33 99 4.95
M. PACIORETTY MOS 50 49 23 20 25 51 53 95 4.75
G. LANDESKOG MAD 49 45 45 23 26 66 74 108 4.70
P. MARLEAU GOT 50 30 49 19 17 38 46 88 4.63
N. GERBE
PAR 48 23 31 16 17 43 40 74 4.63
T. PURCELL LON 49 19 43 16 18 31 38 73 4.56
J. VAN RIEMSDYK DUB 45 20 31 15 12 34 30 67 4.47
M. GABORIK GEN 49 29 36 21 29 37 39 92 4.38
J. BAILEY MUN 48 20 52 17 11 44 53 74 4.35
J. NEAL BFT 48 49 34 24 27 48 54 104 4.33
P. KANE MIN 45 42 28 24 31 43 40 104 4.33
M. HOSSA BRA 37 36 37 23 19 54 47 99 4.30
S. HARTNELL ATH 49 43 53 20 9 41 61 85 4.25
K. OKPOSO MIL 48 30 44 23 26 45 50 95 4.13
E. COLE GEN 49 28 27 18 29 36 46 74 4.11
M. READ GEN 47 12 35 19 20 57 49 75 3.95
T. ENNIS BRA 46 40 21 21 14 47 42 80 3.81
C. GLENCROSS OSL 47 17 33 18 15 38 38 65 3.61
V. STALBERG SP 50 31 47 20 14 31 51 72 3.60
M. GRABNER LON 49 32 27 20 16 41 45 71 3.55
P. ARLBRANDT MIL 41 18 17 15 17 21 20 53 3.53
M. ERAT COP 42 21 34 19 14 32 36 65 3.42
T. KENNEDY OSL 50 22 43 19 17 33 56 59 3.11
R. VRBATA BNE 29 16 14 17 13 32 25 50 2.94
P. DUPUIS BNE 47 12 52 17 14 19 56 41 2.41
F. FORSBERG MUN 28 13 19 20 14 19 23 42 2.10
M. HALISCHUK BNE 6 2 5 16 5 4 5 11 0.69
A. MCDONALD BNE 11 3 10 15 6 7 17 9 0.60

Related posts

Leave a Reply