[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by JerryUnderscore

Okay, so I crunched the numbers. I took a look at goals from forwards and for each team I divided the player between the top six and everyone else. Since lines are always switching on most teams I decided the "top six" would be the six players with the highest average ice time per game.

Here's what I found:



So I'll say that your assertion was correct in that some teams bottom six are scoring double, triple or quadruple that of the Flames bottom six. In fact, the Devil bottom six has 25 goals compared to the Flames 6.

However, Tampa, Pittsburgh and St. Louis also have low production from their bottom six and I'm not at all worried about their ability to compete in the playoffs.

In fact, I'm not sure there are many conclusions I would draw between the percent of goal scoring by a teams bottom six and their overall standings.

Tampa is first overall in the league and has the worst bottom six production.

Columbus is second in the East and is getting more scoring from their bottom six than their top six.

Out West, St. Louis is first in the conference but 27th overall in bottom six scoring.

Arizona is dead last in the league but 6th in bottom six scoring.

So while I agree with your overall point that our bottom six scoring is terrible, it's not the worst and statistically speaking it's probably not the biggest of deals.

Thanks for doing some additional research. To me, even if the goal totals are similar, I still feel that totals are still misleading. If 3, pure bottom-six goals came in 1 game (St. Louis), then it's hard to be confident that these guys are going to be there to contribute when we need them to. What happened last game, top 2 lines were shut down and we were shut out. That could be a common story line as the season goes along. I do hope they can start to produce consistently though because we're going to need it. Jagr and Jankowski do at least look somewhat consistently dangerous.