It's interesting how some players' reputation can stick around even when the results aren't there. Guys like Scheifele and Horvat have reputations as defensive forwards, but if you really look at the data?
338 forwards have played over 200 minutes so far this season. Ranked by xGA/60 (expected goals against per 60):
Mark Scheifele is 324th with 2.72 xGA/60
Bo Horvat is 317th with 2.67 xGA/60
For a comparison, Mikael Backlund is 52nd with 1.84 xGA/60
These players rank poorly because when they're on the ice their teams are giving up tons of chances. Mark Giordano also ranks quite poorly on those charts this season, and I'm sure people around the league look at that and go "Giordano? But he's good defensively!" It's not because the data is bad - Gio's had a bad year. And I'm sure the same is true of Horvat and Scheifele. Blake Wheeler and Kyle Connor are on that list because nobody in the entire NHL allows more chances than them.
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