Again, thanks to everyone who has read and commented on the team analysis stuff. One of the fun things about doing this is getting some responses from readers who can add things that I have overlooked or just plain don’t know. Along those lines, I wanted to share an e-mail I got today from a reader, who reacted to my analysis of Brian Willsie, which was mostly critical.

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It’s not like I’m a supporter of Brian Willsie, but your analysis felt a bit incomplete to me. You identified that his overall minutes and shifts per game didn’t change much from the year previous, which is true, but there was one key factoid you missed that might better explain his sharp decline.

With the Capitals
* 4 minutes 19 seconds of powerplay time per game.

With the Kings
* 43 seconds of powerplay time per game.

With Washington he played 82 games and had 19 goals and 22 assists for 41 points. Of that he had 21 powerplay points with 8 goals and 13 assists, so at even strength he only had 11 goals and 9 assists.

With the Kings he played 81 games and had 11 goals and 10 assists for 21 points. Of that he had 4 power play points with 2 goals and 2 assists, so at even strength he only had 9 goals and 8 assists.

The powerplay served as his bread and butter with the Capitals — accounting for nearly half his 41 point total
from 2005-2006. So you take that away and he’s exactly what Kings fans saw this season, a 20 point player. So it
might not really be a regression so much as Willsie merely being consistently mediocre, you could say.