Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate said:
Not challenging you to do this, but I'd like to see the stats that back up people's low opinion of him. I've been around here long enough to know that certain D-men get tagged as whipping boys. Sometimes it's warranted, sometimes not.
-47 giveaways in 50 games over the last two seasons (not the best stat, I acknowledge, but that's still indicative of a problem considering he averages 3rd pairing minutes - for comparison, Bogosian had 57 in 92 games in the same time period)
-On Leaf D who played at least 50 games in that same time span w. worse scoring chances for percentages are Hainsey, Zaitsev, Ceci, and, by a hair, Holl (who, as we know, is drastically improved so far this season)
-Not entirely his fault, obviously, but he also has the worst on-ice Sv% of any Leaf who played at least 50 games
-While only Hainey and Zaitsev have higher 5-on-5 blocked shots/60 rates, we know that blocked shots are a function of the other team having the puck
-Worst 5-on-5 giveaways per/60 rates among Leaf defencemen who dressed for at least 1 game in that span