A few weeks ago, we looked at the Anaheim Ducks defense, post-Pronger. With the signing of Steve Eminger, who played on three teams in 2008-9, here’s what the updated defensive roster looks like:
Anaheim Ducks’ defensemen, Regular season 2008-9
| Name | ESTOI | ESOR | ESDR | ESTR |
| Brett Festerling | 570 | -0.89 | +1.28 | +0.39 |
| James Wisniewski | 746 | -0.14 | +0.51 | +0.37 |
| Sheldon Brookbank | 490 | -0.21 | +0.54 | +0.33 |
| Nick Boynton | 928 | +0.37 | -0.27 | +0.10 |
| Steve Eminger | 1205 | +0.27 | -0.26 | +0.01 |
| Scott Niedermayer | 1502 | -0.15 | -0.06 | -0.21 |
| Ryan Whitney | 850 | -0.20 | -0.41 | -0.61 |
| Luca Sbisa | 607 | -0.73 | -0.02 | -0.75 |
At Even Strength, the 25 year old journeyman (!) was the epitome of a league average defenseman by ESTR. He can fill a useful role for the Ducks if he does not displace better performers or get in the way of young Sbisa developing. It’s Ryan Whitney who has been a flop anywhere he’s gone, who should be shipped out if Anaheim can find any takers.
“Suitcase” Steve Eminger? Now that Mike Sillinger is retired, Eminger may take on the monicker based on 5 teams -Washington, Philadelphia, Tampa Bay, Florida, Anaheim- in a little over a year. Sheesh!
For a guy like Eminger, is it possible that his poor defensive showing is resulting (at least partially) by never getting the time to become truly familiar with the system of his employer?
If offensive skill is inherent and defensive wherewithal can be trained, we should at least consider the possibility of the right surroundings and mentality having a very positive effect on a given players’ performance.
Ryan, it sounds like it could be a possible factor, but lots of guys will have legitimate excuses – e.g. nagging injuries, poor coaching – factors that drag down the performance on ice outside of looking at each player on the ice as a steady numerical value. It’s hard to try to measure everything – This is the kind of case where a footnote is helpful. Running the metrics over several seasons will help sort some of that out.
Timo, when researching my special teams project last season, my hypothesis was that team-wide power play success would be more stable, as the skill-level of the players would remain the same, barring the injuries to key contributors. However, as defensive elements require more coaching and discipline, that can waver based on the consistency of the plays involved. The sample size of my study is inconclusive, but at least somewhat supporting of my hypothesis. I think that would also potentially carry over to individual players and the stability of their performance on offense and on defense.