Shocking Stat Reveals Major Concern with Maple Leafs Defenseman Simon Benoit
New stats reveal potential concerns about Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Simon Benoit this season.
It's been not only a tough road for Benoit, who has been used heavily by the Toronto Maple Leafs this season, but much like their other defensemen; has struggled quietly, with stats that imply that Toronto has appeared to play better without him vs. with him.
NHL & Maple Leafs analyst Kevin Papetti of 'The Athletic' shared that the Toronto Maple Leafs have a stronger xGF% (Expected Goals For Percentage) when Simon Benoit is off-ice vs when he's on the ice, with Benoit having a 43.1% on vs 53.6% off.
xGF% Explained And Why It's A Concern For The Toronto Maple Leafs
xGF% is a commonly used stat in analytics that showcases a player's value whether on the ice or off. xGF% is one of the simplest advanced stats that determines the value of a player in play vs on the bench.
Benoit is last among Leafs players in xGF% in 5v5 play, with Conor Timmins leading defensemen with 54.11%. All active Leafs defensemen are over 50% except for Benoit and Jani Hakanpaa, who has played in just two games.
Max Pacioretty leads all Leafs players with a 54.8%, followed by Auston Matthews and William Nylander at second and third.
Benoit is also last at all strengths at 34.09%, with William Nylander over 61%, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson first for D-men with a 56.18%.
Among defensemen with 200 minutes of 'Time On Ice' (TOI), Benoit is eighth last in the entire NHL in xGF%.
He also ranks last amongst Leafs defense at 5v5 in Corsi For Percentage (CF%) and Fenwick For Percentage (FF%). In all strengths, Benoit is second-last behind in the latter behind center David Kampf.
Although no one on the Leafs are close to the worst in these metrics, there is room for improvement, and Benoit is clearly behind the rest of the Leafs defense on the ice.
Perhaps as equally a concern is the fact that Benoit is only fifth last in xGF% when trailing among Leafs players under 60 minutes of TOI while the team is losing, with Ryan Reaves, David Kampf, Fraser Minten, & Steven Lorentz all below.
Concerningly, Reaves (24.39%) is second lowest in the NHL, behind San Jose's Barclay Goodrow.
Points wise, Benoit has 4 points in 35 games this season with Toronto.
Benoit has played in 236 career NHL games, with five goals and 19 assists for 24 points with the Leafs and the Anaheim Ducks.
***All stats courtesy of 'Natural Stat Trick'***
For the Toronto Maple Leafs, Simon Benoit has found difficulty in impacting the game just in terms of simple point totals to the advanced stats that reveal his play away from pure offensive production.
Simon Benoit's analytics show he needs to be better, and it's not just a matter of not scoring.
But the stats also show Benoit isn't the only one struggling to carry his weight. The data unsurprisingly shows the top-six offense and top-four defense is playing like Toronto's best, there's still holes that need to be fixed.
