The great debate and question is the Gustav Nyquist hot streak. Honestly, it may be considered white hot at this juncture. This is likely to be a two part post but first, I will toss out some numbers.
Numerology With Gustav Nyquist
Thanks to ExtraSkater once again for all of their help.
- Shooting percentage: 19.6%
- PDO: 105.9
- 27 goals in 50 games (11 in last 10 games)
- Points Per 60: 3.22 (1.93 goals per 60)
- Avg. shooting distance: 29.7 feet
- Wrist Shots: 89
- Snap Shots: 23
- Slap Shots: 2
- O-Zone Starts: 32.5%
- N-Zone Starts: 37.5%
- D-Zone Starts: 30%
Everyone has to realize that there are so many out of the norm here. However, sometimes a player just blossoms right before our eyes. This is how it works every so often. But there are also so many concerns here.
What Are Those Concerns?
For starters, Nyquist really does not have much of a slap shot as we know. Out of his 114 shots, two are slap shots which is a percentage of less than two. Over 3/4 of his shots are wrist shots from around 30 feet out which just indicates that he is almost deathly comfortable with that aspect of his game (too much honestly). Goalies will eventually figure this out. The points per game is above three and that seems too high given the shooting percentage the last 25 games or so which is over 30 percent. These are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to unsustainable.
However, the final one for me is the PDO of 105.9. We are approaching levels of ridiculous as anything above 105 to me is just awfully high. His defensive liabilities are a big worry to me as well. He is young and he is a kid. You have to expect it but when the scoring doesn’t come, then what? Though his starts are evenly spread for the most part, the mistakes made by Gustav Nyquist along with Tomas Tatar and Riley Sheahan are mind numbing. That will be a problem that needs to be corrected.
What Is Our Verdict?
Can Nyquist continue this pace next year? This answer is obviously no. However, can he come close? That is a distinct possibility. The fact is that he will likely be a prominent top six forward next year going through the rigors of a full 82 game season. If you extrapolate his numbers, he could still very well be a 45-55 point player but, again, the variables and the numbers may be too difficult and project at this moment. There may need to be a small sample size into next season to get a better grasp. For now, ride the wave as they say!
