Edmonton Oilers add veteran depth in Slater Koekkoek, a player with mixed reviews - Edmonton Journal

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3. Different schools of hockey analytics have differing takes on the player. Here’s what my Cult colleague Bruce McCurdy had to say in early October about Koekkoek as an option for the Oilers: “One depth defender of interest is Slater Koekkoek, who you may remember causing the Oilers lots of grief in the play-in series with his old team Chicago. It’s surprising that they didn’t qualify Koekkoek, a very serviceable bottom-pairing D who managed to keep his head above water with a struggling Blackhawks side. According to PuckIQ, Koekkoek posted excellent underlying results in comparison to all his teammates, comfortably leading the defence corps in such indicators as Dangerous Fenwick, and posting a positive goal differential both years as well.  He too was earning just $925,000 last season, but again perhaps there was a fear of arbitration. The 26-year-old came up through the Tampa Bay system, and while his development was glacial he has done nothing but improve year over year. He’s no threat to replace Klefbom but represents a decent under-the-radar option to shore up the D-corps.”

4. A less positive review of Koekkoek came in the weeks leading up to the July play-in round, with NHL analytics expert Mike Kelly singling out the player as one of the reasons Chicago gave up more Grade A chances against than almost any other NHL team. “Teams are able to funnel pucks into the quality scores areas of the ice easier against Chicago than anybody else, create these chances, go across the dots, create these lateral plays, and what you end up with in expected goals, which is basically Grade A chances for traditional hockey fans, they give up a ton,” Kelly said, adding that some of the Hawks d-men, such as Koekkoek, have decent on-ice Corsi numbers, but Kelly noted how unreliable Corsi numbers are for rating individual players. “I think now most people understand it was over-valued even five-ish years ago when people leaned on it more heavily. There are inherent flaws in evaluating a player with a number like that. I don’t put a lot of stock into it.”Koekkoek is a marginal player, not a player you can win with, Kelly said. “If you’re throwing Slater Koekkoek out there with Oli Maatta, and that’s the pair that’s eating a lot of minutes for you, you’re not going anywhere.”

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2020-12-26 17:04:47Z
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