Unconventional Wisdom – NHL Edge Data

And now for something completely different… We still have a week to wait until the annual Rookie Tournament begins and then the Pittsburgh Penguins main NHL Training Camp kicks off after that wraps up. So I have been passing the time looking at data for the Pens current roster and it was been a while since I have perused the NHL Edge data. The issue of course is that we can only view it one season at a time, the general public does not have access to the game by game data or the raw numbers so I can’t calculate a 3-year average on my own. That means we are going to be looking at just the data from the 2025-26 season, but that should give us some idea of what we have on the roster.

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2026 Pittsburgh Penguins Defensemen 3-year Shot Quality

Today we are finishing up our foray into examining bubble charts for the current Pittsburgh Penguins roster in preparation for the 2026-27 NHL season. We started out with the forwards and then move on to the defensemen, looking at 5-on-5 scoring and puck possession via the quantity of shots over the past 3 seasons. As I mentioned the prior times, there is no good single method for evaluating player performance, so we want to take a look at things from different angles in order to get a better idea of the complete player. The bubble charts allow us to visualize who is above or below average, as well as who is carrying play when they are on the ice versus those who are just tagging along for the ride. So we finish up today by looking at the final bit of puck possession, comparing shot quality for the different Pens D.

2026 Pittsburgh Penguins Defensemen 3-year 5-on-5 Shot Quantity

We are back again continuing to look at bubble charts to help us visualize the Pittsburgh Penguins current defensemen based on how they performed over the past three seasons. Yesterday we covered the player’s scoring metrics, comparing their individual production to their on-ice team performance, so today we will start delving into puck possession. As I keep saying, there is no single metric for player evaluation that tells us who is better or worse than somebody else, there are various different aspects of play and we need to take all of that into account in order to get a better view of the player. So using bubble charts allows us to see who is performing above or below average in various categories, letting us see who is carrying play and who is just lucky enough to be on the ice at the right time. So today’s dive into puck possession we are going to begin with the shot quantity metrics.

2026 Pittsburgh Penguins Defensemen 3-year 5-on-5 Scoring

Over the weekend I made three posts looking at bubble charts of the Pittsburgh Penguins forwards performances over the prior 3 seasons to get an idea of what the players could look like going into the 2026-27 season. First we looked at scoring statistics then moved into puck possession split been shot quantity and shot quality. The graphs give us a good visual representation of who is performing above or below average and lets us see who is carrying play versus those who are just benefiting from being on the ice alongside good linemates. Breaking it down and looking at a very of different statistics also gives us a more complete picture of the player, there is no singular metric we can use to determine who is good or who is bad, you need to view it from different angles in order to see the whole player. I wanted to continue on and now look at the Pens defensemen, once again breaking it down into three parts because I have a tendency to be long-winded when writing, so today we start with scoring.

2026 Pittsburgh Penguins Forwards 3-year 5-on-5 Shot Quality

Since it is still that uneventful time of year when we are waiting for the NHL preseason to begin, we are back again to dive into bubble charts examining the Pittsburgh Penguins forwards. We are using these charts to help us visualize the player contributions and the role they play on the ice, letting us know who is carrying play and who benefits from the hard work of their linemates. As mentioned previously, there is no good singular metric for player evaluation, so what we want to do is examine their performance across different methods to get a complete picture of the player. And since I often write a lot lengthier posts than I had intended to, we are breaking it all down into separate posts. Today we continue looking at puck possession, this time with shot quality metrics.