Matvei Michkov has primarily played this season with one of two centers: Morgan Frost and Sean Couturier. Of his 704 minutes on ice, nearly 565 minutes have been spent with either Frost or Couturier. And with almost an identical amount of minutes between the two, one can draw comparisons of how Michkov has looked.
5-on-5 stats | Michkov with Frost | Michkov with Couturier |
|---|---|---|
Corsi for percentage | 50.00 | 49.49 |
Goals for percentage | 33.33 | 56.67 |
Expected goals percentage | 56.51 | 56.36 |
Offensive zone faceoffs | 131 | 99 |
Minutes spent together | 282:01 | 282:27 |
Looking at their offensive zone starts is key because the biggest difference between the two is that when Michkov was paired with Frost, they were more often given a start in the offensive zone than anywhere else. With Couturier, the overall numbers are more even across all zones. While they've spent more time in the offensive zone, their neutral zone numbers are 90 and the defensive zone is 80.
With Couturier alongside Michkov, John Tortorella has felt more comfortable to let them start their shifts at any part of the ice. He wanted to have Frost and Michkov starting in the offensive zone as much as possible. Their other numbers are 87 in the neutral zone and 50 in the defensive zone, indicating that it was rare to have them in the latter area. It makes sense to want your offensive players to have the best production chance.
But the above numbers paint a different picture. With Frost, the two were expected to score far more than they ended up. The actual numbers were 10 goals for and 20 against. It's not the worst, but you want to see them produce more based on their starting positions. The numbers are closer with Couturier (17 for, 13 against), but they are still out producing their opponents at a much better rate.
Essentially, Frost and Michkov were expected to outscore their opponents and they weren't. Couturier and Mickov do outscore their opponents as the numbers suggest they should. One of the biggest differences between Frost and Couturier has to do with, as you can guess, the ability to play well defensively.
Their numbers on a per-60 basis paints an even clearer picture on who Michkov has produced better with.
5-on-5 stats | Michkov with Frost | Michkov with Couturier |
|---|---|---|
Goals for per 60 | 2.13 | 3.61 |
Expected goals for per 60 | 2.82 | 3.22 |
Goals against per 60 | 4.26 | 2.76 |
Expected goals against per 60 | 2.17 | 2.49 |
Once again, Couturier and Michkov are producing much closer to how they are expected to than the latter was with Frost.
Couturier can set Michkov up in more ways than Frost ever could. It doesn't matter if you're the best player offensively. If you can't help your line mate on the other side of the ice, you aren't going to set them up for success. We know that Couturier can handle himself on the defensive side of the puck, something that Frost continuously struggled with.
Couturier and Michkov have produced, especially since returning from the 4 Nations break. Michkov has eight points in three games while Couturier has four points. But more importantly, they are shutting down their opponents at a more consistent rate.
Finding the right center to play with Michkov has been important for John Tortorella. He may have found exactly what he needed.