2023-2024 NHL Special Team Rankings
Estimated 6 minute read
Some of the most exciting sequences in all of sports are NHL power plays. No other sport’s dynamic changes so dramatically because of a penalty or foul. Players are temporarily disqualified from playing, but the team down a skater(s) is allowed to ice the puck. Advantages can become 5 on 3 or 4 to 3.
How effective are teams at converting power play opportunities into goals? Conversely, how well do teams deny opponents’ chances at scoring on the penalty kill? How often do outmanned teams flip the script on an opponent and steal a shorthanded goal?
Here, I’ll show how much better or worse teams were compared to the average NHL special teams unit during the 2023-2024 season. We’re looking at goals, which is the combination of opportunities and efficiency.
How often does the team draw penalties?
How frequently do they convert these into goals?
How many penalties does the team commit?
How good are they at killing those power plays?
And how many times do penalty kill units swipe a goal during an opponent’s power play with a shorty?
First a look at teams’ ability to score power play goals compared to the average team, with playoff teams marked with a *
No surprise to see Tampa Bay at the top of this ranking. The Lightning’s PP unit was ultra efficient, converting a league best 28.63% of opportunities into scores. The Lightning were so efficient that they were able to lead the league in power play goals despite having the 15th most opportunities. Art Ross Trophy winner Lightning Winger Nikta Kucherov racked up 53 of his 144 points on the power play, leading the league in both categories.
Now let's check the rankings for killing penalties compared to average.
The Carolina Hurricanes led the league in PK percentage, killing 86.43% of opponents’ chances. The league wide average was 79.02%. Carolina faced the 8th fewest PPs in the league last season, helping their season-long performance.
Three of the five best power play teams were also in the top five of goals prevented above average (Carolina, Tampa Bay, and New York Rangers). Not surprisingly, these three teams made the playoffs. There’s a lot of stars (playoff teams) at the top of both of the goals scored and goals prevented above average.
A further look at teams’ shorthanded effectiveness, again compared to average.
This list is a combination of shortys allowed and scored. Again, there’s a lot of playoff teams at the top of SH goals prevented and scored. Travis Konecny of the Flyers led the league with 6 shorthanded scores on one of the top PK units. Florida’s Sam Reinhart finished first in the NHL in PP goals scored (27) and second in SH goals scored (5), a remarkable display of versatility.
It’s important to keep in mind that although a shorthanded goal can only be scored on a penalty kill sequence, it does not kill the penalty the way that a power play goal ends a power play (on minor penalties). This works both ways - a team giving up a SH goal remains on the PP and a team scoring remains on the PK. Because of this, the goals prevented and scored above average are independent of shorthanded efficiency. Unlike on the stats sheet, on the ice the effects are related because the players who are killing penalties are the players scoring shorthanded goals, whose talent level contributes to both.
Combining the three together gives a total special teams goals above average:
Not surprisingly, only four playoff teams rank in the bottom half of the goals above average, and all four lost in the first round. 11 of the top 12 teams were playoff teams, with only the Red Wings sneaking in at 8. The Flyers were absolutely putrid scoring on power plays, only converting 31/254 (12.20%) of power plays in scores. Both the efficiency on volume were last in the NHL. The Flyers were, however, one of the best units at killing penalties - preventing 13 goals above average on killing and scoring/preventing 12 shorthanded goals above average. The Flyers’ PK and SH scoring vaults their overall effectiveness into the top half of the league despite a putrid power play unit.
Stay tuned for weekly updates during the 2024-2025 season.
