FanPost

Ho-Sang Elite in Even-strength Assists-per-60 Statistic

I, too, shall pass. - Jeff Zelevansky

Even-strength assists-per-60, among CHL players (2014 drafted players) with 45+ EV points this season:

2.06 Bennett (56) OHL
1.86 Ho-Sang (58) OHL
1.76 Draisaitl (56) WHL
1.76 Sam Reinhart (54) WHL
....
1.67 Spenser Watson (55) OHL**
1.66 Ehlers (56) QMJHL
1.58 Fabbri (56) OHL
1.39 Goldobin (62) OHL
1.34 Dal Colle (48) OHL
1.31 Chase De Leo (51) WHL**
1.30 Ritchie (46) OHL
1.29 Brayden Point (51) WHL**
1.01 Virtanen (48) WHL

So 1.86 puts Ho-Sang in line with the premiere playmakers of the draft, at even-strength. Remember that Bennett's team scored a lot of goals (301 to Ho-Sang's team's 249), so if you switched their teams this past season, their numbers for this stat may be just about reversed.... Draisaitl and Reinhart were on teams that scored a little less than Ho-Sang's (243 and 235). Fabbri's team scored a whopping 340 while Ehlers's team scored 292....

So Ho-Sang's stat is arguably the most impressive of any player in Canadian Junior hockey this past season, in context. (The top 4 seem separated from the pack, anyway.)... Also note that Ho-Sang had the 2nd most EV points, behind Goldobin, who played a ton of minutes for his team. (Appears Goldobin played about 33% more EV minutes than Ho-Sang.)

I cannot find points-per-60 for previous seasons of CHL, but if anyone has a link to those numbers, I'd love to run them and compare Ho-Sang to others.

** Of the three lesser know players on the chart above, Brayden Point is the most interesting, because he didn't have much help putting up points:

Point: 5'9", 17Y7M, 79th overall TBL
Watson: 5'9", 17Y6M, Bennett's line for at least part of season, 209th overall LAK
De Leo: 5'10", 18Y0M, Stacked team scored 338 goals, 99th overall WPG

But even with Point, Ho-Sang has two inches on him and was much better for this stat, 1.86 to 1.29.

The five with the highest number for this stat among all CHL players include one 2015 future draftee and four 2013 draftees:

2.78 McDavid (2015 draft-eligible)
2.49 Jason Dickinson (DAL 2013 29th, 6'1")
2.37 Petan (WPG 2013 43rd, 5'9")
2.31 Drouin (3rd overall 2013 TBL, 5'11")
2.20 Rychel (CLB 2013 19th, 6'1".... This is the top scorer who was traded from Ho-Sang's team before Ho-Sang stepped up production)

NOTE: Dickinson and Rychel were on the same team as Fabbri (OHL Guelph Storm), which had two more forwards around 1.50 points-per-game and scored 340 goals.... Ten players finished +40 or better, so they were quite the even-strength powerhouse. (Drank.)

I don't have access to EV numbers (per-60) for past players, but if we look at even-strength assists per-game, we can perhaps figure out approximately where Ho-Sang would fall.

EV assists per-game, player, (team goals):

0.72 Reinhart (235)

0.65 Strome (273)

0.62 Gagner (311)

0.60 Bennett (301)

0.60 Hall (331)

0.59 Draisaitl (243)

0.58 EStaal (222)

0.57 Ho-Sang (249)

0.55 Goldobin (211)

(Stamkos was 0.34, Seguin 0.44, PKane 0.50, Tavares 0.27)

So three of the top-7 for this statistic, among players drafted top-10-- OHL and WHL forwards 2003-2014-- were from this past draft. Ho-Sang was ahead of Draisaitl and Reinhart (and well ahead of Goldobin) for EV assists per-60, so there is a good chance he ranks ahead of at least a couple of these four players (Strome, Gagner, Hall, EStaal).... In other words, there seems a strong likelihood that only 3 or 4 forwards drafted top-10 from the OHL/WHL 2003-2014 had a better even-strength assists-per-60 statistic than Ho-Sang, who by all indication appears to be one of the best playmakers drafted in recent history, judging by his pre-draft season statistics.

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