Ranking Every NLL Position Player: Weighted Average 2.0

Last week, the LaxMetrics blog introduced you to a new metric that allows for cross-positional comparisons: the Weighted Average. A week later, we’re here to publish the updated rankings, now from 1 to 318, following Brandon Robinson’s debut over the weekend. You’ll be able to find the updated figures and Weighted Average Rankings 2.0 at the bottom of the page.

At the top of the rankings, Buffalo’s Dhane Smith overtook Albany’s Joe Resetarits for the top spot. This was inevitable to some degree, given Smith’s higher Weighted Average Per Game mark and his fewer games played. By playing twice this weekend, Smith enjoyed double the opportunity to add to his statistical resume. As he always seems to do, Smith put on a show.

Like Smith at the top, a number of the biggest movers from Rankings 1.0 to 2.0 play for either Buffalo or Halifax. As the only two teams on double duty in Week 17, players from each team had twice the opportunity to improve their resumes and accumulate stats. In fact, each of the top eight largest jumps were made by either Bandit or Thunderbird players.

Looking at the top-10, there is only one new name among the league’s most elite: Toronto’s Mitch de Snoo. Calgary’s Jesse King, who was previously ranked #10, slid two places to #12, as he was surpassed by de Snoo and Vancouver’s Reid Boweering (#11). With King falling out of the top-10, Saskatchewan is now the only team with more than one player among the league’s 10 best. Mark Matthews (#4) leapfrogged Lyle Thompson, who was on the IR. Robert Church (#8) remains in the top-10, but was leapfrogged by Vancouver’s Keegan Bal, who jumped from #8 to #6 with his performance against San Diego.

There was a fair amount of movement within the top-30, but only one new individual entered the group. Halifax’s Shawn Evans lept from #33 to #23 after a highly productive weekend in which he created 20 Total First Order Chances (16 Unrealized Assists & 4 First Order Assists). Eli McLaughlin, who was quiet in Colorado’s loss to Panther City, slipped out of the top-30, dropping eight spots from #27 to #35.

Within the top-100, we saw plenty of movement, including a handful of big jumps. Halifax’s Cody Jamieson climbed into the top-50, moving from #75 to #49 with his productive weekend. Buffalo’s Kevin Brownell made the biggest jump of any player in the top-100, covering 52 places and moving from #131 to #79. Only Halifax’s Scott Campbell, who covered 56 places, had a bigger jump from Rankings 1.0 to 2.0. Like Campbell, Halifax forward Dawson Theede remains outside the top-100 despite a massive jump in the rankings. Theede catapulted 46 spots into 148th overall after his breakout debut weekend for the T-birds.

Whereas Shawn Evans was the only new entrant into the top-30, there were a handful of new faces joining the top-100. In addition to Brownell mentioned above, Buffalo’s Kyle Buchanan and Chase Fraser entered at #90 and #96 respectively. San Diego rookie Tre Leclaire jumped 19 spots to enter at #95. After beating the Seals, Vancouver’s Riley Loewen jumped from #107 to #98. And lastly, Panther City’s Patrick Foley inched into the group, checking in at #100.

In a pair of short drops, Saskatchewan forwards Dan Lintner (#102) and Jeff Shattler (#103) each fell out of the top-100. Albany’s Joe Nardella (#110), Vancouver’s Brandon Goodwin (#112), and Calgary’s Tyler Burton (#118) also slipped outside of the top-100. Goodwin and Burton endured two of the three largest drops from Rankings 1.0 to 2.0, as Goodwin tumbled 19 places, while Burton slipped 17 spots. Sandwiched between them for the second-largest fall was Toronto’s Reid Reinholdt, who fell 18 slots, but remained among the top-100 (#83).

Buffalo leads the league with 10 players in the top-100, while Calgary has the fewest with four. Of the 14 teams in the NLL, nine have either seven or eight players ranked in the top-100. In fact, the average is exactly 7.0 top-100 players per team.

Overall, the median movement from Rankings 1.0 to 2,0 was a drop of one place. The average was a rise of 0.58 places with a standard deviation of 10.03. 

Stay tuned for Weighted Average Rankings 3.0 following Week 18’s games. You’ll be able to find them right here on the LaxMetrics blog every Wednesday. Be sure to subscribe so that you can get each update as well as all new blog posts sent directly to your email inbox!