Opinion: Vatrano's Defensive Impact
Was Frank Vatrano's breakout season foiled by poor defensive numbers?
Opinion: Vatrano's Defensive ImpactFrank Vatrano had a remarkably productive season in 2023-24, setting career highs with 37 goals, 23 assists, and 60 points. He averaged 18:20 TOI per game (career high) and was the only Anaheim Duck to play all 82 games in the season. He also led the Ducks' forwards in penalty kill TOI (157 minutes) and power play TOI (186 minutes). His efforts earned him his first career NHL All-Star selection as the Ducks' representative.
Vatrano (30) added layers to his offensive game, which before this season, was centered around his lethal release and relentless forechecking ability. In the 2023-24 season, he displayed more change-of-pace tendencies, emphasis on playmaking, and found soft ice in the offensive zone with greater regularity. He tallied 13 power play goals this season, obliterating his previous career high of five.
The 2023-24 season was a season full of career highs for Vatrano, and penalty minutes were no exception. The Ducks were the most penalized team in the NHL (1108 minutes) and Vatrano was a significant contributor to that total. He tallied 85 penalty minutes, exceeding his previous career high of 66 he set in the 2022-23 season, and led the NHL in minor penalties taken (40). For a team whose penalty kill ranked 31st out of 32 teams (72.4%), the parade to the penalty box often placed them behind the eight-ball on a nightly basis.
This is all to say Frank Vatrano's season was remarkably volatile. According to public data, as dazzling as Vatrano's offensive game was this season, it was foiled by his poor defensive metrics.
Theory
In the modern NHL, forwards are required to play a more adaptive and versatile game than ever before. The days of rigid positions and their attached responsibilities are fading. The defined positions of center, right wing, and left wing are blending and blurring together.
The forward who holds the F3 (furthest from the opposing net) position against a rush attack is often assigned traditional center responsibilities and will remain the lowest forward defending a cycle.
Vatrano spent the majority of his season on a line with Ryan Strome and Mason McTavish. That trio was the Ducks' second-most consistent line (the first being Killorn-Carlsson-Terry) and played 313 minutes together.
As the center on that line, and with the Ducks' system emphasizing aggressive forechecks, Mason McTavish was notably active low in the offensive zone. With McTavish and Ryan Strome's tendencies to operate low in the offensive zone, Frank Vatrano was often rendered the default F3.
As an F3 defending the rush and cycle, at times Vatrano displayed discomfort and struggled to maintain positioning against his assignment. Traditional center responsibilities don't seem natural to him.
Solution
The line on which Vatrano spent the second most time was when he was on the wing of Trevor Zegras and Ryan Strome. That trio played 92 minutes together, mostly during the team's final 8-10 games.
Vatrano's priority responsibilities on that line were that of an F1 (forward closest to the opposing net), where he was first into the zone to pressure opposing defensemen. Trevor Zegras was the forward operating lowest in the defensive zone in coverage most often on that line and Frank Vatrano was able to deploy his skillset in a more conducive fashion.
It will be necessary to tidy up the penalty-taking from Vatrano and the entire Ducks roster if they're to take steps toward contention in 2024-25. If Vatrano is deployed on a line moving forward where he assumes almost exclusively F1 or F2 responsibilities, much of his negative defensive impacts could be significantly mitigated.