Will the Rangers goaltending benefit from Jacques Martin defensive structure?

Remember when the New York Rangers defense helped their netminders?

When reviewing the New York Rangers off season, so far, the biggest addition to the team has been made off the ice. To this point, the hiring of Jacques Martin has been the biggest acquisition for the New York Rangers. He is expected to be an upgrade over Lindy Ruff, who signed on as head coach of cross river rivals, the New Jersey Devils.

Over the previous three seasons, with Martin as assistant coach, the Pittsburgh Penguins have been a better than average defensive team. The Penguins surrendered 58 fewer shots than the league average and posted a 80.50% success rate on the penalty kill (PK). Conversely, the New York Rangers, with Lindy Ruff assistant surrendered 662 more shots than the league average and posted a 79.00% success rate when shorthanded.

The Penguins defensive game is certainly also helped by having one of, if not the best centers in the game in Sidney Crosby. It is also a benefit to the Penguins to have a two time Stanley Cup winning coach behind the bench in Mike Sullivan. Rangers fans should remember well that Sullivan learned much while serving as John Tortorella’s assistant coach while in New York. While Ruff may not have had those same luxuries, a 720 shots against differential over three seasons, equal to more than three shots per game on the average is too large a variance to ignore.

Jacques Martin should bring with him a better defensive structure to implement with the Rangers. The team should see an more efficient PK and a reduction in shots against, not only in volume, but in quality as well. While these expected improvements should produce a stingier Rangers team defensively, how will they affect the goaltenders.

In Goal magazine (subscription required), using data from Steve Valiquette’s Clear Sight Analytics, ran an article reviewing a goaltenders ‘fit’ on a team. The article reviewed several goaltender/team dynamics based on the many changes this off-season has seen in the blue paint across the league. They compared the tendencies of team’s defensive structure regarding the types of shots against surrendered to a goalies individual strengths and weaknesses. The idea being, the best goalie in the league may not be the best goalie for your team.

While the data gathered by Clear Sight Analytics was not shared in the In Goal article, there are four specific underlying statistical data available to judge a goaltenders work load: Shots against (SA), rebound chances, rush chances and penalty kill (PK) performance. To review, the workloads of the Pittsburgh Penguins goaltenders must be put side by side against the workload of the Rangers net minders. Taking the difference between into account, we can better judge the impact Jacques Martin will have on the effectiveness of the Rangers goal keepers.