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A look at rate statistics and ice time

In a perfect world, NHL players would be given ice time directly proportional to their skill. Coaches wouldn’t be biased in any way, shape, or form, and the best players on any given team would also get the most ice time for said team.

Unfortunately, this does not happen, and there are plenty of times when players are stuck in limited roles simply because their coach has some kind of bias against them, even though they would more than capable of succeeding in a second or first line role.

If you’re just looking at raw point totals (or even points per game), these players will look worse than they actually are, because they won’t be getting the playing time they deserve (it’s also possible that lesser players get more ice time, and look better as a result).