For the first time in Ryan Pulock’s career, he averaged over 20 minutes a night. In fact, the New York Islanders defender made the jump from 18:24 a night to 22:22 a night, nearly a four minutes per night increase.
The reason for the increased ice time for Ryan Pulock was because he emerged as the Islanders best defender this year. In years gone by that role has been Nick Leddy’s but in Pulock’s second full season he now holds that honor.
He finished the year with 37 points (9 goals, 28 assists) but his play in his defensive zone is what impressed me the most.