Last year many Red Wing fans were upset when future prospect Calle Järnkrok was traded away to rent David Legwand for a few months. Looking at the depth chart it is clear that despite his potential, there is simply no place in the lineup for another center. Currently it appears that the final center spot will come down to a battle between Andersson and Glendening, the two least offensively gifted center men. While Andersson held a distinct advantage at the start of the year, Glendening's competitiveness made him a favorite of Mike Babcock and he took over the role as Andersson was scratched for 4 of the 5 playoff games. Going into training camp this will be one of the few battles to watch, so I wanted to see who should be considered the favorite to be in the lineup October 9th.
5 on 5
While neither player lights up the scoreboard, Andersson seems to be the clear winner with twice the number of points and nearly a shot and a half more per 60 minutes. What Glendening lacks in offense he makes up for in the typical "grit" categories. He blocks nearly a shot more and throws 6 more hits per 60 then does Andersson, and while Andersson has a slight edge in takeaways he always has twice the number of giveaways per 60 minutes.
Now all this being said, Andersson does have a history of playing further up the lineup so could be getting the benefit of playing with better players. However, these two manage a nearly identical quality of teammate with Andersson getting slight better offensive help, while Glendening got more help on the back end.
Looking at the usage chart, while Babcock clearly trusts Andersson to start in the defensive zone, Glendening is getting slightly more assignments against tougher opponents. When comparing their zone start adjusted CF% (stats.hockeyanalysis.com) Andersson has a clear advantage with 53.5% compared to Glendening's 47.4% CF, which was worst on the team for players with at least 300 minutes. So at even strength at least, it becomes clear to me that Andersson should be the favorite. However as a 4th line player one of the major responsibilities becomes killing penalties, a role Glendening seemed to relish.
Penalty Killing
Andersson and Glendening spent similar time on the penalty kill, Andersson with 165.6 minutes compared to 145.3 for Glendening. As they finished second and third amongst Red Wings forwards, behind only Drew Miller, this is indeed an important aspect for Babcock's 4th line center.
When shorthanded again Andersson shows his advantage with regards to offensive ability, even managing to get an assist while shorthanded thanks to Darren Helm. However, Glendening makes up for his offensive deficiency with excellent shot suppression, giving up 4 less shots per 60 minutes. Oddly, despite giving up less shots Glendening gave up more goals against. This raises the questions of who gives up higher quality chances, although I am of the belief Glendening simply ran into some poor goaltending luck.
At even strength it is quite obvious that Andersson is the more effective player. While lacking the speed and tenacity that catches your eye, he manages to provide more offense and more possession time than Glendening. Where Glendening does have an advantage is with his shot suppression on the penalty kill. The final decision will come down to which aspect Babcock values more, play at even strength or penalty killing. My personal opinion is that despite being a fan of Glendening, Andersson is the superior player and should be in the lineup to take on the Bruins come opening day.
[UPDATE: Just realized tonight that Wingingtinmotown did a similar analysis last month. You can check their version out here http://www.wingingitinmotown.com/2014/7/14/5895501/red-wings-roster-glendening-versus-andersson]
[UPDATE: Just realized tonight that Wingingtinmotown did a similar analysis last month. You can check their version out here http://www.wingingitinmotown.com/2014/7/14/5895501/red-wings-roster-glendening-versus-andersson]
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