Analytics with Alison: Bellemare Deep Dive

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare knew quite a bit about the Seattle Kraken even before signing a one-year contract with the team this summer. The center played for Dave Hakstol when both were with the Flyers organization; he played with Andre Burakovsky in Colorado; and for 15 years, the Frenchman has lived a few houses down from friend and Kraken assistant captain Adam Larsson in Sweden.

But beyond the personal connections, there’s a bite to Bellemare’s game on the ice and the special ability to motivate and mentor off the ice that makes him a solid addition to the Seattle roster.

“I think (Bellemare) brings a lot,” Larsson said. “Even in the dressing room (he is) a veteran presence. He's vocal and obviously he’s a proven steady center. I'm sure he will like the way we play here and how the team works together. I have only good things to say about him.”

What should we expect from one of the newest Kraken players?

Let’s dig in.

Bellemare has primarily played in a bottom six role throughout his career and responds with a solid defensive effort. According to Sportlogiq, last season when he was playing with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Bellemare ranked in the top 10-percent of the league in overall defensive play and protecting high danger areas of the ice.

If we look at his impact on opponents’ shot rates across the defensive zone it’s clear that he was part of a line – “Belly” played mostly with Corey Perry and Pat Maroon last season --  that effectively kept other teams’ chances to the outside. The chart below from HockeyViz.com marks where on the ice opponents shot the puck at a rate higher than league average (shaded red) and at a rate lower than league average (blue).

With that kind of impact, it’s also understandable that Bellemare can contribute on the penalty kill. With the Lightning, he had the most minutes of any forward when the team was short-handed.

But as we know, a center carries some extra responsibilities on the ice – a primary one being handling faceoffs. Bellemare has been solid here too.

While we know tracking simply the battle on the dot can be an imperfect science, last season, Bellemare won 52.3-percent of the 616 draws he took and he has been over 50-percent in that stat in each of the last six seasons. His performance last year ranked him 73 of 664 skaters in faceoff win percentage (300 min on ice or more) and 72 of 436 forwards. In this year’s preseason, he ranks first among all Kraken skaters to take at least five faceoffs or more (77.27%).

And, as Larsson noted, it’s not just what his friend can do on the ice that makes a difference. The center has spent much time after practices with the Kraken sharing his personal tricks of the faceoff trade to younger players on the time. Going rep after rep while discussing tendencies.

That esprit de corps translates in the locker room as well. Bellemare is ever positive and puts intention on bringing that kind of energy into the team he’s on every single day. It’s fair to say he knows the value of that given that he’s helped build a young team through his two years in Vegas (also the first two years of that franchise) and he has also experienced the demands of a Cup contender through his time in Colorado and Tampa.

“Negativity is contagious, as well as positivity,” Bellemare said. “So if I come here every morning and you have a tough day and you feel like (complaining), after a few weeks, the locker room is (complaining) and its not going to go the right way.

“I'm not going to answer with this and negativity. I'm going to go against it. . . .(Whether) we just won a game, or, we have a chance to be better today. Then the next time when you come and you see me suddenly when I say what's up today, you're not going to have the same negativity in your face. You're going to be a little bit more positive. By that time somebody else can come in the locker room they can hear that, and at that point, you are really more positive.”