Analytics with Alison: Gourde's Impact

The Kraken community was visibly excited to see Yanni Gourde's debut on Tuesday against the Devils. The player comes to Seattle with a résumé that includes two Stanley Cups (with Tampa Bay), plus an impressive return from shoulder surgery well ahead of the original estimated return date of December.

When the final horn sounded in New Jersey, Gourde had showed why excitement was justified. He had the secondary assist on Jared McCann's third-period score, but more impressively, Gourde had immediately demonstrated the kind of underlying behavior that leads to goals which we made note of in
our post-game analytical review
.
Head coach Dave Hakstol saw Gourde's impact too.
"(Gourde) brought a real boost to our lineup," Hakstol said post-game. "He brings life on the bench. He brings the exact same thing on the ice.
"He was a productive guy out there. He made some plays, he created a lot of O-zone time and did a great job with two linemates that he's never played with before."

Gourde certainly contributed to his team in his first game back, but should we expect that to continue? Part of what's interesting about this Kraken team is watching how players evolve in what may be a new and or different role compared to the team from which they came.
After all, where a player played, who they played with and when they played all have to be part of how a player is measured, right?
Well, the answer is: maybe.
Let's dig in.
Over at HockeyViz.com, Micah Blake McCurdy has mathematically developed a way to isolate and measure a player's individual impact. He accounts for a player's teammates, competition and coaching and then distills out where and how a skater drives play.
So, let's take a look at Gourde's overall impact through this lens.
In the visualization below, we look at a player's offensive impact in the top two rink images (even strength and power play), and then we examine their defensive impact in the bottom two (defense and penalty kill). In each image, red marks areas of the ice where offense (shots) is coming from at a rate greater than league average, while blue marks areas where creation rates are lower than league average.
For both colors, the darker it is, the bigger the impact.

Given these definitions, you want to see more red in the offensive charts (a player is driving offense at a rate higher than average), and in the bottom charts you want to see more blue (a player is suppressing their opponent, meaning shots against are happening less than average).
Here's how Gourde measures out.
What is Gourde's individual impact? Looking at this visual, we see that offensively, he is a difference maker - and from the most dangerous areas of the ice (in the slot and net front). Similarly, while there is some offense against when the center is playing, a vast majority of opponents are generating less than league average against him. And this impact covers a good part of the dangerous areas.

More often than not, the Saint-Narcisse, Quebec native has had a positive offensive impact on his team, and, as he's maintained that effort, his defense has gotten stronger and stronger.
For a team like the Kraken that is looking to get to the dangerous areas of the ice, while restricting chances for its opponents, Gourde's return to the roster brings the exact elements this team wants to embody in its game.