Analytics with Alison: Filling a Tanev-Shaped Hole

You could almost hear a collective sigh of disappointment earlier this week. It came when the Kraken announced that Brandon Tanev will miss the remainder of the season due to an ACL injury suffered in the team's December 18 game.

Tanev has become instantly recognizable to Seattle fans not just because of the hair that flows out of the back of his helmet, or because of his one-of-a-kind head shot. No, perhaps what has been most endearing is the Toronto native's hard-nosed, all-out aggressive style of play that was impossible to ignore when he was on the ice.
But as it must be in sport, when a player leaves the lineup, it's time for the "next player up" to take on new responsibilities. What specifically does that mean though? What contributions can we watch for from the balance of the Kraken roster?
Let's dig in.
It's easy - and accurate - to point to the number of goals Tanev has scored this season as significant. His nine scores account for the third highest total on the team and his 15 points place him sixth overall on the roster.
But arguably, Tanev's greatest strengths lie in his focus to keep the puck away from opponents and get it back for his team. According to Evolving-Hockey.com, in 5-on-5 play, no Seattle forward has done a better job suppressing shot quality against than Tanev (1.95 expected goals against per 60). In fact, if we look at defensive impact in one number (Evolving Hockey's defensive "Goals Above Replacement" (GAR)), this season, Tanev ranks 37th overall in the league among all skaters and 15th among all NHL forwards.
What does that actually look like on the ice? The two graphics below from HockeyViz.com show Seattle's defense with and without Tanev. Blue shows where opponents are shooting less than league average while red represents where opponents are able to shoot at a rate higher than league average.

When Tanev is playing, it's not just the dangerous areas that are shut off to opponents, it's almost the entire lower third of the zone.
How does that happen? Well let's get back to those specific things Tanev does so well.
According to tracking data from Corey Sznajder, we can identify some key behaviors that go into Tanev's contributions.
So those are some of the things we need to watch for other Kraken players to take on within their workload with Tanev out. The good news is that if we look at who was already shouldering a lot of the burden in these behaviors, some players (Johansson, Schwartz) have been doing that on different lines already. So, balance can be maintained among other forward trios on the ice. And when it comes to Tanev's own line, he's played most of his minutes with Geekie and Gourde - two players who may see an increased workload in some areas but they aren't asks that are entirely unfamiliar to them.
"I've always been a strong believer that when you lose guys (to injury), you win by committee," Eberle said. "Individuals have to raise their play and other guys are going to get more opportunities… The most competitive team is the one that's going to (find a way to win). It's always been a next man up mentality and that's what we have to have here."