Stats and data have become a major part of the way people consume sports in today’s day and age, so it makes sense that the NHL is working to improve the information they can use.
The NHL made several announcements ahead of the all-star festivities, one of them being the introduction of new technology that will allow them to track the pucks and players in every NHL game. This is something that the advanced stats community has been hoping for since the NHL began acknowledging things like Corsi and PDO.
That’s because while those stats may have been the best indicators at the time, major advances would likely have to wait until data like this became available. Apparently, it will start next season.
Obviously there’s still a ton of information that will come out between now and when the technology will be implemented, but it can only mean good things for the fans. Just think about how statcast has been able to add an extra layer of analysis to baseball.
Now, in a more fluid game, it could really help provide a lot of context. Instead of waiting for the hardest shot competition, maybe when can just get an average exit velocity for the entire season and see who is really wiring shots.
The only thing is, apparently the stats gained from this, won’t be able to be used in player arbitration, so if somebody is coasting out there, they can’t get caught.
