When the Anaheim Outlaws selected Sconnie McHits with the 4th overall pick in this past season's draft, they expected to have a big-time contributor who could make an instant impact. While McHits has been a steady, if underwhelming presence on the ice, he's been solid in the locker room. However, the player himself has expressed some mild frustration at his performances in-game so far; even though he understands the need to continue to build TPE, he is growing a bit impatient with his player. For this deep dive, I'd like to analyze where my player is at statistically and what impact he is bringing for the Outlaws.

Scoring Points
While many would expect this high of a pick to be delivering the points, that isn't quite the case currently. McHits currently has just two goals to go along with 11 assists through 35 games. This 13 point tally is only good for seventh-best on the team, and while the assist total is tied for the team lead, it's clear McHits needs to start putting the puck in the net more consistently to maximize his impact in this area.

Penalty Minutes
Some of McHits' lack of production comes down to time spent in the penalty box. His 23 penalty minutes lead the team and placed him among the league leaders earlier in the season, but luckily have since tapered off. Additionally, McHits is 0 for 3 in fights (if you're gonna take penalties, at least win your fights!).

The Good Things
The things that McHits has been doing a solid job on are things that don't immediately jump off the stat sheet to the casual observer. His 19 takeaways put him 2nd on the team, and his 12 giveaways are 8th least on the team, despite his first line minutes. McHits has an average game rating of 57 (good for 6th on the team), an average offensive game rating of 58 (good for 3rd on the team), and while his average defensive game rating of 54 is middle of the road for his team, he is expected to contribute more offensively than defensively for the Outlaws. Digging into advanced stats, McHits has a Corsi For % of 35.4% and a Corsi For Relative % of 6.1%. Both are good for 2nd on the team, and show that the team does play better when McHits is on the ice. His Fenwick score and percentages (good for 5th on the team), also show that the Outlaws play better with him in the lineup.

In conclusion, while the numbers may not be eye-popping at this point, Sconnie McHits has been doing a solid job for the Outlaws. All it will take to make that next step forward is a few solid games of point-scoring. Until that time, Sconnie will simply keep grinding away at that TPE, do the right things in the locker room, and focus on team successes. Talls, Marco, and the rest of the Outlaws will continue to build with him, in the hopes that this team can turn from pretender to contender within the next few seasons.

(516 words)

Approved! +5 TPE @G2019