The growing world of hockey’s advanced stats has many interesting and useful applications. Corsi and Fenwick can help determine possession, and thus, future success. The ratio of penalties drawn to taken can help determine the most effective pests. Offensive zone starts tell you which players a coach is trying to either feature or protect.
Figuring out who scored the most points relative to their salary is generally not considered a useful “advanced stat,” but it’s certainly one of the more fun ways to compare players. It answers the question, “Who was the best bargain?” It’s an easy-to-understand way of determining which contracts have worked out well for the team, and which players have been disappointing.
Of course, this calculation only takes in to account offensive production. It’s an incredibly weak stat that doesn’tfactor in any other aspect of hockey, so take it with a massive grain of salt, but hey, the summer’s no time to strain your brain, so onwards and upwards we go.
Note: This numbers use the 2012-13 season’s player cap hits, not base salary. To be eligible for this list, all players must have played at least 10 games with Buffalo, so no Ville Leino, Cody McCormick, Matt Ellis, Luke Adam, or Chad Ruhwedel.
Forwards
| Player | Points | Cap Hit | Dollars Per Point |
| Cody Hodgson | 34 | $1,666,666 | $49,019.59 |
| Marcus Foligno | 18 | $900,000 | $50,000.00 |
| Kevin Porter | 9 | $537,500 | $59,722.22 |
| Jochen Hecht | 14 | $1,250,000 | $89,285.71 |
| Tyler Ennis | 31 | $2,812,500 | $90,725.81 |
| Brian Flynn | 11 | $1,025,000 | $93,181.82 |
| Steve Ott | 24 | $2,950,000 | $122,916.67 |
| Nathan Gerbe | 10 | $1,450,000 | $145,000.00 |
| Thomas Vanek | 41 | $7,142,857 | $174,216.00 |
| Jason Pominville | 25 | $5,300,000 | $212,000.00 |
| Drew Stafford | 18 | $4,000,000 | $222,222.22 |
| Mikhail Grigorenko | 5 | $1,775,000 | $355,000.00 |
| Patrick Kaleta | 1 | $1,250,000 | $1,250,000.00 |
| John Scott | 0 | $600,000 | #DIV/0! |
As is always the case with this calculation, younger players still on their entry level contracts or very cheap veterans will dominate the top of the list, and that’s no exception here with Cody Hodgson leading the way, and Kevin Porter, Marcus Foligno, and Brian Flynn right behind.
It turns out the much-maligned Jochen Hecht was actually pretty productive in this category, while Tyler Ennis and Steve Ott also provided excellent value. It’s very difficult for the bigger contracts to match the value of the smaller ones, as you can see with Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville. Also, John Scott has made the universe collapse trying to divide by his salary by his zero points.
Defensemen
| Player | Points | Cap Hit | Dollars Per Point |
| Mike Weber | 7 | $950,000 | $135,714.29 |
| Mark Pysyk | 5 | $870,000 | $174,000.00 |
| Alexander Sulzer | 4 | $725,000 | $181,250.00 |
| Christian Ehrhoff | 22 | $4,000,000 | $181,818.18 |
| Andrej Sekera | 12 | $2,750,000 | $229,166.67 |
| Jordan Leopold | 8 | $3,000,000 | $375,000.00 |
| Adam Pardy | 4 | $2,000,000 | $500,000.00 |
| TJ Brennan | 1 | $550,000 | $550,000.00 |
| Tyler Myers | 8 | $5,500,000 | $687,500.00 |
| Robyn Regehr | 2 | $4,020,000 | $2,010,000.00 |
Again we see an ELC player near the top of the the pack in Mark Pysyk, but in a stunning twist of events, offensive powerhouse Mike Weber comes in first place on this list. Despite his large contract, Christian Ehrhoff still produced at a very nice level (especially when you consider everything else he does) while the obvious disappointments in this category are Tyler Myers and Robyn Regehr’s $2 million-per-point salary.
So there you have it – a silly but fun stat that comments on offensive value, and helps to drive home the fact that successful teams need cheap and young players to produce, not just the most highly-paid players. Anything on either of these lists jump out at you, Sabres fans? Let us know in the comments.