Individual Puck Possessions Part I: Frequency, Duration, and Distance Travelled

Abstract

In this paper we use puck and player tracking data from the 2023- 24 NHL season to study individual player possessions (focusing on 5v5 situations). We study metrics such as possession count, average and total possession duration, average and total distance travelled with the puck, and examine relationships between these metrics and traditional measures of success (i.e., goals, assists and points). A key finding is that individual offensive zone possession is strongly correlated with points (r = 0.70) and is moderately correlated with goals (r = 0.64), assists (r = 0.54), and shots on goal (r = 0.69). We also observe differences in individual possessions based on position (forwards versus defence), zone of play, and strength and large and statistically significant differences between top ranked players and league averages (across most possession metrics). Finally, we examine the benefits of our individual possession metrics and find that they are highly stable (so they are useful for predictions), able to differentiate players, and provide information not captured by existing metrics.