Positional points update

It was early November when #PS1 gave us a graphic showing each team's points from forwards, defencemen and goaltenders. Here is the updated graph, as of games played March 17, 2014.

Orange = goalies; red = defence; blue = forwards

Note the Y-axis begins at 300, to allow us to zoom in on the real differences between rosters.

A few observations:

1. Even if they didn't have a goalie, G-Phil's Flyers would make the playoffs.

2. 400 points from forwards seems to be the cut-off: if you're not getting that baseline, you're not making the playoffs. By the end of the season, it will probably be 450, with the best teams surpassing 500.

3. I don't think this adds or takes away much from Stefan's more in-depth analysis from November. He mentioned that there are many ways to skin a cat. The Fylanders and Milan Micahleks are built the same way: elite forwards, elite goaltending, mediocre defence. G-Phil's Flyers have vastly superior defence, but mediocre forwards and goaltending. If a team could have elite forwards and elite defence, I think that team would be untouchable, regardless of their goaltending situation. On the other hand, the Mackhawks are right there with the Fylanders' and Micahleks' forwards and defence, but Jonathan Quick's off year is keeping them out of the upper echelon.

4. The Schizzarks' and Patrik Stefans' forwards have been awful this year (for various reasons but particularly injuries) - bad enough to drag down perfectly good defences. Both GMs feel strongly that next year will be different.

5. Because we only score four defencemen, a great player can hide an otherwise rotten core. Case in point: the Schizzarks' Keith Yandle has 40% of their defence points.