Paul Martin’s play has been a hot topic amongst Penguin fans for the past year and a half.  Last season was widely considered a huge disappointment for Martin, the Penguins highest paid defensemen at 5M per year.  His level of play in 2011-2012 prompted GM Ray Shero to ask Martin if he wanted to be traded this previous offseason.  Martin’s answer was a resounding no.

“It wasn’t anything that was out of the ordinary,” Martin said. “What I said is I’d rather have a great season here than get traded and have a good one somewhere else.  For me, it was an easy decision.  I came here for my reasons and to win a cup with the team that we have in here.”

Scott Burnside of ESPN does a great job detailing Paul Martin’s latest offseason here

So what made Paul Martin’s 2011-2012 season so problematic in the eyes of Shero, Penguins fans, and Martin himself?

Lets take a look at the advanced statistics of Martin’s 2011-2012 season with the Penguins and compare it to the start he is having this season.

We will start with player usage charts.  Here is a template for how to interpret a player usage chart.  Depending on where a certain player is plotted on the graph speaks to how their head coach is using them situationally.  The following chart is courtesy of Hockey Abstract , as is the explanation of the chart:

As shown in Aaron Nichols’ chart below, those on the left are defensive-minded players, and on the right offensive-minded. Those up top play against top lines, those at the bottom play against depth lines. Therefore those in the top-left are playing tough minutes in their own zone against top opponents, and those in the bottom-right are sheltered from defensive zone play or top opponents and are usually goons. players with bubbles that seem out of place could be being misused.

Here is the 2011-2012 player usage chart (via somekindofninja.com) for Pittsburgh Penguin defensemen who played in at least 10 games:

The size of each players bubble is their relative Corsi number. The bigger the bubble, the bigger the value.  Red bubbles are negative values and blue bubbles are positive values.  The definitions of Corsi and relative Corsi (Corsi REL) according to Hockey Prospectus is as follows:

A player receives a plus for any shot attempt (on net, missed, or blocked) that his team directs at the opponent's net, and a minus for any shot attempt against his own net. A proxy for possession.

A player's Corsi value in comparison to his teammates is Relative Corsi (Corsi REL).  Corsi REL is expressed as the player's Corsi minus the team Corsi rate A positive value indicates a player who is better than the team average and a negative number is a player who is worse than the team average.

As we can see from the chart the 3 defensemen who shouldered the toughest minutes for the Penguins were Orpik, Letang, and Michalek.  Orpik far and away played the toughest minutes of any Penguins defensemen in 2011-2012.  It is also a direct reason for him having the lowest Corsi REL (-8.9) of any Penguins defenseman in that season.

In looking at Paul Martin’s advanced statistics you will find that he had a positive Corsi REL rating.  It was third best out of Penguins defensemen at + 4.5. Paul Martin also had a +/- rating of + 9 on the season. His 27 points were better than the 24 points in scored in a “successful” 2010-2011 season.  So why was Paul Martin under such scrutiny for his 2011-2012 season? 

I believe it had to do with his quality of competition (QoC).  Martin was brought in along with Michalek in the 2010 offseason in order to play a shutdown role for the Penguins.  Last year Martin’s QoC was only 4th best on the unit.  You could make the argument based on the chart above that Byslma sheltered Paul Martin’s minutes in order to protect him from tougher game situations.  Even with playing “sheltered” minutes, Martin led the Penguins with 37 giveaways.  For a player who is making what amounts to the highest cap hit at his position on the team, Martin should not be located on the chart where he was for the 2011-12 season.  At 5M per season Martin needs to be a difference maker, not an everyday depth defenseman. 

Let us now look at the 2012-2013 player usage chart (via somekindofninja.com) for Penguins defensemen who have played in at least 10 games:

Brooks Orpik finds himself in familiar territory as one of the Penguins top shutdown d men again.  However, he now has another player in the same vicinity, Paul Martin.  Not only is Paul Martin located in a shutdown role with Orpik but he leads the Penguins in QoC and has a significantly better Corsi REL than Brooks Orpik, who is a team worst -25.5.  In 2011-2012 Martin had a positive Corsi REL rating of +4.5.  So far this year he has a -2.7 rating but that comes with the territory of being the most leaned on defenseman of the group. 

Not only has Paul Martin earned back the trust of Head Coach Dan Bylsma defensively but he is putting together his best offensive season in his career.  Martin is tied with Kris Letang for most points by Penguins defensemen this season with 15 points.  When Evgeni Malkin has been healthy and in the lineup, Paul Martin has been used in place of Kris Letang on the Penguins #1 PP unit.  The result of Martin's increased PP status has him with more PP points (5) than Kris Letang (4) so far this season.

The reason for Martin’s larger role on the Penguins PP is also a microcosm for why he has been successful all season.  Martin is simplifying his game.  His decisions with the puck have been quick, assertive, and low risk.  These changes in Martin's game have led to a great amount of success for the Penguins PP, as well as other game situations.  This has translated into way less turnovers too.  As earlier stated, Martin led the Penguins D corp with 37 giveaways last season at .50 giveaways per game.  This season he only has 7 giveaways and is at a .35 giveaways per game pace.

Martin’s low risk, assertive play has translated well into measureable offense.  Martin is tied for 2nd overall in the NHL for points by a defensemen with 15.  Only Detroit's Niklas Kronwall with 16 points has more than him.  Martin’s 0.75 points per game is 5th best in the NHL for defensemen.  In fact, Martin’s point per game ratio this season has been even better than the recently injured Erik Karlsson (.71). If you are doing anything better on offense than Erik Karlsson, you are doing something really good.  Karlsson is the gold standard for defensemen as it pertains to creating offense.

In contrast Martin’s 2011-2012 season had him ranked 53rd overall in both points (27) and points per game (.37) by defensemen.

Here is a chart showing Martin's stats from the past two seasons:

In summary when looking back on Martin's 2011-2012 campaign you can see that it was not the kind of caliber year you expect from a guy making 5M per season.  The season could be classified as mediocre/ very average.  When you are paying a player top dollar like the Penguins did with Martin, the expectation is not for mediocre/very average.  Bylsma used Martin in a supporting role and the results were that of a supporting player.  This left fans, management, and Martin himself looking for more this season.

So far in the 2012-2013 season Martin has been terrific.  Martin entered the year with a new mental approach to his game and combined that with adding 10 pounds of muscle in the offseason.  The 5M that Pittsburgh pays Martin has been worth every penny so far in this young season.  They no longer have a top dollar d man playing in a supporting role.  Martin has answered the bell and is now the Penguins #1 shutdown defenseman.  His QoC is the highest on the team.  His ice time has gone up across the board.  Sheltered minutes are a thing of the past.  Martin has significantly increased his work load on both the Penguins PP and PK.  Most impressive is that Martin's offensive numbers are the best in his career while playing in his increased role as the Penguins #1 shutdown defenseman. His statistical numbers and decision making have been so great that he has transplanted the extremely offensively dynamic Kris Letang as the main QB on the PP.  Who would have thought before the season began that Paul Martin, not Kris Letang, would be the Penguins most deserving defensemen to be in a Norris conversation?  If Martin's success continues throughout the year, he will be in the conversation.

It would have been easy for Ray Shero and Paul Martin to part ways after last season.  Fortunately for the Penguins they stayed the course and stood by their 25M defenseman.  Just like they also did after the 2005-2006 season with another certain 25M defenseman that you may have heard of, Sergei Gonchar. 

Thanks for reading!