Turning the eye test into a number

Photo by Andy Marlin/NHLI via Getty ImagesWhether it’s wide-scale team evaluation or at the player level, hockey analytics have really begun to claim their stake in the game over the last decade. Teams are continuously growing more accustomed to the use of data, and are willing to use any and all information available to them. The hockey analytics wars are long gone, even if the egg in your Twitter mentions suggests otherwise; they’re here to stay.

Something that is also here to stay in hockey evaluation is the eye test. Analytics aren’t here to replace old-school analysis, rather inform and enhance it. When used incorrectly, the numbers can be misleading. They can be cherry-picked, and void…