#Fancystats Friday: Is Tarasenko an elite goal scorer?

The short answer? Yes. Anyone who has watched the Blues at any point during the past two seasons will tell you that Tarasenko is one of the most fun players to watch right now. The goals he scores defy physics. So the eye test tells us "yes Tarasenko is going to be an elite goal scorer," but what do the stats say? After all, we really only have about two full seasons of Tarasenko so far with last season being his best to date. Is he capable of repeating last season? Can he sustain his goal scoring during this season and beyond?

First, who are the elite goal scorers in the NHL at the moment? I downloaded all the 5v5 scoring data for forwards who played in the NHL from the 2010-11 season…