If you were to ask me for an instant, one-sentence reaction to Jakub Voracek’s season, I’d probably say “good but not great”. For a forward who can so easily dominate a game when he wants to, Voracek didn’t truly reflect that in 2019-20. This isn’t to say he had a bad season, no not at all. Voracek performed just about as well as we expected him to. At the lowest estimate, I’d rank him as only having slightly underperformed from a point production perspective. Though, as is often the case, point production doesn’t tell the entire story for Voracek. He was a key component on the Flyers’ top line for long stretches of the regular season which dominated opposition top lines, and played like one of the best lines in hockey for a while.
By The Numbers
Basic Stats
| Games Played | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM | Shots on Goal | Shooting Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 69 | 12 | 44 | 56 | 31 | 132 | 9.10% |
Voracek’s point production comes as either a disappointment or a neutral reaction depending on how you view Voracek as a player. There are some who expect Voracek to score at a near point-per-game pace, given he’s done it before, and others who hold more lenient expectations. Voracek, in an 82 game season, would be on pace for 67 points, which for me, is about what I would expect from Voracek going forward. Getting 65-75 points from him is a reasonable expectation, especially given his status as the “play-driver” on the top line. He’s more a facilitator in his current usage.
5v5 On-Ice Stats
Jake Voracek 5v5
| Corsi-For% | Corsi-For% Rel | Expected Goals-For% | Expected Goals-For% Rel | Goals For% | PDO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 53.1 | 2.86 | 52.1 | 1.89 | 59.49 | 1.026 |
5v5 Individual Stats
Jake Voracek 5v5
| Goals/60 | Points/60 | Shot Attempts/60 | Expected Goals/60 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.46 | 2.36 | 6.04 | 0.44 |
Voracek continues to drive play well and aid his line-mates in keeping possession. Especially on a line with two of the best play-drivers in hockey in Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier, this helps to explain why the trio are so dominant. The opposition never get the puck!
Otherwise… yeah, Voracek isn’t a known goal-scorer (his season high is only 23), so such a low goals/60 could perhaps be expected, and it’s unlikely he’ll improve on that. However, he continues to help facilitate goal creation on his line, so he makes up for it.
Three Burning Questions
Did this player live up to our expectations this season?
If you expected Voracek to revert to his point-per-game best, or you simply aren’t a fan of his game, then you were likely disappointed by this past season. However, for me at least, I thought he lived up to expectations. He didn’t blow them out of the water, but he earns a solid enough pass. I expected Voracek to drive play and to score like a solid top six forward, and he did that.
What do we expect from this player next season?
More of the same! If Voracek can continue to put up solid numbers and drive play, he’ll always have a spot on this team’s top line. The worry is that he is heading into his age 31 season and is under contract until his age 34 season, and a lot can change in that time frame. Solid players such as Voracek usually don’t fade that quickly, but some regression can be expected, and with a cap hit in the $8.0+ million range, that can be dangerous for roster construction.
What would we like to see this player improve on?
Obviously, his goal-scoring is an area you’d like to see him improve upon. It’s not imperative that Voracek suddenly scores 30 goals, but if he were to become a more lethal finisher and shooter, you’d be looking at a far more complete player. Is that likely to happen? No. But we can dream.
Otherwise, I’d simply say for Voracek to keep up what he has been doing. He’s been solid on the top line, and if he is able to provide what we expect, the top line will continue to dominate.
Stats courtesy of Natural Stat Trick
