NHL.com's fantasy staff continues to cover the latest trends and storylines in the League through the lens of NHL EDGE puck and player tracker stats. Today, we look at the underlying metrics behind Utah Mammoth forward Nick Schmaltz.
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The Utah Mammoth's forward group had breakout potential entering this season, but few could have expected their leading scorer over the first month of the season to be Nick Schmaltz.
The 29-year-old is off to the best start of his NHL career with 18 points in 13 games (tied for seventh in entire League) and also leads Utah in assists (10), even-strength points (12) and power-play points (six). Schmaltz is skating in his usual spot with Clayton Keller and Barrett Hayton to complement Utah's top six, which also features a potent trio of young forwards Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther and offseason addition JJ Peterka (acquired from Buffalo Sabres). Schmaltz also frequently plays on the first power play with Keller, Cooley, Guenther and defenseman Mikhail Sergachev.
Schmaltz, who played six seasons for the Arizona Coyotes before they relocated to Utah, is a two-time 60-point producer who has shown flashes of brilliance before; he had a seven-point game (two goals, five assists) for the Coyotes on March 5, 2022, the highest single-game point total in the NHL since Sam Gagner had eight (four goals, four assists) for the Edmonton Oilers on Feb. 2, 2012.
Schmaltz is showing greater consistency lately with an eight-game point streak from Oct. 15-28. The only players with longer point streaks so far this season are Nick Suzuki of the Montreal Canadiens (12 games; active streak) and Sebastian Aho of the Carolina Hurricanes (nine games). It's worth noting Schmaltz tied a career-long point streak from last season (Jan. 10-24); he also had another scoring outburst for the Coyotes in 2021-22 with 22 points in 14 games (March 3-30, 2022; included his seven-point game).
Here are three underlying metrics behind Schmaltz's surprising start to the season:
1. Shots by location
Schmaltz has been a standout among forwards in all three shots on goal by location categories:
• High-danger shots on goal: 18 (96th percentile)
• Midrange shots on goal: 15 (95th percentile)
• Long-range shots on goal: 5 (92nd percentile)
It's also worth noting Schmaltz is producing shots on goal (42 in 12 games) at by far the highest clip of his NHL career; he ranks second among Utah players in shots on goal per game (3.23) behind Guenther (3.31). Schmaltz's previous career high in that category was last season (2.27 in 82 games).
The Mammoth rank in the top 10 of both goals per game (3.38; 10th) and shots on goal differential (plus-5.4; second) this season. Utah has outshot opponents in 10 of its 13 games (76.9 percent), the second-highest rate in the League behind the Edmonton Oilers (80.0 percent; 12 of 15).
