The Penguins on Thursday sent Patric Hornqvist to the Panthers in exchange for defenseman Mike Matheson and forward Colton Sceviour.
Earlier, we took a look at what kind of a player the Penguins got in Matheson. But what about Sceviour? Here's a look.
COLTON SCEVIOUR
Position: Right wing
Height: 6-0
Weight: 192
Age: 31
Shoots: Right
SCOUTING REPORT
Jim Rutherford called Sceviour "a solid veteran player who has a lot of experience on the penalty kill" and "a right winger that's a good player that plays his role very well."
Ex-Panthers general manager Dale Tallon, upon signing Sceviour to his last contract extension in Feb. 2018, called Sceviour "a hard-working, versatile player who has become a key part of our success on the penalty kill." Tallon also lauded Sceviour's "dedicated work ethic, compete level and character."
Sceviour isn't the heaviest hitter, but his game is on the physical side. He had 91 hits in 69 games for Florida this season, which would have ranked eighth on the Penguins. The most hits he's recorded in a single season was in 2016-17, when he recorded 108. He's not much of a fighter -- his most recent fight was actually in Jan. 2019 against Zach Aston-Reese:
He scored six goals and 10 assists in 69 games this season.
Sceviour is also capable of playing center, and was praised for his versatility in Florida and his ability to mesh with frequently-changing linemates. He projects to be bottom-six depth and a piece for the penalty kill in Pittsburgh.
ANALYTICS
Sceviour's advanced numbers were interesting. He had a 46.10 Corsi For percentage at five-on-five, the fifth-worst among Panthers forwards. Looking at the differential for actual shots on goal when Sceviour was on the ice at five-on-five, the result was actually in the positives at 50.20 percent, right in the middle of the pack among Panthers forwards. And then when it comes to the differential for actual goals, Sceviour was sixth-best among Panthers forwards at 51.92 percent.
The poor shot attempt differential can in part be attributed to Sceviour's deployment.
Among Panthers forwards, Sceviour was deployed in the offensive zone the least often. The Dobber Sports player usage chart shows that only 19.3 percent of Sceviour's starts came in the offensive zone:
The chart also shows that Sceviour was in the upper-half of Panthers forwards in quality of competition faced.
So while Sceviour's Corsi For percentage of 46.10 is underwhelming and was on the ice for 62.61 shot attempts against per 60 minutes of ice time, he was also among the Panthers forwards with the toughest roles deployment-wise.
When you use Micah Blake McCurdy's isolated impact summary tool, which aims to account for those deployment choices, quality of competition faced, and teammates on the ice, the results of Sceviour's isolated impact aren't that notable either way.
Looking at the offense chart, red areas show where the given player causes shots to be taken at a larger rate than league average, and the blue areas less. In the case of Sceviour, we can say that his presence correlates with more shots taken than league average, and a lot of them come from the right side of the ice, which is where he plays.
The defense chart works the same way. Blue means fewer shots than league average, red means more. There are slightly more shots taken by the other team when Sceviour is on the ice compared to league average, with much of them coming from his side of the ice or at the net-front.
CONTRACT
The upcoming season will be the final year of Sceviour's current contract, which carries a cap hit of $1.2 million. He'll be an unrestricted free agent next summer.
