Welcome Surprises: Rich Peverley vs. Matt Moulson

An undrafted player that was picked up on waivers last season and a former ninth-round draft pick, Rich Peverley and Matt Moulson have been two of the biggest individual surprises in the NHL this season, currently at the top of their respective team's scoring lists. Quite simply, they've been two of the best finds by general managers over the last calendar year.

So where, exactly, did these guys come from, and should we continue to expect their current production?


Career Path: Undrafted out of St. Lawrence University, Peverley has played in the ECHL and the AHL. He was signed by the Nashville Predators in January 2007, and after playing parts of two seasons with the team, was placed on waivers in January, 2009. He was claimed by the Atlanta Thrashers and has been a point-per-game player ever since.

How Is He Doing It? Somebody has to get the points. It's not uncommon for bad teams to have bad players rack up large point totals simply because they're the guys getting the top minutes and top power play time. We've seen players like Scott Pellerin, Dick Tarnstrom and Norm Maciver (we're going back nearly two decades for that one) lead their respective teams in scoring. Does that mean they were quality, productive players? Not really.

There's only one problem with this philosophy regarding Rich Peverley: the Atlanta Thrashers aren't a bad team. Not at all. At least not right now. If the playoffs were to start today, the Thrashers would be the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference (and, as I've argued previously, I'm a believer!) and Peverley -- along with offseason pickups Maxim Afinogenov and Nik Antropov -- is a large reason for their success. Not only for his point-per-game average that he's maintained over his last 74 games, but also because he's one of the top penalty killing forwards (averaging nearly three minutes of shorthanded ice-time per game) on one of the top penalty killing teams in the league (Atlanta is currently sixth with a success rate of 84.1).

He's also an outstanding faceoff man, winning over 56 percent of his draws this season, after winning 52 percent a season ago.

Since joining the Thrashers last January, Peverley's ice-time nearly doubled from what he was seeing in Nashville, while his points-per-minute numbers have skyrocketed from .029 and .027 with the Predators, to .048 and .052 in Atlanta.

The production has been spread out nicely across the board, racking up a healthy mix of even-strength points (18), power play points (11) and shorthanded points (four).


Career Path: A former ninth-round draft pick in 2003 out of Cornell University by the Pittsburgh Penguins. He never played a game in Pittsburgh and signed with the Los Angeles Kings in September 2006. He played 29 games over two seasons with the Kings, recording six goals and four assists. He signed with the Islanders in July 2009.

How Is He Doing It? I have to be honest, when I saw that Moulson would be skating on the Islanders' top line coming out of training camp I just assumed it was going to be another in a long line of dismal seasons on the Island. Obviously, so far, that's not been the case. New York is challenging for a playoff spot, while Moulson is the second-leading scorer on the team with 15 goals and 11 assists in 35 games. Only John Tavares has more points, and the two are tied for the team lead in goals.

So, where did this production come from? My two theories coming in: 1) He's racking up points on the power play, and 2) It's a product of playing alongside Tavares.

As it turns out, that's not really what's happening at all.

When looking at Moulson's production, he's done most of his damage in even strength situations, with only nine of his 25 points coming on the power play. Of his 15 goals, Tavares has assisted on just five of them, while only five of Moulson's assists have come on goals scored by Tavares.

Best Long-Term Bet: Picking one player going forward to continue on their current path, I'd have to go with Peverley as the more well-rounded player (kills penalties, a center that wins well over half of his faceoffs). Maybe it's a bit premature, maybe even a little unfair, but a good comparison -- at least offensively -- would seem to be Coyotes center Robert Lang. Both players had relatively slow starts to their careers, were picked up on waivers, and started to "breakout" around the same age (Peverley 26/27, Lang 28).