How Boughner Used Burns Differently & What That Means Next Year

When Bob Boughner took over as head coach of the San Jose Sharks in December, he suggested that Brent Burns would shoot less.

“In this new offensive thing that we have, he’s maybe not going to get as many shots,” Boughner said.

It was a remarkable suggestion: Under Peter DeBoer, Burns’s 1,305 total shots led all NHL defensemen from 2015-19. This four-digit figure was 363 more than second-place Roman Josi’s 942.

This also held true at 5-on-5 in this timespan: Burns’s 916 shots were 317 more than runner-up Dougie Hamilton’s 699 and his 2,121 shot attempts were 714 more than second-place Hamilton’s 1,406.

Under DeBoer, the San Jose Sharks’ offense orbited Burns and his one-of-a-kind shot. Burns from the point, Joe Pavelski to the net would be a simplistic but not entirely inaccurate description of the San Jose offense.

So on the surface, it sounded like Boughner was saying that Sharks defensemen, including Burns, were going to shoot less. However, that’s not exactly what happened.

In 2018-19, San Jose Sharks blueliners attempted 39.6 percent of the team’s shots. Led by Burns, this was good for second in the league.

Under DeBoer in 2019-20, San Jose defenders attempted a still-robust 38.0 percent of the team’s shots. Under Boughner, Sharks rearguards attempted 38.5 percent of the team’s shots.

DeBoer and Boughner’s combined 38.3 percent was still sixth in the NHL:

Speaking specifically of Burns, he was still plenty involved offensively after Boughner took over: His 220 5-on-5 shot attempts from December 12th on led all NHL defensemen.

So what exactly was Boughner talking about? And what does this mean for the San Jose Sharks next season?

In March, Boughner clarified: “The way we’re playing [Burns now], attacking down low below the tops of the circles, that’s an advantage for our D.”

The idea? Instead of Burns bombing away from the point — where the most dangerous shot might be a Pavelski rolling to the net, deflecting or tipping the point blast — it’s putting the defenseman himself more in dangerous shooting areas. He’s just as involved in the offense, but deployed differently.

Boughner’s claim is manifested in the numbers.

Per Natural Stat Trick, Burns had six High-Danger Scoring Chances (Individual High-Danger Corsi) at 5-on-5 under DeBoer this season. By high-danger, we’re talking roughly the slot area, below the dots.

That’s one HDSC every 5.5 games, which conforms to previous seasons. From 2015-19, Burns averaged one HDSC every 4.9 games.

Under Boughner? Burns enjoyed 14 HDSC in just 37 games — or one HDSC every 2.6 games.

Essentially, Burns almost doubled his High-Danger Scoring Chance pace under Boughner. He was getting more and more chances closer to the net.

His goal in January was proof of concept:

A couple key things in this sequence: When Brenden Dillon (4) misses the net, Burns (88) pinches down and drops the puck back.

Kevin Labanc (62) covers for Burns up top and retrieves the drop pass. There are three Sharks up high (Dillon, Labanc, Patrick Marleau) and two low (Burns, Tomas Hertl).

As Labanc winds to shoot, Nathan Gerbe (24) gets caught puck-watching and loses Burns, who rolls to the net.

Because of Gerbe’s mistake, David Savard (58) gets outnumbered in front of the net. It’s a two-on-one down low, Burns scoops up the rebound, goal.

If you’re a proponent of putting Burns back at forward, this might be the closest you get. And it looks like you’ll get a lot of this next year.

San Jose Hockey Now talked with both incoming associate coach Rocky Thompson and assistant coach John Madden recently.

While they wouldn’t spell out exactly what they have in store for the San Jose Sharks next season, they gave — in my opinion — some clues.

Remember three Sharks up high and two down low on the Burns goal?

Madden said of the Tampa Bay Lightning: “When they get in the zone, it’s not just throw pucks to the net. There’s a lot of rolling. There’s a lot of high rolls. There’s a lot of three high.

“I just love how active their D are in the offensive zone. I also liked the way their forwards cover for them, which allows them to be active.”

Three high in the offensive zone can be confusing on the defense because they’re used to defending two high (two defensemen) and three low (three forwards).

Remember the down-low Burns and Hertl two-on-one?

Thompson spoke of “creating and generating these two-on-ones to help outman the opposition even when the opposition has numbers. You can still find your two-on-ones on the ice.”

Thompson, who’s running the defense, also noted “you’re seeing defensemen involved way more up the ice.”

He added: “In the American league, we were doing that a lot. We were practicing our forwards defending rushes and our defensemen being involved up the ice.

“It’s hard for the opposition when you have that unpredictability.”

That unpredictability helped create the two-on-one. Gerbe didn’t appear to think that Burns would roll to the net; perhaps he thought the San Jose defenseman would slink back to his natural position.

The hiring of Thompson and Madden have been welcomed as breaths of fresh air by fans. Meanwhile, bringing Boughner back was met with a collective yawn. But in truth, Thompson and Madden are Boughner’s hand-picked staff — and it looks like they’ll be augmenting the head coach’s plan for the San Jose Sharks, a plan that’s been in the works since last December.

Madden acknowledged: “We were on the same page about a lot of things.”