Sheng Peng
What can Anthony Duclair, at his best, do for the San Jose Sharks?
To get some insight into that, I thought it best to evaluate Duclair’s 2021-22 campaign and not his past season. In 2021-22, Duclair scored a career-high 31 goals. Meanwhile, last year, felled by an off-season Achilles tear, the 5-foot-11 winger skated in only 20 games and scored just two goals.
The 27-year-old did appear to get more of his legs back during the Florida Panthers’ 2023 run to the Stanley Cup Final, notching four goals and seven assists in 20 post-season appearances.
The San Jose Sharks, after trading solid energy forward Steven Lorentz and a 2025 fifth-round pick to the Panthers for Duclair, are certainly hoping for more of the Duclair from two seasons ago.
So what was he doing in 2021-22 that helped him to a career season? How does Duclair score goals?
I turned to third-party micro-stats company SPORTLOGiQ for some insight into the best and worst from Duclair that year. All SPORTLOGiQ stats are Per 20 and All Situations.
Actually, what’s most interesting to me about Duclair is what he isn’t. But before we get to that, let’s talk about what he is.
SPORTLOGiQ paints the left-handed winger as a speed merchant who loves the one-timer.
In 2021-22, Duclair topped Panthers forwards with 0.14 Rush Goals Per 20. He was fifth with 0.65 Rush Chances.
26.6 % of his shots were one-timers, which led Florida. He took 0.85 One Timers Per 20, third among Panthers forwards, so we could see roughly a one-timer per game from Duclair, which is something we haven’t seen, anecdotally, from a San Jose Sharks forward in a while.
Of note, he was 14th among all NHL forwards (of 243, 1000+ minutes) in 2021-22 with that 26.6 One-Timer %. Naturally, Steven Stamkos led the league with a 45.3 % dependency on the one-timer.
He’s also a more selective shooter, he’s not a volume shooter. He shoots to score, not to just get it on net.
Duclair averaged 3.2 Shot Attempts Per 20, 12th among Panthers forwards in 2021-22. But he was efficient – he was second on the President’s Trophy winner with a 13.1 True Shooting %. That was fifth in the NHL with Marcus Foligno’s 14.5 % in the lead.
Per SPORTLOGiQ, True Shooting % is simply “the number of goals divided by the total shot attempts.”
Now I wouldn’t expect Duclair to shoot at his 2021-22 rate next year. His 18.6 Shooting % was second-best in his career. Overall, he’s a career 13.2 shooter.
But he can make up for a likely-lower shooting % with simply more playing time. In recent years, Duclair has been a 15-minutes-a-night skater. There’s certainly opportunity for more on a shallow San Jose Sharks squad.
The question for head coach David Quinn: Who can keep up with Duclair and get him the puck in his wheelhouse? It’s not simply about skating fast, it’s more about playing fast.
Now, what shouldn’t we expect from Duclair?
This is what I found most interesting about the Duclair acquisition, especially in the context of the stated and perceived traits that the San Jose Sharks are trying to promote under new GM Mike Grier. You know the buzz words – whether they’re quite accurate or not: Compete. Size. Grit.
Duclair, however, doesn’t play a lot on the inside and isn’t much for puck battles.
In 2021-22, Duclair’s 0.64 Inner Slot Shots Per 20 was 11th among Panthers forwards. And his 0.7 O-Zone Puck Battle Wins was 20th.
But as Duclair proved this past post-season, he can help you win games. Just don’t expect him to do the digging for the puck – and that’s okay. That doesn’t mean that he doesn’t play hard, just his strengths lie elsewhere.
Another area where Duclair doesn’t shine?
He was 17th up front in Florida with a 10.8 Neutral Zone Turnover Rate %. So I wouldn’t call him careful with the puck either.
But regardless, Duclair is a good example of judging Mike Grier in shades. Grier isn’t just about size or compete or fighting. The smaller, skilled Duclair doesn’t necessarily check any of these boxes. But he offers potentially game-breaking skills that the San Jose Sharks do not have in abundance post-Timo Meier.