Leafs creating analytics department.

[vini_vidi_vici]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/maple-leafs-hiring-extraskater-com-founder--creating-analytics-department-181332725.html

Ever since it debuted, the hockey stats site ExtraSkater.com has been a mandatory destination for fans seeking a user-friendly, easy-to-understand approach to advanced analytics like corsi ratings.

This season, its founder will bring that insight exclusively to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

According to multiple sources, Darryl Metcalf is one of three advanced stats analysts that are in the process of joining the Leafs to work in newly created positions dedicated to hockey metrics. Cam Charron, a blogger that most recently worked with Yahoo Sports Canada, is among that group, as is Rob Pettapiece, a blogger who worked with Yahoo Sports' Buzzing The Net junior hockey blog.

Queries to Metcalf and the Leafs for comment were not returned.

Toronto made a significant splash in advanced stats earier this summer, hiring former Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds GM Kyle Dubas, a leader in the advocacy for advanced stats use by hockey managers, as their assistant GM under Dave Nonis. It’s expected this new department will report to him.

Saw this on another board and discussing it there, but thought it should be posted here. Great stuff, this can only lead to better information. Take that Grantland (see below).

[KillaSham23]

Hopefully works out. Would be sweet to see a moneyball type toronto team. We never get the top fa's so this could work.

[BramptonYute]

I wonder how much of an impact this will have in free agent signings and trades. Could find some great buy low options with this information.

I heard Gardiner was a good possesion player, which may have been a big reason why we locked him up for 5 years.

[flatjacket1]

Hopefully works out. Would be sweet to see a moneyball type toronto team. We never get the top fa's so this could work.

Won't happen in hockey for a while. Stats tend to be stone age and based on semi-accurate information.

Also, people would hate acquiring money ball players. The whole thing behind money ball was making a team that is undervalued, so players that seem to be valueless. It's like if we put Holland on our first line, people would flip out regardless of what management said. Those are the types of moves "money ball" creates. Ones that seem terrible. It's a lot easier to find player values in baseball than hockey, as things like chemistry come into play. Put certain players on certain lines and ouch, there goes the production.

Stats are wonderful to a degree. Hockey stats would need to be ahead of baseball stats for something like that to work.