Tyler Motte has 9 points on the season, or, to look at it another way, 125 fewer points than Nikita Kucherov. He’s also tracking to have his lowest offensive output in a full season since his sophomore year of 2017-18. So, it’s another free agent blunder by Julien BriseBois, right?
Wrong.
In fact, while saying it’s his best free agent signing might be a bit of a stretch, saying it’s one of his better ones wouldn’t be. Tyler Motte has done exactly what he was brought in to do this summer – become a vast blackhole of offense. When Tyler Motte is on the ice, pucks just don’t go into the net. As the Lightning have become a bit more responsible defensively over the second half of the season, Motte has been a key part of that turnaround.
Here is his player card from Evolving Hockey, which gives a snapshot of how he compares to other forwards in the league this year.
As you can see, his offense has been quite lacking, but his defensive prowess has him in the top 94% of forwards defensively. In other words, he’s been the prototypical fourth-line winger, a position he has settled into over the last few months. There was a brief period where Coach Cooper had him playing in the middle of the ice on the third line, but once Anthony Duclair and the other forwards returned to health, he settled into a nice role alongside Luke Glendening and (when he’s healthy, Tanner Jeannot).
While that trio is not going to threaten any scoring records, they have been pretty solid defensively, not allowing any goals against at 5v5 in almost 52 minutes of time together. Lately, when they’ve been together there have been shades of the School Bus Line from 2021-22 when Pat Maroon, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, and Corey Perry could pin opponents in their own zone and set up the scoring lines with excellent position on the ice.
When Mr. BriseBois was retooling his bottom-six this summer, he wanted faster skaters that could forecheck, and that’s what Motte has done this season. NHL Edge stats has his top skating speed at 23.10 MPH which ranks in the 88th percentile. With 107 bursts over 20 mph he ranks in the top 25% in the league. Pretty sure none of the School Bus guys got close to that type of speed.
As you can see from the graphic below, Motte has been one of the top forwards when it comes to recovering the puck when it’s dumped in as well as pressuring other teams on the forecheck. Throwing those two attributes together leads to sustained zone time and has a wearing effect on the other team’s defense.
Unfortunately, that type of zone possession hasn’t exactly led to goals for Motte, mainly because there just aren’t a lot of shots on goal when he’s on the ice. The Lightning are averaging 22 shots/60 when he’s out there, which ranks him 22nd on the team in that category. The good news is that the opponents aren’t getting shots on Andrei Vasilevskiy when he’s out there either, as the Bolts are only giving up 24.88 shots/60, that’s the third-best number on the team (kudos to rookies Max Crozier and Waltteri Merela for besting the veteran).
Motte ranks in the top five in the team in all of the related defensive stats such as high-danger chances against (9.13), scoring-chances against (22.17), and expected goals against (2.21) when you look at his per-60 minutes rates. This is exactly what a coach wants out of his fourth-line players. Just hold the fort and don’t give up soft goals. According to Natural Stat Trick, Motte has only been on the ice for two low-danger chances against in 677 minutes of 5v5 action. Crozier and Austin Watson have yet to be on the ice for a low-danger goal against, but their ice time is dwarfed by Motte.
There are times when a team just needs to get the puck out of their zone for a few shifts. Earlier in the season, the Lightning were having issues doing that. As they’ve improved that aspect of the game, Motte has been a part of that process.
Going back to All Three Zones, his player card shows a few things that help the Lightning in their own zone. He’s getting the puck and getting it out, not always with possession, but he’s getting it out at above the league average rate.
Among forwards only Nikita Kucherov and Conor Sheary are averaging more clears per 60.
The relatively low exits with possession indicate that he’s choosing to flip or pass the puck out of the zone more than carrying it out, but up and off the glass is sometimes the best way to relieve pressure, because you are, indeed, relieving pressure from you blueline and goaltenders.
All of these numbers reflect his 5v5 numbers so we haven’t even mentioned his contributions shorthanded. His pairing with Luke Glendening when the Bolts are killing penalties gives Coach Cooper a second set of forwards behind Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli that is tough to score against. Among players with more than 100 minutes of shorthanded time for the Lightning this season, Motte has an XGA/60 of 6.1, the lowest expected goals against by more than a goal. That number actually ranks 9th-lowest in the league overall for players with more than 100 minutes of shorthanded ice time.
He also has two short-handed goals to his name this year as well, so it’s not just defense that he’s bringing to the penalty kill unit. Both of his shorties show why he is effective. On the first one, he pressures the puck carrier and forces a turnover. He’s fast enough to get in clean on the goaltender and buries it:
On the second one, he’s in an aggressive position again and anticipates the pass across the ice. Again, he has the wheels to outskate the defense and puts it past the goaltender.
There is a reason Motte has been traded at the deadline three times in his career, he is a smart, responsible defensive depth forward. Instead of sacrificing a draft pick or prospect to acquire that type of player all the Lightning had to do was sign him to an $800,000 contract for one year. He’s earned that contract with one of his best defensive seasons. Not every player is going to put 25 goals in the net, and as the playoffs roll into view, keeping the puck out of the net is just as important.
