Hardy Haman Aktell shoots the puck a lot

and other Haman Aktell numbers

With Joel Edmundson starting the season on injured reserve, the Caps sixth defenseman spot has been a rotation of Alex Alexeyev, Lucas Johansen, and Hardy Haman Aktell. While none of these players seem to have locked down the role in the eyes of Spencer Carbery, it’s the latter-most name, Haman Aktell, that has caught my eye the most.

Given that Haman Aktell has only skated 31 minutes, I’m not giving his underlying numbers much value yet, but the early returns are good: His 58.3 shot attempt percentage and 60.6 xG% lead the team. But what stands out the most is how often Haman Aktell shoots the puck: he leads the team with 22.9 shot attempts per 60 minutes of 5v5 play.

You read that right: a defenseman leads the Caps in individual shot rate. Even more impressive, among the 212 defensemen that have skated 30+ 5v5 minutes this season, Haman Aktell’s shot attempt rate is third behind Brent Burns and Brett Pesce.

A couple more fun facts about Haman Aktell:

• At 0.42. individual xG/60, he ranks 7th among all NHL D

• The Caps are shooting just 4.6 percent and saving only 89.0 percent when he’s on the ice, so some positive regression should be coming in terms of results

• In just under 13 minutes together, Haman Aktell and Nick Jensen have posted a definitely sustainable 90.9 xG%

Given that he’s the only waiver-exempt defensemen on the roster as of today, chances are Haman Aktell will find himself back in Hershey at some point this season. But from I’ve seen so far and what the numbers say, I hope he gets a longer look in DC.

That’s all for now. Thanks for reading.