If you’re reading this, consider yourself blessed. You’re alive at the same time as one of the greatest athletes in history, Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers (Major League Baseball – MLB). Not only did Ohtani become the first player ever to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a season, but he’s also one of the better pitchers in the world, too. This unique two-way ability earned him a 10-year, $700 million contract prior to the 2024 season.
Related: Meet Mr. Fields: The Viral Sidekick to the Devils’ Recent Success
To put it in perspective, that’s like if an NHL player was an elite goal scorer and elite netminder at the same time. Now, that’s obviously kind of hard because you can’t really do both at once, like Ohtani can. But for comparison purposes, The Hockey Writers used analytics from Baseball Savant, Rono Hockey and NHL EDGE to get a glimpse at what the hockey equivalent of Ohtani would look like.
Shot Speed of Tage Thompson
The hockey version of Ohtani would carry a whopping 106 mile per hour (MPH) shot, which is what Tage Thompson recorded on New Year’s Eve. It was the fastest shot in the NHL this season – leaving him in the 100th percentile. Similarly, Ohtani was in the 100th percentile for hard hit rate last season, maxing out at 119.2 MPH.
Skating Ability of Nathan Mackinnon
You are going to get used to the 100th percentile, as Ohtani led baseball in “Baserunning Value Added”, just as Nathan Mackinnon’s 74 speed bursts of 22+ MPH lead the NHL this season. Despite Ohtani’s lanky 6-foot-4 frame, he stole 59 bases in the 2024 season. The hockey equivalent of Ohtani would be a pretty darn good skater.
**Better** Offensive Ability Than Leon Draisaitl
According to Rono Hockey, Leon Draisaitl is in the 100th percentile of total offensive impact. You don’t need analytics to prove it: here are his counting stats: 49 goals, 101 points in 67 games. But in five major offensive categories, he sits in the 88th (penalties drawn), 97th (passing), 99th (finishing), 98th (points) and 100th (impact) percentiles. For contrast, Ohtani also ranks in the 100th overall – but way better in each individual category: 99th (expected batting average), 100th (expected slugging), 100th (average exit velocity), 100th (barrels) and 100th (hard hit rate). Therefore, it would be fair to expect hockey Ohtani’s offensive impact to be slightly better than Draisaitl.
Defensive Impact of Aleksander Barkov
In 490 career innings between pitching and limited outfield time, Ohtani has committed just two errors, making him one of the better fielders in the game. Similarly, Aleksander Barkov has been one of the best defensive forwards in the game, ranked in the 99th percentile. As if all of the above isn’t impressive enough, hockey Ohtani would be almost equally as great defensively.
**Better** Goaltending Impact Than Andrei Vasilevskiy
There’s no question that Andrei Vasilevskiy is one of the better netminders in the league, with a 2.28 goals against average (GAA) and .919 save percentage (SV%). Overall, his collective metrics put him in the 84th percentile among NHL goalies (39th% low danger, 57th% medium danger, 97th% high danger, 50th% rebound control and 84th% goals saved above expected)
Similarly, Ohtani’s collective metrics put him in the 90th percentile among MLB’s pitchers. Here are his percentile ranks in five major categories: 90th (expected batting average against), 88th (fastball velocity), 92nd (average exit velocity), 82nd (whiff percentage) and 94th (strikeout percentage). Thus, we should assume goaltender Ohtani wouldn’t quite be a Vezina winner, but would likely finish top five as one of the game’s elite netminders.
Introducing the boys to ShoTime ????
— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) July 15, 2022
They are loving the Ohtani shirts @Angels. #FlyTogether pic.twitter.com/JrpOiJU1Gl
Hockey Ohtani’s Implementation
Now comes the hard part of figuring out how to best implement “Hockey Ohtani” to suit a team’s needs. It would be impossible to have them tend the goal and skate as part of the forward group at the same time. Would they switch every game?
Or maybe the NHL could implement a rule, similar to what the MLB did, widely known as the “Ohtani Rule”: If the starting pitcher is taken out of the game, they can remain in to hit. So maybe Ohtani starts in net and switches to forward in the third if the team needs goals. Or vice versa, starting with the forward group but taking over in net if the team has a late lead. This would be quite entertaining to watch.
Summary: What is Hockey Ohtani?
To summarize, based on percentile data, a hockey equivalent of Ohtani would have the shot speed of Tage Thompson, the skating of Nathan Mackinnon, a better offensive impact than Leon Draisaitl, the defensive ability of Aleksander Barkov and a better goaltending impact than Andrei Vasilevskiy. Not too shabby, eh?
To do a rough estimation, this is what we’re looking at over a full season if there were a clone of Ohtani, so one could play goalie while the other skates up front. Goaltending: 39-10-3 with a 2.20 GAA and .923 SV%. Offense: 64 goals, 76 assists (140 points) in 82 games.
Side note: Does hockey Ohtani automatically give the Los Angeles Kings first dibs if he chooses to sign with an NHL team!?
If you don’t typically watch baseball, turn on a Dodgers game if you get the chance. It’ll be more than worth it.
