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NHL's Plus/Minus Has Some Flaws

If you’ve been following the Flyers this season, you’ve surely heard about how well off-season acquisition Andrej Meszaros has been playing. And it’s true: he has been playing quite well so far.

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But one of the first pieces of evidence used to show how well Meszaros has been is his league-leading plus/minus, which currently sits at +29.

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If you go look at the league-leaders in this category – found here – you should see a fascinating trend.

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Sixty percent of the top-30 players in plus/minus play for only three teams. Seven of the top-30 are members of the Flyers, five are Bruins, and six are Canucks.

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What do those three teams have in common? You guessed it, they are currently 1st, 2nd, and 4th goal differential. Amazing how that works out. If your team has a high plus/minus, shockingly, so will your players.