🏒@HockeyBangers2026-27 projections

Overview

@HockeyBangers

2026-27 Projection

Taylor Ward

LAK · Age 28.3 · 🇨🇦 Canada · 6′2″, 207 lb · Undrafted
LAKteam
C,RWposition
243position rank
823skater rank
-66overall
-53offense
-12peripherals
goals
7
assists
9
points
16
power play points
0
shots on goal
85
penalty minutes
17
hits
86
blocked shots
20

Value over replacement, based on 82 games played.
Ideal for H2H 12-team banger category leagues, 16 roster spots.

Per 82 GP2026-27projection2025-2636 GPH236 GPH125-26Prev 3thin
TOI9.479.479.44––
PP TOI0.590.620.62––
G777––
A999––
PTS161616––
PPP000––
SOG858787––
PIM171616––
Hits868787––
Blocks202020––

Sample: 36 GP · 317 5v5 min (2025-26) — how much ice time backs these rates

Positional rankingCentre · league-wide (of 271)
240Luke Glendening-64
241Ben Meyers-65
242Luca Del Bel Belluz-65
243Taylor Ward-66
244Juho Lammikko-67
245Brayden Yager-67
246Kai Uchacz-67
offenseperipheralsvalue over replacement

Counts = projected deployment × projected /60 rate, per 82 GP. Rates regress off the process metric (ixG, shot-driving), not last year's finishing %. PP points = projected PP rate (anchored on the 2nd-half PP1 role, finishing regressed) × projected PP TOI.

Metrics worth highlighting

The charts that move this projection — where he broke from his own 3-year rate, where the season split in half, and where we’re taking the number next year
Bottom of the league
TOI
9.4722-2323-2424-2525-2626-27

TOI sits in the 4th percentile league-wide (9.47).

Bottom of the league
5v5 TOI
8.7522-2323-2424-2525-2626-27

5v5 TOI sits in the 4th percentile league-wide (8.81).

Picked automatically from every chart on this card, ranked by how far each number moved. Each claim is measured off the chart drawn beside it.

Similar & complementary players

Similar makeup Forward
Closest across all seven categories — match % is the whole-profile fit
Complementary Forward
Same position, opposite profile — strong where Taylor Ward is weak or average, light where he’s strong
Profile shape — per-82 category values vs the league p99 for the position (same scale as the hero bars)
This player
GAPPPSOGPIMHitsBlocks
the profile below
vs Similar
GAPPPSOGPIMHitsBlocks
similar players hug the shape
vs Complementary
GAPPPSOGPIMHitsBlocks
complements fill the gaps

Deployment

Deployment projection — next-year TOI & PP TOI vs the last two years (the role that drives every count)
Coaching
2026-27 · Peter Laviolette (LAK) new voice
Last year: Jim Hiller Q1-Q4 · fired Mar → D.J. Smith interim · end Q4 — in-season change
Metric26-27
proj		2025-26Prev 3Diff
TOI9.479.47n/a
5v5 TOI8.758.81n/a
PP TOI0.590.62n/a
By quarter — 2025-26 vs 3-yr baseline
GP  0 · 0 · 20 · 16
TOI*
7.71Q1Q2Q3Q4
5v5 TOI
7.62Q1Q2Q3Q4
PP TOI
0.09Q1Q2Q3Q4
*Total TOI by quarter reconstructs 5v5+PP quarterly totals plus a held-flat season PK/GP — NST has no all-strength quarterly export. Level is accurate; quarter-to-quarter movement comes from 5v5+PP.
By season — year over year
TOI
9.4722-2323-2424-2525-2626-27
5v5 TOI
8.7522-2323-2424-2525-2626-27
PP TOI
0.5922-2323-2424-2525-2626-27

Shooting — volume & conversion

How much and how well he shoots — volume (SOG), finishing (% vs chance quality), and the individual shot-quality funnel (iCF ⊇ iSCF ⊇ iHDCF).

Metric (5v5)26-27
proj		2025-26Prev 3Diff
SOG/606.436.43n/a
G/600.570.57n/a
iSH%8.868.86n/a
ixG/60–0.87n/a
iCF/60–16.83n/a
iSCF/60–9.08n/a
iHDCF/60–3.40n/a
By quarter — 2025-26 vs 3-yr baseline
GP  0 · 0 · 20 · 16
SOG/60
4.43Q1Q2Q3Q4
iSH%
11.06Q1Q2Q3Q4
ixG/60
0.70Q1Q2Q3Q4
iCF/60
15.26Q1Q2Q3Q4
iSCF/60
7.88Q1Q2Q3Q4
iHDCF/60
2.46Q1Q2Q3Q4
By season — year over year
SOG/60
6.4322-2323-2424-2525-26
iSH%
8.8622-2323-2424-2525-26
ixG/60
0.8722-2323-2424-2525-26
iCF/60
16.8322-2323-2424-2525-26
iSCF/60
9.0822-2323-2424-2525-26
iHDCF/60
3.4022-2323-2424-2525-26
Per-82 count — 3 seasons, 2025-26 halves & 26-27 projection
G
722-2323-2424-25H1H226-27
all5v5
SOG
8522-2323-2424-25H1H226-27
all5v5
The blue 26-27 point is our projection. The bold line is all situations; the muted line under it is 5v5 alone, so the gap between them is his special-teams production. Full seasons are true per-82 counts; the 2025-26 H1/H2 reconstruct all-strength from the 5v5+PP quarterly exports plus the season's held-flat PK/other. The projected 5v5 point is the engine's even-strength share of the total, converted to 5v5 by his own 5v5-to-even-strength split, so overtime and 4-on-4 scoring stays out of it.

Assists — playmaking & on-ice offense

Primary vs secondary helpers, plus the on-ice offense and luck signals underneath them.

Metric (5v5)26-27
proj		2025-26Prev 3Diff
on-ice SH%9.489.48n/a
IPP63.4663.46n/a
1A/600.380.38n/a
2A/600.380.38n/a
By quarter — 2025-26 vs 3-yr baseline
GP  0 · 0 · 20 · 16
1A/60
0.49Q1Q2Q3Q4
2A/60
0.00Q1Q2Q3Q4
By season — year over year
1A/60
0.3822-2323-2424-2525-26
2A/60
0.3822-2323-2424-2525-26
Per-82 count — 3 seasons, 2025-26 halves & 26-27 projection
A
922-2323-2424-25H1H226-27
all5v5
PTS
1622-2323-2424-25H1H226-27
all5v5
The blue 26-27 point is our projection. The bold line is all situations; the muted line under it is 5v5 alone, so the gap between them is his special-teams production. Full seasons are true per-82 counts; the 2025-26 H1/H2 reconstruct all-strength from the 5v5+PP quarterly exports plus the season's held-flat PK/other. The projected 5v5 point is the engine's even-strength share of the total, converted to 5v5 by his own 5v5-to-even-strength split, so overtime and 4-on-4 scoring stays out of it.
Regression read — where next year's /60 rate lands and why (process over finishing)
ContextAssist environment looks normal (on-ice SH% 9.5%, IPP 63.5%).

Power play

PP opportunity and finishing — modelled separately from 5v5.

Metric26-27
proj		2025-26Prev 3Diff
PP TOI0.590.62n/a
PP iSH%0.000.00n/a
PP SOG/6010.0710.73n/a
PP ixG/60–1.86n/a
By quarter — 2025-26 vs 3-yr baseline
GP  0 · 0 · 20 · 16
PP TOI/GP
0.09Q1Q2Q3Q4
PP SOG/60
0.00Q1Q2Q3Q4
PP ixG/60
1.55Q1Q2Q3Q4
By season — year over year
PP TOI/GP
0.6222-2323-2424-2525-26
PP SOG/60
10.7322-2323-2424-2525-26
PP ixG/60
1.8622-2323-2424-2525-26
Per-82 count — 3 seasons, 2025-26 halves & 26-27 projection
PPP
022-2323-2424-25H1H226-27
PPG
022-2323-2424-25H1H226-27
PPA
022-2323-2424-25H1H226-27
The blue 26-27 point is our projection. PPG and PPA are the 2 halves of the PPP above them, split by the projection's own goal/assist mix. PP-only, so the halves are exact.
Regression read — where next year's /60 rate lands and why (process over finishing)
ContextPP role steady at ~0.6 PP TOI/gp.

Physical — PIM · hits · blocks

Peripheral counting categories. Noisier and scorer-biased — read as role over the years, not pure talent.

Metric (5v5)26-27
proj		2025-26Prev 3Diff
PIMs/601.391.32n/a
Hits/607.007.00n/a
Blks/601.661.70n/a
By quarter — 2025-26 vs 3-yr baseline
GP  0 · 0 · 20 · 16
PIMs/60
3.45Q1Q2Q3Q4
Hits/60
7.88Q1Q2Q3Q4
Blks/60
0.98Q1Q2Q3Q4
By season — year over year
PIMs/60
1.3222-2323-2424-2525-26
Hits/60
7.0022-2323-2424-2525-26
Blks/60
1.7022-2323-2424-2525-26
Per-82 count — 3 seasons, 2025-26 halves & 26-27 projection
PIM
1722-2323-2424-25H1H226-27
all5v5
HITS
8622-2323-2424-25H1H226-27
all5v5
BLK
2022-2323-2424-25H1H226-27
all5v5
The blue 26-27 point is our projection. The bold line is all situations; the muted line under it is 5v5 alone, so the gap between them is his special-teams production. Full seasons are true per-82 counts; the 2025-26 H1/H2 reconstruct all-strength from the 5v5+PP quarterly exports plus the season's held-flat PK/other. The projected 5v5 point is the engine's even-strength share of the total, converted to 5v5 by his own 5v5-to-even-strength split, so overtime and 4-on-4 scoring stays out of it.
Regression read — where next year's /60 rate lands and why (process over finishing)
ContextHits role-stable at 7.00/60 (75th pct league-wide) → 7.00 projected.
RiskBlocks tailing off: Q4 0.98/60 and 2nd-half 1.56 below the 1.70 season rate — projected DOWN to 1.66/60, weighting the recent decline over the n/a 3-yr mark.
TailwindFights / takes majors (0.19/60) — a real PIM source, valuable in banger and PIM formats.