Habs: One Game Scouting Report for Mark Mitera

Perfect d-zone passing-percentage carries Mitera's grade

Mark Mitera was brought in to the Montreal Canadiens family on July 15th. The Habs traded the right-handed shooting Mathieu Carle to the Ducks in exchange for the left-handed shooting Mitera. The deal fit both teams' needs based on Organizational depth (lefty vs. righty on depth chart) and waiver exemptions (Mitera is waiver-exempt while Carle is not).

Mitera has a reputation as a strong skating defenseman with a solid stick. He won the majority of his battles, while dominating at the NCAA level, but his development has been slowed by injuries.

During this particular game, Mitera did not play on the powerplay, but was a regular on the second penalty-killing unit. Despite having a reputation as a strong skater, Mitera gave the impression of having below-average speed during stops and starts, as well as while changing directions during cross-overs. Perhaps he was dealing with an injury, or having problems with his edges; he also fell twice while skating by himself.


Overall Grade

Mitera had an above-average overall grade of 75. His mark was 12 percentage-points above the Habs' regular season average. His grade was carried by his passing skills, as he completed all 18 of his defensive and offensive-zone pass-attempts.

For the fun of comparing, Mathieu Carle produced an overall grade of 79 during a game scouted last season.

	17
WINS	44	WINS
EVENTS	59	EVENTS
GRADE	75	GRADE
PLAYER	17

Overall Risk/Reward Rating

Mitera's overall risk/reward rating was the seventh best rating recorded by a Habs' prospect at any level thus far. As mentioned earlier, his rating was carried by his passing skills. He completed 18 of 22 total pass-attempts, while completing all 15 of his d-zone attempts. Mitera's rating would likely have been off-the-charts if not for his work during puck-battles, as he lost 11 of 19 total puck-battles.

Carle recorded an overall risk/reward rating of 1.13 during a game scouted this past season.

	17
MINUTES	17	MINUTES
POS/MIN	2.59	POS/MIN
NEG/MIN	0.88	NEG/MIN
	17
EVENTS/ MIN	3.47	EVENTS/ MIN
RISK/REWARD	1.71	RISK/REWARD
	17

Offensive-zone Risk/Reward

Mitera didn't see any time on the powerplay, so all of his offensive-zone events took place at even strength. He completed all 3 of his o-zone pass-attempts, but lost 2 of 3 o-zone puck-battles. Both losses occurred during failed attempts to pinch at the offensive blueline. Mitera was able to get 1 of his 2 shot attempts from the blueline through to the net.

Carle recorded an o-zone risk/reward rating of 0.26 during a game scouted this past season.

	17
MINUTES	17	MINUTES
POS/MIN	0.29	POS/MIN
NEG/MIN	0.18	NEG/MIN
	17
EVENTS/ MIN	0.47	EVENTS/ MIN
RISK/REWARD	0.12	RISK/REWARD
	17

Defensive-zone Risk/Reward Rating

I cannot stress how impressive Mitera's passing was coming out of the defensive-zone. I've never seen a defenseman playing a regular shift able to complete 100% of his outlet passes. If Mitera was able to do a better job winning puck-battles in the d-zone his rating would have been among the best ever recorded. He won only 6 of 14 d-zone puck-battles. The 8 lost puck-battles were the only negative-events he recorded in the defensive-zone.

Carle recorded a d-zone risk/reward rating of 0.30 during a recent game scouted.

	17
MINUTES	17	MINUTES
POS/MIN	1.53	POS/MIN
NEG/MIN	0.47	NEG/MIN
	V
EVENTS/ MIN	2.00	EVENTS/ MIN
RISK/REWARD	1.06	RISK/REWARD
	17

Neutral-zone Risk/Reward Rating

Mitera's only failed pass-attempts occurred in the neutral-zone. He completed 4 of 8 n-zone pass-attempts, while winning 1 of 2 puck-battles and recording 1 neutral-zone takeaway. He was also successful with both his attempts to dump the puck into the offensive-zone.

Mathieu Carle recorded an n-zone risk/reward rating of 0.35 during a recent game-scouted.

	17
MINUTES	17	MINUTES
POS/MIN	0.47	POS/MIN
NEG/MIN	0.29	NEG/MIN
	17
EV/ MIN	0.76	EVENTS/ MIN
RISK/REWARD	0.18	RISK/REWARD
	17