WASHINGTON, D.C. — Alex Wennberg finally is receiving his due.
Last week, the underrated center signed a three-year, $18 million contract extension with the San Jose Sharks. Even more impressive, the 31-year-old also was selected to the Swedish Olympic team.
What has Wennberg been doing so well for the Sharks this season?
Per micro-stats from Stathletes, Wennberg is a league-leading defensive center. So much so, the Sharks’ coaching staff uses him as an example for younger players to learn from. And he has more grit to his game than he’s given credit for.
Defensive Impact
“He’s like an eraser out there with mistakes in our own end,” Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said of Wennberg.
Wennberg leads all NHL forwards with 123 Turnovers Created, in All Situations, through Jan. 12.
Per Stathletes, those are steals and pass interceptions, essentially turnovers forced.
This stat doesn’t surprise fellow centers Macklin Celebrini and Ty Dellandrea, who basically repeated each other in their praise of Wennberg.
“He has an unbelievable stick,” Celebrini said. “He’s so smart, his mind for the game and the way he thinks. He’s always on top of guys and that leads to steals.”
“Long stick, good stick, always in the right position, above the puck, just waiting for the right opportunity,” Dellandrea said. “That’s instincts and smartness.”
Wennberg also is a willing shot blocker: He’s fourth among all forwards with 57 Blocks, also in All Situations.
All of this is why Wennberg usually gets a steady diet of the opposition’s best centers at 5-on-5, from Nathan MacKinnon to Jack Eichel.
“I watch him, learn from him, talk to him in practice,” Celebrini said. “He’s been around for a long time and he’s one of the best defensive centers out there. How smooth he is, how there’s always a calm when he’s on the ice.”
“He’s a guy that coaches have even told me just watch when he’s out there,” center Zack Ostapchuk, 22, said. “I watch him a lot in the D-zone, just his positioning, certain situations, where he goes, when to close on guys, when to hold back. He reads the game in the defensive zone better than anyone.”
“A lot of times we’re showing Wennberg clips to Misa and how to learn the position,” Warsofsky said on Wednesday. “As far as understanding the position, he’s probably one of the smartest individuals that I’ve coached, knows what to do without the puck, knows the dangerous ice.”
Puck Protection
The 6-foot-2 center is also better at protecting the puck than maybe his reputation suggests.
Wennberg is 10th among all NHL forwards with 38 Sustained OZ Carries at 5-on-5.
A Sustained Carry is a “successful carry where the puck is possessed for more than four seconds in the offensive zone”.
Ahead of Wennberg are fellow Olympians Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Mikko Rantanen, Martin Necas and Clayton Keller, and All-Stars like Mathew Barzal, Jason Robertson and Artemi Panarin.
Suffice it to say, this is good company for Wennberg to be in.
Net Front
Wennberg also has proven to be an effective net front presence.
There’s a reason why the Sharks have made him their net front man on their top power-play unit.
Just watch Wennberg (21) on three of the five goals that the Sharks scored to come back down 5-1 at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 13.
“I played my first couple years [on the power play], playing the half wall, and was more of a passer in that way. And then I became a net front guy,” Wennberg said. “I try to give [my teammates] an opening to shoot at.”
“If he’s not in front of the net, the goalie makes a save,” Warsofsky said of these three goals.
“Very impactful play from him even if he didn’t score any of the goals,” hockey tactics guru Jack Han told San Jose Hockey Now about Wennberg’s contribution to the comeback. “The net front and down-low stuff, I didn’t expect to see from him.”
All this is on top of Wennberg’s playmaking, which we do know about.
With 10 goals and 22 assists in 45 games on the season, Wennberg is well on his way to reaching the 25-assist mark for the seventh time in his career.
That was front and center in the lead-up to another goal in the Pittsburgh comeback.
This package of skills, some better known than others, probably is why Sweden, perhaps surprisingly, came knocking on Wennberg’s door. Wennberg wasn’t thought to be an Olympic favorite to start the season.
“Sweden doesn’t have a ton of really good net area players,” Han pointed out.
Wennberg, fair or not, has a reputation, historically, for being a player who will leave you wanting more. Part of that is because of how much all-around ability he has, and also, his pass-first and second-nature.
But if you accept the player that Wennberg is, he’s a very effective forward, one of the NHL’s best defensive centers, who can contribute offensively at a half a point per game pace. That’s very valuable for winning and has certainly helped the Sharks to their surprising record this season.