Rebound control. It’s a mandatory skill for any elite goaltender, but a skill that is rarely mastered. In today’s analysis post we update our initial look at how Washington Capitals netminders Darcy Kuemper and Charlie Lindgren are doing with their rebounds. More specifically, how they are controlling their rebounds and limiting rebound shot attempts.

First and foremost, we need to reiterate that not all rebounds are bad. Some in fact, are good. If a rebound can be directed to a corner, to open ice, or even better, to a teammate, the rebound has to be considered a good rebound.

So how do we begin to measure bad rebounds? One way is to look at opposition shot attempts generated directly off of rebounds.

From Initial Look on November 4

We took our first look at the rebound shot attempts against Washington Capitals goaltenders Charlie Lindgren and Darcy Kuemper back on November 4, so it’s about time for an update.

But before that, here’s where the duo stood just several weeks into the 2022-23 season. The following graph plots rebound shot attempts per 60 minutes of play for each goaltender in the league on November 4. [Click to enlarge].

Both of the Capitals netminders were doing well with their rebound control. Lindgren had the 16th fewest rebound shot attempts against per 60 minutes (3.706 per 60) and Kuemper had the 20th-best rate (3.921 per 60). The average for the league at that time was 4.57 rebound shot attempts per 60 minutes.

How Things Stand Today

Kuemper and Lindgren continue to do well in this statistical category. (Note that the graph for today’s update has been flipped from the orientation of the graph in November). [Click to enlarge]

Lindgren now has the 5th-lowest rebound shot attempts allowed per game in the league (3.37). Kuemper is not far behind with the 10th fewest rebound shot attempts in the league (3.844). The current league average is 4.59 rebound shot attempts per game.

Individual Results

Charlie Lindgren – Lindgren has regularly turned in games with fewer than the league average rebound shot attempts and has four games where he has not allowed a rebound shot attempt at all. [Click to enlarge].

However, in Lindgren’s last start against Columbus he gave up a season-high seven rebound shot attempts.

Darcy Kuemper – As noted, Kuemper has also improved since our initial look back in early November. [Click to enlarge].

Kuemper has allowed seven rebound shot attempts in three games, but none of those games since the start of the new year. In fact he has just one game over the league average in 11 games played since the start of 2023.

We will take one final look at the end of the season, but so far both Kuemper and Lindgren are doing well at controlling rebounds, based on the rebound shot atttempts statistic.

[The statistics used in this post are courtesy of Natural Stat Trick and the NoVa Caps Advanced Analytics Model (NCAAM). If you’d like to learn more about the statistical terms used in this post, please check out our NHL Analytics Glossary]

By Jon Sorensen