Rangers: Hardest shots and big blasts are good, but accuracy is what scores in the NHL

For high school pitchers trying to get recruited to play baseball in college, the radar gun is everything. A pitcher’s velocity can determine what possibilities exist for him at the next level. If he is consistently throwing in the high 80s or low 90s, he might get Division I looks. Below that, he’s probably destined to play at a lower level.

It’s not nearly the same thing for hockey players with big slap shots. Yes, they do have hardest-shot competitions at the NHL’s All-Star Weekend, but hockey players don’t grow up obsessed with having the hardest shot.

“I don’t think it becomes a competition, like, ‘Oh, I can shoot the hardest’ or whatever,’’ said the Rangers’ Mika Zibanejad, whose hardest shot this season, according to NHL Edge, was clocked at 96.39 mph, in the 99th percentile of the NHL. “I’m sure there are guys who can shoot harder than I do. But I think it’s just [about] trying to be effective.’’

Zibanejad’s teammate, J.T. Miller, has been clocked at 98.32 this season. Rangers and U.S. Olympic coach Mike Sullivan said of Miller, “He’s got a heavy, heavy shot . . . We’d like to try to get him in situations where he can use that more often.’’

Although it’s good to have a hard shot, it’s not the most important factor in scoring goals. Bruins center Morgan Geekie has the hardest shot in the league this season, at 103.03 mph, and is tied for fifth in the league in goals with 25. But Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock, who has the second-hardest shot (103.01) and has three shots this season over 100 mph, has one goal.

Zibanejad’s hard, righthanded shot is why he generally sets up in the left circle when the Rangers are on the power play. It makes him available to take one-time shots off cross-ice passes, as the NHL’s all-time leading goal-scorer, Alex Ovechkin, has made a living doing over the years.

Steven Stamkos, now of the Nashville Predators, has scored plenty of goals while utilizing that one-timer, as has Zibanejad, who is tied for the franchise lead with 116 power-play goals.

“I’m not gonna say everything is about speed,’’ said defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov, who is running the point on the Rangers’ power play while regular point man Adam Fox is out injured. “It’s more about timing, momentum and screens.

“I would say I have, not the hardest shot [his hardest is 90.30 mph], but . . . with a good screen, the goalie wouldn’t even see that shot [and it] would be in. [As opposed to] a 100 mile-per-hour clear one-timer from the blue line.’’

Sullivan is always pointing out that the majority of goals in the league come from close to the net, just outside the blue paint of the goal crease. Shot speed isn’t so much of a factor from that close. And it turns out that the guys who score the most goals don’t always have the biggest shots.

Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon, who leads the league in goals with 36, just broke 90 mph for the first time with a shot in a game against Toronto on Monday that was clocked at 90.99.

The hardest shot taken by Connor McDavid, who entered Thursday second in the league in goals with 30 and first in points with 82 (one ahead of MacKinnon), was 82.05 mph, which is below the 50th percentile of players in the league.

But MacKinnon and McDavid are two of the fastest players in the world. McDavid’s burst of 24.61 mph in a game in October against Utah is the fastest time recorded in the league this season. And his 90 bursts of at least 22 mph far outpace everyone else (Dallas’ Roope Hintz is second with 28).

MacKinnon’s top speed of 23.06 didn’t make the top 10, but his 231 bursts of 20 to 22 mph are second to McDavid’s 310, with Hintz third at 182. That suggests McDavid and MacKinnon are better able to sustain high speed throughout the game than other people.

And of course, even raw speed (which the Rangers, as a team, don’t have much of) isn’t enough when it comes to scoring goals.

“It’s all different,’’ said Zibanejad, who leads the Rangers with 18 goals. “And then it depends on how you use it, too. Some guys go a million miles an hour, but there’s very few, like MacKinnon and McDavid. It’s not just that they skate fast. They can process the game very, very fast and do it at that speed. That’s what’s impressive.’’