Our 2024 Braden Schneider report card is even more subjective than our other report cards. Schneider finally got a solid defensive partner for the entire season, something he just hasn’t had in years past. He also got a very clear role as a third defenseman, getting mostly neutral zone-switch starts against opposing players deep.
Schneider isn’t exactly a known goal-scoring defenseman, but he added an assist (14) and a point (19) to his career highs, as well as a career high in goals (5). Anything Schneider can put on the scoresheet is a bonus, as he’s primarily used on defense and getting the puck out of the zone.
In 580 minutes with Erik Gustafsson, the duo was fine, if unspectacular. They were close enough to 50% xG share and high-danger chance share that we can call the duo successful. They also had 51% shot share, so I think that’s a safe conclusion. In his 205 minutes with Zac Jones, however, there was a drop in all of those numbers. It wasn’t a sharp drop, but it wasn’t an insignificant one either.
It’s also worth noting that Schneider’s numbers saw a similar decline in all of his minutes without Gustafsson. Of course, Gustafsson had a positive impact on Schneider.
We see the positive impact in Schneider’s isolated numbers, although there is clearly still some work to be done to control the number of shots against him. While this looks bad, it is also a significant improvement over last year’s numbers. Schneider is not a top defender, so it’s not fair to expect only blue. But as a third-line defender within the system to limit quality chances, he has been fine.
We definitely want to see improvement in his game in two areas: limiting chances against him and a better first pass out of the zone. Part of that is due to his own development as a player, but as we’ve said all season, it’s also partly due to the entire team’s ability to get out of the zone. Hopefully better center depth will help as the season progresses, as a big improvement in breaking comes from having centers move back to provide breaking options.
Overall, Schneider has been good. He has steadily improved his game, but he still has a long way to go before he can establish himself as a top-four defenseman. He will get that chance this season, with Jacob Trouba likely stepping in as the third defenseman going forward.
