Kyle Palmieri and Adam Henrique are Absolutely Ice-Cold Right Now

Prospect Creek Camp, Alaska holds the record for coldest place in the US at -80°F

Vostok, Antarctica recorded the lowest temperature on Earth at -128.5 °F.

The Boomerang Nebula registers at–458 degrees Fahrenheit or 1 degree above absolute zero, the coldest temperature there can possibly be — where all energy would cease to transfer, all atoms would stop moving, and everything you know and love crumbles into nothingness on the fringes of reality as we know it.

And just below that, we have where Kyle Palmieri and Adam Henrique currently are.

In Manny Perry’s Custom Query in Corsica, he has used a lot of what is currently known to affect goal production to create an xG stat (expected Goals). In November, There are 442 players who have played at least 10 games. One of them is Kyle Palmieri. And 440 of the remaining 441 have a better xGF% (expected goal ratio) than Kyle Palmieri. The chart below is the bottom two players in the entire league on that statistic.

Adam Henrique is, by comparison, stellar. He ranks a sky-high 374th out of 442. However, Adam Henrique surface stats might make the top 10 depressing statements of 2016 — and there is A LOT of competition for that title.

In the past month, Adam Henrique has played in 13 games, and logged 155 minutes of even strength ice time. In that time, he has registered 2 secondary assists, ...

Are you waiting for me to finish that statement? Oh sorry, it’s over, I was done talking. He has not registered a single primary point. That means that the closest Adam Henrique has been to being involved in a goal was he passed to the guy that passed to the guy that scored two times.

What’s worse is that’s not even really surprising. Rico has averaged 5 shots per 60 minutes in that span which wedges him right between Ben Lovejoy and Kyle Quincey in shot rate. He has 27 Corsi attempts which means that he essentially attempts to take a shot in the general direction of the net about twice per game at even strength. And he has 13 shots in that span which means one of those two attempts will actually hit the net!

In his defense, he does have 5 scoring chances in that span which tops every Devil except for Zajac, Lappin (wow!), and Parenteau.

If that wasn’t enough for each of them, the two have combined for 6 penalties taken versus only 3 drawn. They are a minus in the giveaway/takeaway as well. But it’s okay, because Henrique makes up for it with a 46% faceoff percentage. According to xG, Henrique has been league average on the PK and Palimeri has been below league average on the PP.

So what do we do about this? Not much to do except wait it out. Maybe we can jimmy the lines around a bit. I say put them both with Hall when he comes back and hope he can light a fire under them. The good takeaway is that we have still been a competent team with our best player injured, and our top two scorers from last year slumping fiercely. But, if we want to make a serious run this year, we’re gonna need Rico and Palms to catch up to the balmy temperature of the Boomerang Nebula.

Thanks for reading and feel free to leave your thoughts below!