Los Angeles Kings GM Dean Lombardi is a stat guy. He has Theo Epstein's number in his cell. When he heard that Hockey Prospectus polled advanced statistics experts to find out the summer signings they liked best, he wanted to know exactly the reason why Dustin Penner was first on the list.
He was read the explanation. Penner was hit with bad luck last year. Stat guys see potential for a bounce-back season from a guy who had only 17 regular-season points last season. Not only did they highlight Penner's unreasonably low 5.9 shooting percentage, but they pointed out that the Kings shot just 4.8 percent as a team when Penner was on the ice. A regression to the mean alone would pump up Penner's numbers.
Lombardi listened and agreed.
To read more of Dean Lombardi's thoughts on Dustin Penner and hear another voice defending the Dennis Wideman signing, become an ESPN Insider today.
- Senior NHL writer for ESPN The Magazine
- Wrote for Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- Wrote for The Sporting News
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Craig Custance
Craig Custance joined ESPN in September 2011 as an NHL reporter for ESPN the Magazine, ESPN Insider and ESPN.com. A graduate of Michigan State University, he lived for nearly a decade in Georgia working for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution where he spent time covering the late Atlanta Thrashers. He was the only Thrashers beat writer to get the team to the playoffs.
From 2008-11 he was the national hockey writer for the Sporting News, writing regularly in print and online. A member of the PHWA, he's a proud voter for the major NHL awards and can occasionally defend his selections.
Like hockey, he left Atlanta to return north where he currently lives in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, with his wife Cassie and their three kids.
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