u/ColonelFedj — reddlx

With the end of the regular season, it gives us a chance to look at Pannek's case for winning the Billie Jean King MVP award. To start, we can list off some stats:

16 goals (1st), 17 assists (T2nd) for 33 points (1st)

7 Powerplay Goals (1st), 10 Powerplay Points (1st)

341 for 575 in Faceoffs for 59.3% (3rd*)

Shooting% of 27.6% (1st*)

33 Blocked Shots (1st*)

* - Among Qualified Skaters (I'll explain later)

Pannek isn't known for her scoring capabilities, as she's been viewed as a 'Defense First' specialist since this league began (new fan to women's hockey, so I don't know the lore before then). So going from a lockdown 2C to the league's leading scorer is a massive jump. It comes in line with the Frost, who have always had a high-octane offense, seemingly unlocking a new gear this season with 5 of the top 9 scorers wearing purple. Something obviously clicked in the offensive zone, and no one did it seem to unlock more potential for than Kelly Pannek. Not only did they lead the league in goals by a wide margin but they jumped from 3rd to 1st on the powerplay, going from 17.9% last season to 23.0% this year. Pannek netted 7 of the Frost's 20 powerplay goals and assisted on another 3, meaning she had a hand in half of the goals scored by the league's best powerplay.

Leading the league in points makes a strong case in it's own right, but like we all know Pannek is not some one dimensional cherry-picking scorer. She lead qualified skaters in shooting percentage (Lebad and Messier each had only 1 goal in 2 and 3 shots respectively, compared to Pannek's 16 in 58 shots) so she wasn't flinging it on net without a care in the world every time she had it. She finished the regular season ranked only 36th in shots taken, tied with other players like Poulin and Darkangelo who's shooting percentages were drastically lower than Pannek's (15.5% and 6.9% respectively). If Pannek is shooting, it was for a good reason.

Pannek is still elite, however, at mitigating opponents shooting opportunities leading all forwards in blocked shots with 33 (1.1 per game, ouch!). She takes control of the play from the jump winning 59.3% of her faceoffs, the 3rd best rate in the league. And Pannek also stays out of the box, only being assessed 3 minor penalties throughout the regular season. That's an average of 1 infraction every 10 games played, so more often than not when the Frost need her, Kelly Pannek is available.

There are a few other players with a case to be made. Marie-Philip Poulin is the GOAT and would inarguably make every other team better if replacing their 1C (though I would argue Laura Stacey is a better candidate this year with how she stepped up and lead the Victoire during her wife's injury absence). Ann-Renee Desbiens and Aerin Frankel are two elite goaltenders in their prime, both with GAA under 1.20 and SV% north of .950 (though ARD takes the edge in both). Pannek's teammate Taylor Heise has been an offensive juggernaut in her own right, the display of skill she shows off on a game to game basis is only going to increase the average skill level of this league. And many more around the league that I'm sure I'm missing, but above all of them Kelly Pannek's two way game is in a league of it's own this season.