About Last Season: Jesper Fast 2020-21 Performance Review and Grade

Jesper Fast 2020-21 Season By The Numbers

• Age: 29
• NHL Seasons: 8
• Scoring: 6 goals, 13 assists, 19 points in 46 games
• Advanced Numbers: 53.39 CF%, 53.42 SCF%, 53.01 xGF%, 42.11 GF%
• Average TOI: 12:58 ES, 1:08 PP, 1:10 PK
• Contract Status: 2 years remaining at $2 million AAV

An addition to the Hurricanes via free agency in the offseason, Jesper Fast came into the fold to provide his services as a mid-six forward that could play on both the power play and penalty kill, when needed.

Playing in that depth role, Fast had a relatively solid campaign. He finished 10th on the team in points with 19, right on a 25-30 82-game point mark that he’s lived in for pretty much his entire career. His advanced numbers were great, as they were for most members of the team, with CF%, SCF% and xGF% over 50% and the best of his season apart from his 11-game rookie year.

He averaged over 1:00 per game on both the power play and penalty kill, finishing the season with four power-play points. He played the eighth-most average minutes among the forwards, right in that third-line range, and offered a quick and effective option that put up a fairly expected amount of points.

Fast came in for the Canes and started a little slow on the scoresheet, scoring just one point in the first six games of the season. He found the net himself for the first time 12 games into the season in a loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, tallying two goals in that game against Andrei Vasilevskiy.

His first opened the scoring in that game in the first period, and then he added a power-play goal with less than one minute left in the second to tie the game at 2-2.

Fast added another two-point game in early match with a goal and an assist against the Red Wings, and then he also had a goal and an assist later that month against the Blue Jackets and again on April 1 against the Blackhawks. Of Fast’s 19 points, eight came in multi-point games.

That goal against Chicago was his most exciting of the season, as Fast netted the game winner with just 29 seconds left in regulation to give the Canes a 4-3 win.

Fast, a playoff veteran after his years with the Rangers, contributed in the same way in the playoffs, playing in all 11 games while putting up one goal and two assists.

Fast had one assist in the Nashville series, in a game two win, and also had an assist in the first game against Tampa. He scored his first playoff game for the Canes in game four against the Lightning, scoring just 39 seconds after Teuvo Teravainen to give the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead early in the second period.

The Hurricanes never needed Fast to be a top scorer, and he wasn’t, but he provided an important role for the team in one of the depth forward positions. With his ability to play in any situation, play good minutes and contribute occasionally on the scoreboard, Fast was productive in his first year in a Carolina sweater.