Penguins Update: Size and the Cup Part Deux

Since there isn’t a whole lot going on in Penguin land (the calm before the storm?), I thought I’d piggyback onto an article I’d originally posted last summer regarding the correlation between size and the Stanley Cup.

Curious about how newly crowned Cup champ Vegas compared to the rest of the league, size wise, I looked ‘em up on Elite Prospects, which ranks teams in terms of height, weight and age. That the Golden Knights ranked fourth in average weight (a robust 203 pounds) out of 32 NHL teams hardly came as a shock, given their heavy, forechecking style.

Nor did it surprise that our paperweight, playoff missin’ Pens ranked 31^st with an average weight of 193 pounds. To expand a little further, seven of the 10 heaviest teams made the playoffs, while five of the six lightest teams missed the postseason.

It continued a trend of recent Cup winners ranking among the heaviest teams in the league, starting with the Capitals in 2018 and continuing on through the Blues, Lightning and Golden Knights.

Season	Cup Winner	Avg. Wgt. Rank	Avg. Wgt.	Pens Avg. Wgt. Rank	Pens Avg. Wgt.
2022-23	Vegas	4	203	31	193
2021-22	Colorado	12	199	30	195
2020-21	Tampa Bay	1	204	30	193
2019-20	Tampa Bay	4	203	31	193
2018-19	St. Louis	4	203	26	198
2017-18	Washington	7	203	24	198

 

Even the Avalanche, who most closely resembled our back-to-back Cup winners in terms of speed and style, ranked among the top third in the league in average weight, while boasting skilled redwoods such as Andre Burakovsky, Valeri Nichushkin and Mikko Rantanen up front and heavies Josh Manson and Erik Johnson on the blue line.

So why do I keep banging this gong in pretty much every article I write? Nowhere in any interview he’s given during his eight-season tenure in the ‘Burgh have I ever seen coach Mike Sullivan mention a need for size.

Speed, yes. Brawn and aggression, no.

Actually, Sully did make one reference to size shortly after the Islanders knocked us out of the first round in 2021. Indeed, literally the first words out his mouth following our ouster were, “We didn’t lose this series because we weren’t big enough.”

It may not have been the only reason…Tristan Jarry was dreadful in net…but it certainly was a contributing factor. The Isles were the ninth heaviest squad in the league. We were the lightest.

I understand Sullivan favors the speed game that won us those two Cups, and that’s all well and good. Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy favors a fast, forechecking style too. But that’s where the comparison ends. Cassidy also recognizes that hockey players come in all shapes and sizes, while Sullivan prefers to stick to his narrow small ‘n’ speedy mold.

It may have worked back in ’16 and ’17. But the game…and our opponents…have evolved. I fear Sullivan hasn’t.

I’m hoping that our new president of hockey ops and acting GM Kyle Dubas will override Sullivan’s preferences and do what’s best for the team.

I think he will.

Where’s the Beef?

Continuing with my “Where’s the Beef” theme, a week or so ago Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now noted that, while the Pens’ defense tends to be lightweight in makeup, the Golden Knights’ blueliner corps is considerably heftier.

Taking Dan’s idea a step further, the Golden Knights top six on ‘d’ averaged a robust 212 pounds. The Pens top six, including UFA-to-be Brian Dumoulin, 197 pounds.

Strip Dumoulin, a likely departure, from the mix and replace him with Ty Smith? Our average weight among rearguards plummets to 192. A full 20 pounds lighter than the Golden Knights.

Befitting a Stanley Cup champion, Vegas boasts a near optimal blend of puck movers (Shea Theodore), all-arounders (Alex Pietrangelo and Nicolas Hague [pictured]) and sturdy stay-at-homers (Alec Martinez, Brayden McNabb and Zack Whitecloud).

Kingerski, who covered the Golden Knights’ Cup run in depth, stressed that their primary role is to take care of business in their own end. A departure from our drive-the-offense-through-the-defense style that my esteemed partner, Other Rick, has taken issue with on numerous occasions.

None of this is especially encouraging.

It points to a need for a significant overhaul on the black-and-gold back end along with a change in philosophy, especially from the coaching staff.

Good luck with that. Especially in a cap-strapped environment where most teams are looking to unload dead weight. There’s liable to be a long line of sellers.

A ray of hope?

I think Dubas is wholly capable and will do everything in his power to make us a more balanced team, in the short run and especially over the long haul. But make no mistake, he’s got his work cut out for him.