How Much Does Size Matter in the NHL ?

[pi2000]

IMO it's nice to have some size on the "energy" line. 

Top 6 doesn't matter... their job is to generate offense, which no longer requires any type of physical presence. 

 

[dudacek]

Are Thompson and Tuch the most-skilled duo of big players in the league?

[Alaska John]

On 7/17/2024 at 9:25 AM, Flashsabre said:

The Size debate is even more ridiculous at the goalie position. I watched Day 2 of the draft and one of the comments for a goalie that was just drafted was “He doesn’t have ideal size for a goalie at 6’2”😳

The biggest issue is NHL scouts don’t even know what they are looking at when they scout goalies. The fallback now is to just draft the biggest kid and pray he works out.

Dominik Hasek is 6' 1".  I don't know if anything else needs to be said.

[JP51]

On 7/25/2024 at 3:37 PM, PerreaultForever said:

Of course they do. Thompson most definitely uses his reach for puck control much more than his bigness for physicality. That's why Granato got it right on him turning him into a center. He was awkward and ineffective as a power forward because he doesn't really like to hit, fight or be a big tough guy. Power is too soft for a D man (so far) but his reach definitely helps him and Tuch plays net front but is also a puck control guy. Size helps all of their games and none of them are "big" guys in the sense people think of as "tough" guys. 

The word "big" is the problem. It's never as simple as to say speed/skill vs. size. The players are always combinations of all factors and the more of these things they have in one body the better they are. There aren't any bad players who are big, fast and skilled are there. 

I agree, I would say that I would like to see Power and Thompson add more physicality in their game especially Power down low in the D zone. I  think with their size if they were able to do that it would enhance them as players. I do think Tuch is fairly physical and uses it to his advantage.