Reed's Talking Point: Are we seeing a return to 'heavy hockey' in the NHL? taken in Columbus, Ohio (Penguins)

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Islanders celebrate a goal against the Penguins in the 2021 playoffs.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Penguins were not the first team the Islanders eliminated this spring en route to a second consecutive berth in the Stanley Cup’s final four.

Rangers’ ownership fired its coach, general manager and president of hockey operations at the end of the regular season. Management had been building a young, fast and high-skilled club, but one that also lacked physicality and size. Three late-season defeats at the hands of the Islanders, games in which the Rangers were beaten 13-1 on aggregate, reportedly weighed heavily in ownership’s decision to make sweeping changes. 

The Islanders were not nearly as physically dominant against the Penguins in their six-game, opening-round series win. Goaltending was the deciding factor, but the Isles’ grinding style played a factor. While they don’t possess as much high-end talent as other teams, the Islanders are disciplined, relentless and take full advantage of how the game is officiated each spring.   

“It’s something we debate every year and certainly something to think about right now,” Penguins’ general manager Ron Hextall said after the club suffered its third straight first-round knockout. “The standard has gone up in terms of what is and what isn’t a penalty since the playoffs started, and it’s something you just can’t ignore.”

Barry Trotz understands this better than most coaches. He’s won his last three playoff meetings against Sidney Crosby and the offensively-gifted Penguins, including a 2018 second-round series with the Capitals on the way to a Cup triumph. 

Hextall was asked about the challenges of assembling a roster capable of reaching the postseason, and then surviving it. The general manager labeled it a “fair question.” The Penguins entered the season as the NHL’s second-smallest team only to deliver a division title despite numerous injuries. Hextall likes the Penguins’ “resiliency.”

“Quite honestly, I think we showed that in the first round we had a lot of players willing to play through the hard stuff and the hooks and holds and interference and the hits and guys leaning on you,” he said. 

Hextall also added he wants to add some size to his lineup. Perhaps, it’s no coincidence 6-foot-3, 219-pound Jeff Carter— a mainstay on the Kings’ rugged Cup championship teams — was the Penguins’ most effective player in the series against New York.   

After more than a decade of emphasizing speed and skill, are we on the precipice of a sea change in the NHL? The Capitals and Blues won titles with a blend of skill and size. The Lightning added more grit after being swept by the Blue Jackets in 2019 and rebounded with a Cup win the next year. The Golden Knights can play it anyway you like. 

I don’t think we’ll return to the hook-and-hold, trip-and-trap days of the late 1990s and early 2000s. But Hextall and other team decision makers are on the lookout for those hard-to-locate players who combine size, snarl and some talent — the type that seemed to fall out of favor in the last decade when the Penguins were winning back-to-back Cups.

It’s called “heavy hockey,” and it appears to be gaining traction again. How should the Penguins respond? It’s a question Hextall and Brian Burke must mull this offseason.  

YOUR TURN: Are we witnessing a sea change in the NHL or is the sample size still too small to make that call?

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