Intriguing options
Who plays alongside Zucker, Crosby is key
Not even 24 hours after the Penguins pulled the trigger to land speedy winger Jason Zucker, they offered a glimpse of how their new piece might fit into the puzzle.
During his first game in Pittsburgh, Zucker was announced to the crowd at PPG Paints Arena as Sidney Crosby’s left winger. He has remained on Crosby’s flank virtually all of the 5-on-5 minutes that he has played since, tallying two goals and an assist in three games. It’s still early. And there are no guarantees that Zucker will stay on the Crosby line long term. But with speed, offensive instincts and a shooter’s mentality, Zucker has some of the elements that could make for a symbiotic relationship.
“He’s really fast,” Crosby said. “With a speedy guy like that, you just try to give him opportunities, try to get him in foot
he’s going to win some of those races and create some chances.”
Now comes the question. Coach Mike Sullivan typically likes to play his forwards in tandems. If Zucker does indeed remain teamed with Crosby, who should be the third wheel filling the vacant right winger job?
Currently, there appear to be two main applicants for the job. During Zucker’s debut against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Patric Hornqvist skated on the top line for the first two periods. But in the third period, Sullivan shuffled his lines, moving Dominik Simon onto Crosby’s right wing. Sullivan has stuck with that line combination with Simon on the right wing for each of the past two games.
Both players give the Penguins something quite different.
“I don’t think it’s any revelation that Dom Simon is a guy that has great tightarea skills,” Sullivan said. “Sid thrives in that environment . ... [Hornqvist] is a guy that brings a physical component to the line. He’s great in front of the net. He creates space through his edge and his physical play. He plays a heavier game.”
Historically, Crosby has enjoyed success skating next to both right wingers. While stats and advanced metrics aren’t the only way to evaluate chemistry, they are one way to quantify how a line performs together. Let’s take a look at the results with the help of those hockey nerds at Natural Stat Trick.
Since the beginning of last season, Crosby and Simon have played together for 604:43 at 5-on-5. In that span, their shot share is an impressive 56.12%. Per minute, they’ve tallied 0.066 goals and 0.52 scoring chances, including 0.23 high-danger chances. At the same time, they have given up 0.05 goals against per minute, 0.42 chances against and 0.17 high-danger chances.
“Dom really likes to possess the puck down low,” Crosby said. “[I’m] just trying to support him there. He’s really strong on battles. You don’t always have to necessarily have to support him right away. He’s able to hold guys off and spin and make plays.”
Meanwhile, since the beginning of last season, Hornqvist and Crosby have played 218:34 at 5-on-5, producing a similar 56.17% shot share.
Per minute, their numbers are just slightly lower in all offensive categories, including goals (0.060), scoring chances (0.48) and highdanger chances (0.22). But the defensive numbers with Crosby and Hornqvist together are slightly better, as they’ve given up 0.04 goals per minute, 0.37 chances per minute and 0.17 highdanger chances.
“With [Hornqvist] it’s different because he’s so active around the net,” Crosby said. “He almost forces you to shoot the puck more, just because of his presence there.”
The other main candidate whom Crosby has experience playing next to is Bryan Rust. While Rust is having a career year next to Evgeni Malkin, he does have familiarity — and success — next to Crosby. Dating to the beginning of last season, Rust and Crosby played 540:49 together at 5on-5. Per minute, they’ve produced 0.05 goals, 0.49 scoring chances and 0.22 high-danger chances, while giving up 0.03 goals, 0.44 scoring chances and 0.19 high-danger chances.
Other options for right wingers might include newcomers such as Dominik Kahun, another shifty player who is good in tight areas. Or if Sullivan chooses to split up the Teddy Blueger line, Brandon Tanev’s speed and forechecking ability could complement Zucker.
As the season continues and the Penguins become more comfortable with Zucker, the lines will begin to sort themselves out. But with Zucker in the fold, one thing is for sure. There are options.
“Sometimes it depends on who our opponent is,” Sullivan said. “Sometimes it depends on what we think the need of the line is at the time. What we do have is we have different guys who have different skill sets that we can put there depending on what we think is best for that given moment.”