WINGERS DRIVING NHL’S BEST LINES
Centres no longer quarterback the offence when the action moves into the ‘fun zone’
When it comes to hockey jargon, Mike Babcock has developed a unique language unto himself.
The Toronto Maple Leafs’ head coach often refers to a player’s effort level as his “drivetrain.” The “fun zone” is what he calls playing in the offensive zone. And the ability to “drive a line” is another way of saying a forward has the puck on his stick at all times.
The latter is a skill that at one time seemed limited to centres.
Pavel Datsyuk used to drive the offence for Babcock when he was coaching in Detroit. The same was true of Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, as well as Sidney Crosby and Connor Mcdavid. It didn’t matter who was on their wings; the centres made the line go. They made sure no one “went hungry,” which is another Babcock-ism for distributing the puck.
But then along came Mitch Marner and Nikita Kucherov and Johnny Gaudreau and Patrick Kane. And now, it’s not the centres who are driving the best lines in the NHL. Instead, it’s the wingers who are putting food in everyone else’s mouths.
As a result, we might have to change our opinion on what forward position holds the most importance for a team’s offence, just in time for Marner to sign his next contract.
“Those four that you said right there, they drive the line as a winger, just like a centre does,” said Babcock. “They have the puck all the time, they carry it, and they’re fortunate enough to play with other good players, too, which makes them that much better.”
Whether it’s Kucherov leading the league with 110 points or Alex Ovechkin on pace for another Rocket Richard Trophy with 46 goals, this has been the Year of the Winger. But it goes deeper than one or two players.
Kucherov is one of seven wingers who are ranked among the top 12 scorers in the NHL. If he wins the Art Ross Trophy, it will be the fourth time in the past eight years that a winger has led the league in scoring. But what’s noteworthy is that Kucherov, who also leads the league with 77 assists, is one of seven wingers ranked among the top 10 in that category.
It’s a change from the days when Mike Bossy and Brett Hull were snipers who were better at shooting the puck than necessarily passing it back. Now, whether it’s Winnipeg’s Blake Wheeler (19 goals and 64 assists) or Toronto’s Marner (24 goals and 58 assists) or Colorado’s Mikko Rantanen (30 goals and 54 assists), it’s the wingers who are the playmakers of a line, while the centres are expected to finish.
“It’s the evolution of the game,” said Toronto centre John Tavares, who has a team-leading 38 goals while playing on Marner’s line. “Certainly when you’ve got guys with deception and footwork and hockey sense like Mitch, Patrick Kane, Gaudreau and Kucherov, it’s really hard to defend.
“You don’t get the blue-line as easily as you used to. You see, obviously, a lot of D that almost come at you skating forward as you’re on the ice, and angle you to the boards, so you don’t have as much room. So the ability to come off the wall and go both ways really puts the defender in a tough spot.”
It helps that Marner, who is still listed as a centre on some websites, grew up playing down the middle. It wasn’t until his third year with the London Knights that he switched to the wing. Not that his brain seems to know the difference.
“I grew up playing centre, so my stick was always in the centre of the ice and I always had to make space for myself,” said Marner.
“I think you see it. I’m always the first guy back. I just try to read off plays and pick off stuff.”
Like Kucherov, who has a team-leading 47 take-aways, Marner (66 take-aways) isn’t just dangerous offensively. He’s also the defensive conscience on his line. He backchecks. He steals pucks. This year, he’s even a trusted penalty killer, where he’s scored a goal a picked up a pair of assists.
“The things he does with the puck on the offensive side translates to the defensive side, as well,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said of Marner.
“When you have a brain like that, you can play both sides of the puck.”
Kucherov plays the same way. He doesn’t wait around for someone to pass him the puck. He goes and gets it, then carries it up the ice, before finding the open man or the back of the net himself. One of these days, the NHL players’ union is going to complain that he’s taking over what used to be a centre’s job.
Until then, we might have to redefine which position is deserving of the most money.
“Let’s not kid ourselves, there’s not a lot of guys who can do that,” said Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos.
“It’s a select few who have the ability to possess the puck as much as those guys do. But Kuch is a guy that’s in full control when he’s got the puck. It’s not often that you see him go 100 miles an hour. It’s calculated and it’s meticulous. Kuch is a guy who we want the puck in his hands as much as possible.”
Of course, they do. After all, as a winger, he’s the one driving the line.
They have the puck all the time, they carry it, and they’re fortunate enough to play with other good players, too, which makes them that much better.