Quote:
Originally Posted by Metro Gnome
I don't know if we can say there's been a big change in how teams put together rosters just yet. I don't think we've seen a sweeping change or revolution on the ice. That said, years ago when I was relatively new to writing about the game I more or less anticipated the end of the enforcer as a role in the NHL and the reduction of goalies picked in the first round.
We have also kind of seen the end of the big, hulking "defensive defender" and the rise of the two-way, transition defender. Whether this is due to natural evolution in the game or spurred by analytics is hard to say.
For me, I'm interested to see if a few things pop up in the next few years, including trying 4th lines made up of specialists (shoot out guys, PP guys, PK guys) rather than pure grinders. From a numbers perspective, there are potential gains in goal differential by going that route. The Culture and norms run counter to this, however.
Also, aging curves suggest goalies actually peak much earlier than suspected (22-23). Will teams start to try out high-quality netminders earlier? Waiting for a guy to get to 25-26 suggests clubs might be wasting peak seasons of the highest impact position.
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Very interesting ideas.
With the reduction of high-pick goalies, are you suggesting there is only a small gap between the best goalie and worst goalie? But you later say the goalie position has the highest impact. Those seem to contradict.
