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Over the next few weeks I am going to take a deeper look into certain areas of the Penguins team from 2013-14. Today I will be focusing on the Penguins 4th line.
The expectation when constructing a productive modern NHL 4th line is that they shouldn’t be buried in their own end every time they step onto the ice. Ideally they should also be able to provide PK minutes so that the star players can save their energy for more offensive roles. What can’t happen if you are serious about competing for a Stanley Cup is having a 4th line that gets absolutely destroyed every time they step on to the ice. This was the case for the Penguins last season.
The Penguins had a grouping of forwards that I would consider an NHL 4th line as their ceiling. Now some of these players had elevated roles at certain points of the season but I believe that the most appropriate spot for them in the lineup is on the 4th line. The players were Craig Adams, Tanner Glass, Joe Vitale, Taylor Pyatt, and Brian Gibbons.
I am going to break down their offensive production, their even strength possession, as well as their shorthanded possession to see what kind of players each of them were in 2013-2014.
Let’s start with offensive output:
It doesn’t come as surprise, but the points per game totals for 4th line players don’t exactly jump off the page. However, Brian Gibbons is significantly above the others. Part of this has to do with his time up on the Crosby line, but more of it has to do with the fact that he is a better hockey player than the other 4 guys. He is faster, he makes more plays with the puck, and he puts himself in better position to make offensive plays.
OK, so the 4th line doesn’t produce points, points aren’t the only contribution a player can make. As long as they can be responsible defensive players on the ice that should count for something right?
Wrong. This grouping of players consistently played in their own end. Outside of Gibbons (who was above average) each player was a drag on the Penguins possession. Being in the low 40’s for possession is incredibly bad. They weren’t producing offense and they were unable to generate possession. A double dose of fail.
Alright, so possession and points aren’t everything, if they keep the puck out of their own net things are OK, right?
Once again this grouping of players leaves a lot to be desired. The players that are consistently playing in their own end are also giving up a ton of goals while not scoring very many. This results in a bad situation, go figure. Brian Gibbons is light years ahead of the pack yet again.
OK, so these guys are bad at even strength, that isn’t why they are on the team, they are PK specialists after all, right?
Wrong again. This chart highlights the forwards who played more than 25 minutes shorthanded for the Penguins. As you can see the numbers don’t get any better for “PK specialists” Craig Adams and Tanner Glass. They stink at even strength and they are the worst PK forwards on the team. The only conclusion I can draw is that their inclusion on the roster was a gross mistake and one that was never really addressed. This was an unacceptable evaluation of talent.
The Penguins had a league worst 7.0% FF% while shorthanded this past year. A ton of that has to do with using completely unskilled forwards to kill penalties. There is no such thing as a PK specialist, just good or bad hockey players. The Penguins consistently used bad hockey players to kill penalties. You will notice once again that Brian Gibbons is significantly better than the others.
The lesson to learn from this information is how a 4th line should be constructed in the modern NHL. It does not resemble what the classic perception of a 4th line is. You don’t need the grit and meaningless hits. Brian Gibbons is a perfect example of what a modern 4th line player should look like. Speed to burn, enough skill to make a dent offensively, and the ability to competently kill penalties while also being a threat to take it the other way. Can you find 4th successful 4th line players who are big and physical? Of course, but they need to have some foot speed and puck skill for it to be worth it. And if we are being honest, if they have size, foot speed, and puck skills they probably aren’t a 4th line player anyways.
The Penguins did a horrendous job last year with their bottom 6 forward depth and it is something they are going to have to get much better at moving forward. The template is there, more Brian Gibbons like players, less Craig Adams/Tanner Glass style players.
You don’t have to break the bank to ice a good 4th line, you just need to be focusing on the right things.
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