Quoting: Price_is_the_goat
the getting bigger is completely false. look at the past 5 years and the top players. most of these guys are getting smaller, but yes, they re getting faster. and specifically defensemen are getting smaller. a 6'3 200 pound center is the dream, but dmen are getting smaller. that doesnt mean they arent in demand, but the elite dmen are coming up as smaller than 6 feet.
There is no point arguing this. It's just simply false.
Go ask any player from the 70s in any sport. They will tell you. Players are faster and bigger today.
The same will be true in hockey in 20 years.
This idea that hockey is getting smaller is nonsense. The game got dramatically faster in a very short time. Teams scrambled to find people who could keep up and skate well.
Most of them were smaller.
As the speed of the game increases, so will the training of prospects. They will get faster to keep up with the NHL pace. They will focus more on skating.
The smaller players will then get squeezed out again.
It has nothing to do with any single player here or there. No one is saying Maker isn't a good player. It's just a reality. That this is what is going to happen.
Because there are inherent advantages of being bigger when playing hockey when you are just as fast as the smaller player.