Not always the best indicator of physicality unfortunately. Too subjective to scorer interpretation.

Player x vs player y. Maybe.
But team x vs team y. Less so.

But agree that, in general, skilled teams get bad rap for “grit” or “toughness”.

I'm aware, but it is telling when 3 of the top 5 teams in hits are in the North division. Statistically the Leafs are facing the heaviest hitting teams in the first two rounds.

If scored accurately - or at least consistently - teams with least amount of possession of puck should be highest in hitting. Individual players would change that, but with smoother, long-term, team-wide stats, there would be an inverse relationship between hits and possession. But there isn’t.

Shot blocks and hits are the two stats that really need some normalization.