The positionless breakthrough behind the NHL's historic power-play surge (2024)

Ross Colton is not high on the list when it comes to power-play threats on the Lightning. But on Feb. 23, it was Colton who provided a textbook example of how power plays in the NHL are evolving — and becoming as dangerous as they’ve been in decades.

In the third period of what would eventually be a 6-5 Lightning loss to the Sabres, Colton was loaded for a one-timer between the dots and below the tops of the circles. Rapid passing from star teammates Brayden Point and Steven Stamkos, two of Tampa Bay’s top three power-play shooters, facilitated Colton’s strike:

In Tampa Bay’s default power-play setup, Point is in the “bumper” position. Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov work the weak-side elbows. Alex Killorn is the net-front presence. Mikhail Sergachev handles the point.

As if all that skill is not enough, penalty killers’ problems are amplified by the way the Lightning go on the move.

Before Colton’s goal, Point darted behind the net with the puck. Stamkos received Point’s pass below the goal line. Both are unusual maneuvers for the two.

This caught Ray Ferraro’s attention. The ex-NHLer and current ESPN hockey analyst regularly sees forwards rotate up to the point and defensem*n lurk down low. The split-second stall this amorphousness prompts in penalty killers makes an already challenging task practically impossible to counter.

“It’s positionless,” Ferraro says.

Motion, more so of players than the puck, is at the heart of the concept. When a defenseman dives down, for example, penalty killers have to follow and negate the threat. This creates seams.

Players adept at playing multiple positions are no longer unicorns. There are defensem*n throughout the league who push power plays with no restrictions on where to roam, from the Avalanche’s Cale Makar to the Rangers’ Adam Fox to the Canucks’ Quinn Hughes. Concurrently, forwards like the Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon, the Rangers’ Artemi Panarin and the Canucks’ Elias Pettersson are smart and skilled enough to assume point duty without fear of allowing short-handed counterattacks.

“I’m definitely going to try and use my legs to move, to create different angles, different looks,” says Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy, tasked with point work on his team’s No. 1 power-play unit and right-side motion on the No. 2 unit. “Make people move with you. Movement tends to open things up. If people are moving, especially if people are not confined to their zone, guys are moving in and out, it just makes you have to think the game. Versus being stagnant, you know where guys are.”

The positionless movement is just one reason for a generational power-play surge.

Leaguewide adoption

Through Tuesday, the average NHL power play had succeeded on 21.18 percent of its opportunities this season. This is the highest mark since 1985-86, when the league average was 22.24 percent (data via NHL.com).

Mario Lemieux (66 power-play points, most in the league) was in his second NHL season at that previous peak. Peter Stastny (55) was well on his way to becoming a Hockey Hall of Famer. Wayne Gretzky (54) was at the peak of his powers.

They were doing all this before the bumper brainstorm.

Nobody is sure when the innovation started. It may have been in Detroit in the mid-2000s under Mike Babco*ck and Todd McLellan. Another theory is that Adam Oates and Blaine Forsythe popularized it in Washington in 2012-13.

Regardless of its origin, the bumper’s popularity tells you all you need to know about its effectiveness. Every team now uses the bumper and its concurrent 1-3-1 setup. Whether it’s high in the slot or low between the dots, a do-it-all attacker in the bumper can shoot from close range, distribute to other scorers or suck in collapsing opponents to open up other scoring opportunities.

Consider how Red Wings center Dylan Larkin fulfilled multiple threats in back-to-back games.

On March 11, when he recovered a puck between the dots, Larkin drew two Boston penalty killers. With a prompt dish to David Perron, Larkin created a two-on-one that ended with an Alex Chiasson net-front dunk.

The next day, Larkin set up in the high slot. When he received a pass from Lucas Raymond, Larkin was on the perimeter of the Bruins’ PK formation. Before Charlie Coyle could challenge the shot or occupy the shooting lane, Larkin whistled the puck past Jeremy Swayman.

Not even the Bruins, the top penalty-killing team in the league, could counter Larkin’s bumper play.

The introduction of the bumper made the three-man press, once a go-to penalty-killing technique to challenge pucks on the perimeter, too risky to attempt. Instead of closing on a power play’s outer limits, penalty kills have to account for the bumper and mute their aggressiveness.

“You’ve got three-on-twos and two-on-ones everywhere,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery says. “Good power plays are going to look to attack three-on-twos, whether it’s high-low or East-West. The bumper allows you to have a three-on-two everywhere, if not three-on-ones.”

Montgomery believes two players are above the rest as masters of the bumper position: Bruins center Patrice Bergeron and Point.

“Your most skilled players tend to be the guys on the elbows or flanks,” Montgomery says. “If you have a good defenseman running the top (unit) like we do, that skill set’s important. But the work ethic, the intelligence and positioning of the bumper is extremely important. If you look at the best power plays for the last five years, it consistently has been the Bruins and Tampa Bay. Point and Bergeron.”

Talent, it seems, goes a long way on the power play.

Unprecedented skill

Oilers forwards Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins run 1-2-3 in the NHL in power-play scoring. They have played man-up hockey together for eight seasons now. They represent the pinnacle of skill and connectivity. It is no wonder they can pile up power-play points in their sleep — or that the Oilers’ power play, through Tuesday, ranks as the fourth most efficient power play all-time at 31.2 percent, just 0.5 points below the standard-bearing 1977-78 Canadiens.

“Some teams have had four of the five pieces or all five pieces together for quite some time,” Capitals coach Peter Laviolette says. “There’s a lot of chemistry that goes with that. There’s no question there’s some talent on the ice. They’re probably trying to figure it out, just like the penalty killers are trying to figure it out. Penalty killers to stop it, power-play players to make it work. You’re talking about high hockey IQ and certainly a high skill level. It doesn’t surprise me (that) the numbers are up.”

It’s a similar story in Tampa. The Lightning’s first unit has played together since 2016-17. By now, Kucherov can turn one penalty-killing misstep into a point-blank opportunity for one of his playmates.

“If you try and jump Kucherov, he’s going to make a better play than he would if you gave him a little more time. He’s a tough one for sure,” Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo says. “If you give Stamkos the slightest second of a shot lane, he’s going to find it. It’s just the caliber of players and playmaking ability. But it’s also hard. Because you’re trying to pressure them. That works for some teams. Other teams, Kucherov, he’ll just make a four-foot sauce pass right over your stick and it’ll be in the middle of the ice.”

Penalty-killing coaches cannot help but stay up at night worrying about today’s blend of talent and familiarity. This may make the problem even bigger. Cram sessions are not always helpful.

“I think some teams maybe try and show too many clips of all the different scenarios they can do, which is way too much in the mind for the defender and it gets them standing still, pulling back, worrying about five other things when it’s the sixth thing that happens,” Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson says. “I think you have to play to your strengths as a penalty kill and be aggressive. I think some teams are doing the opposite: sitting back, playing on the inside and trying to take everything away. It’s impossible when it’s five-on-four.

“It’s the highest level of skill the league’s ever seen right now, with the McDavids, MacKinnons and all the guys that are intelligent. It’s just the way the league’s trending.”

Top NHL power plays

What’s next?

Coaches are already experimenting with 1-3-1 variants. By stretching the attacker in the bumper high or pushing him to the weak side, power plays can get him outside the diamond formation, which more penalty kills are using. If the PK shifts to negate the stretched-out bumper, this can create two-on-ones closer to the net.

Meanwhile, power plays are discouraging point shots and emphasizing elbow looks. Point men are turning down slap shots in favor of sifting pucks on net through traffic. Attackers are emphasizing slot-line passes to create one-timers and require goalies to move. Power plays are being methodical to create quality looks instead of rapid quantity.

The continuation of skill, brainpower and positionless play, then, dictates the future direction of man-up production. It is only going to rise.

“The power plays have figured out that to move body pieces around creates indecision on the penalty kill,” Montgomery says. “It doesn’t matter what penalty kill you’re going against. You can create mismatches.”

(Top photo of the Oilers: Codie McLachlan / Getty Images)

Fluto Shinzawa is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the Boston Bruins. He has covered the team since 2006, formerly as a staff writer for The Boston Globe. Follow Fluto on Twitter @flutoshinzawa