LAS VEGAS — It is 9:45 a.m., which might as well be 6 in the morning on Vegas time, and sleepy-eyed All-Stars are still straggling into the ballroom inside the posh Waldorf Astoria where the NHL on Friday hosted its All-Star media day.
Claude Giroux and Evgeny Kuznetsov look lost, like NHL fans inside casinos up and down the Strip, trapped inside a maze of slot machines and table games. Eventually, the Metropolitan division standouts are steered to the proper podiums.
Across the room, Jake Guentzel is already in position. As he soaks in the scene, he is wearing a white All-Star jersey and a nervous grin.
Once again, the 5-foot-11, 180-pound forward had arrived right on time.
Guentzel has a knack for doing that — whether it’s skating into the slot at the right moment, sparking his team amidst an unbelievable stretch of health issues, or stepping into the NHL at the perfect time for a player with his size and skill set.
And that’s why he will represent the Penguins at Saturday’s All-Star Game.
“Just growing up and watching, it was something I looked forward to, watching the All-Stars get together. Just to get here and experience it, it’s been fun to have my family here,” he said. “I think we’re all excited to have this opportunity.”
Days before the All-Star break, Kris Letang was pitched a hypothetical. If Letang, a six-time All-Star himself, had to enter Guentzel in one skills competition event with one million of his own dollars on the line, which would he choose?
With the help of a PR staffer, he began rattling off all the mainstays. When they got to the hardest shot, the blue-liner scoffed. “No,” he said with a chuckle.
Letang was slightly stumped for good reason. Despite being on track for his second 40-goal season, Guentzel probably does not possess an elite physical skill.
He is a plus skater but would get dusted in a race with Connor McDavid. His sneaky release can fool goalies but he’s not blasting pucks faster than Alex Ovechkin. He is solid in shootouts but hardly a stick-handling wizard like Trevor Zegras.
He does a lot of things well, but there is no one skill that jumps out at you.
Finally, Letang concludes he’d have to choose the accuracy shooting event.
“He finds a way to put the puck in the net at different angles and tough angles and movement, off balance. He’s a pure goal-scorer. He knows where to put the puck. So I’d say accuracy,” he said. “I wouldn’t put my money on it, though.”
As it turned out, Guentzel would indeed take aim at those foam targets at Friday’s skills competition at T-Mobile Arena. Firing from between the hashmarks, Guentzel needed just five shots and 12.0 seconds to hit the four targets. But he finished second to Carolina’s Sebastian Aho, who went 4-for-4 in 10.9 seconds.
If Guentzel has an exceptional ability, it is finding soft spots where he can get that shot off — a quality that’s accentuated by playing alongside Sidney Crosby.
It’s not so much a skill but a byproduct of Guentzel’s hockey sense and heart.
He picked up both characteristics during his Minnesota childhood. His father Mike, a longtime college coach and now an NHL scout, helped teach Jake the game. The family also instilled toughness in a scrawny scorer who sometimes got targeted by opponents — and his older brothers, who didn’t take it easy on him.
Even on the outdoor rink in their Twin Cities neighborhood, Jake displayed a knack for knowing when to go to the dirty areas and the courage to actually do it.
“A lot of the goals are scored around the net, in the slot nowadays. So that’s where you have to go,” said Guentzel, who was unable to play in the 2020 All-Star Game due to a shoulder injury. “I’m fortunate to play alongside some superstars. So it’s making sure I’m open and trying to get my shot off as fast as I can.”
Years later, there are countless examples of him doing that all in the NHL.
Here’s one: It is Nov. 14 and the Penguins are playing the physical Capitals down in D.C. Bryan Rust has the puck in the corner. Guentzel spots quiet ice in the middle of three defenders and darts in. Rust is under too much duress and dumps it back below the goal line. Guentzel keeps moving and scoops up the puck.
He passes it out to the point then pops back in front, arriving at the right time once again. Letang whips a shot that Guentzel stops before it reaches the net. As John Carlson swats at his stick, he drags the puck to his forehand. Bang.
That grimy goal is one of 51 shots that the 27-year-old winger has from the inner slot this season, per Sportlogiq, a total that ranks in the top five among all NHLers. The other four guys are all listed at or above 6-foot-1 and 202 pounds.
“He’s really good at using his body, even if it isn’t the biggest,” teammate Mike Matheson said. “If a guy gets body position on me in front of the net, it’s hard to move him regardless of how big he is. ... He just has that knack for knowing when to push off a defenseman and create a bit of separation for himself.”
Guentzel, in terms of size, is no anomaly in Vegas this weekend. Arizona’s Clayton Keller is 5-foot-10 and 170 pounds. Calgary’s Johnny Gaudreau is 5-9, 165. And then there is Chicago’s Alex DeBrincat. He’s downright Lilliputian at 5-foot-7.
But comparing Guentzel, Pittsburgh’s smallest All-Star since Martin Straka in 1999, to the All-Stars of eras past shows just how much the sport has changed.
Fifty years ago, All-Star forwards were on average 71.0 inches tall and 180 pounds. Their size steadily grew over time. In 1992, the Penguins had three in Jaromir Jagr, Mario Lemieux and Kevin Stevens who were at least 6-foot-3 and 230.
The size of All-Star forwards peaked around 2002. That year, they were on average 73.0 inches and 206.5 pounds. Since then, they have gotten smaller and smaller. In 2022, the All-Star forwards are averaging 72.3 inches and 194.9 pounds.
Guentzel’s head coach, Mike Sullivan, played in the league from 1991-2002.
“Just the way the game has evolved,” he said, “that has had an influence on the types of players that thrive in that environment. ... The speed of the game has leant to smaller players that are quick and elusive that may have not been in the best position to thrive in prior generations that thrive in today’s game.”
No doubt Guentzel has benefitted from rule changes after the 2004-05 lockout that opened up the game and shifted the emphasis from size and strength to speed and skill. But Sullivan believes Guentzel could have thrived in earlier eras.
“He’s competitive. His hockey sense is off the charts. And he’s brave,” he said.
The Penguins are happy he is here today. Guentzel, along with a fellow All-Star in Tristan Jarry, were two constants for them in the season’s first half. With Crosby, Rust and Evgeni Malkin all sidelined for stretches, Guentzel stepped up.
At the break, he has a team-high 23 goals with 23 assists and a plus-6 rating.
So there he was at 9:45, punctual and pumped for this All-Star Game debut.
“It’s been a great experience so far,” he said. “I’m sure it will be a lot of fun.”
Matt Vensel: mvensel@post-gazette.com and Twitter @mattvensel.
First Published: February 4, 2022, 9:02 p.m.
Updated: February 5, 2022, 4:46 a.m.
