Cruz Lucius knows his reasoning is cliche.
The Grant, Minn., native gravitated toward the Penguins as a child because — like many other young hockey players in the 2000s and 2010s — of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. But that doesn’t mean the winger has sought to replicate the play of either future Hall of Fame center.
“They’re too good. I can’t say anything,” Lucius told the Post-Gazette. “I just try to watch them and pick up little pieces.”
Lucius, 19, is quite excited to now be a part of the same franchise as Crosby and Malkin. He and fellow forward prospects Vasily Ponomarev and Ville Koivunen, as well as a couple conditional Carolina picks, are now in the Penguins’ possession after president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas traded Jake Guentzel and Ty Smith to the Hurricanes for them earlier this month.
But unlike Ponomarev and Koivunen, both of whom are playing professionally, Lucius is in his sophomore season at Wisconsin after spending the previous two years with the U.S. National Team’s development program. After a standout freshman season during which he averaged over a point per game, the right-shot forward was a nominee for the Hobey Baker Award, annually given to the top college hockey player.
In his second collegiate season, Lucius has matched his point total from last year with 13 goals and 21 assists while advancing his 200-foot game.
“I feel like I’ve really been rounding my defensive side of the puck,” Lucius said. “I feel like I'm taking good care of the defensive zone, which is what I think has led to good offense for me, and it’s helped me have some success this year.”
He also credited his play to that of his linemates and fellow Badgers, who collectively have fared better this season than in Lucius’ freshman year. In the 2022-23 campaign, Lucius was one of the top players on a Wisconsin team that went 13-23-0.
Now, the Badgers are in position to compete for an NCAA championship, beginning with regional play on Friday against Quinnipiac. Among other reasons, Wisconsin can thank its scoring leader, Lucius, for finding itself in such standing.
“In the offensive zone,” Lucius said, “I feel like I can make a lot of plays that maybe some people can't see, or try to make plays out of really nothing. I feel like my shot has improved a lot, and I can score from range.”
Lucius isn’t the only offensive-minded forward in the family. His older brother, Chaz, is a center for the AHL’s Manitoba Moose and was a first-round pick by the Winnipeg Jets in 2021. Although Chaz’s pro career has been derailed by injury, the younger Lucius has yet to embark on his own. Cruz recognizes he must continue to even out his game before turning pro with the Penguins.
During his latest media availability on March 8, Dubas said that he suspected Lucius will return to Wisconsin next season. Lucius said he hasn’t given that aspect of his future much thought, instead focusing on the NCAA tournament before coming together with the Penguins and family members to reach a decision for the 2024-25 season.
What is set in stone, however, is that Lucius will work on his skating with the Penguins this summer. Lucius is aware that he must become a better skater and has previously turned to Dr. Jack Blatherwick for assistance. Blatherwick helped Herb Brooks train the 1980 U.S. Olympic Team that famously beat the Soviet Union in the “Miracle on Ice.”
“I'm always trying to work on my quick feet, those first three hard strides when I get the puck,” Lucius said. “... I'm going to really get with a skating coach this summer and just try to improve on getting that quickness piece, doing that in the off-ice portion, too.
“I think that's a really big piece of my game that I can get a lot better at.”
Lucius also wants to become more sound defensively with his positioning. But it’s what the 6-foot, 178-pounder can do with the puck on his stick that made him an intriguing prospect for Dubas to pluck away from the Hurricanes in the Guentzel deal.
While Carolina may have nabbed him in the fourth round of the 2022 NHL draft, Lucius now joins Wisconsin defenseman Daniel Laatsch as a longer-term Penguins prospect.
“I'm super excited,” Lucius said. “It’s a team I grew up watching when I was a kid, one of my favorite teams. When I heard the news, I was just really excited.
“Super exciting opportunity for me and I'm really happy about the future.”
Three Stars
• What could be forward Brayden Yager’s final season of junior hockey has been a whopping success. The Penguins’ 2023 first-round pick has set career highs for the Moose Jaw Warriors in goals, assists and points. Yager has been better than a point-and-a-half per game player for the Warriors.
• Defenseman Owen Pickering has set a new career best for assists with 37 for the Swift Current Broncos. Pickering is also on track for the first positive plus/minus of his junior career; he collected a combined minus-37 rating in his first three seasons.
• Forward Vasily Ponomarev scored his first goal with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins last week. But Ponomarev, the most NHL-ready of the three forwards acquired in the Guentzel deal, was injured during the Baby Pens’ Friday night game and is sidelined week-to-week with a lower-body injury.
Andrew Destin: adestin@post-gazette.com and @AndrewDestin1 on X.
First Published: March 26, 2024, 9:30 a.m.
Updated: March 26, 2024, 3:44 p.m.
