Are small NHLers are thing of the past?

Team decisions illustrate trends rather than confirm reality

In the past week, two market-level trends attracted my attention:

• Few undersized players were selected at the 2024 NHL Entry Draft

  • 38% of drafted players were 6’3” or taller

  • 1.3% of drafted players were 5’10” or shorter

  • No <5’10” player was selected in the top 100

• Several undersized, restricted free agent defensemen were left unqualified by their NHL teams

  • Er…