FanPost

A Look at the Size Matchup Between the Devils and Kings

One thing that I have noticed as a consistent theme in the cup previews I've seen so far is talk of the Kings' supposedly overwhelming size and depth and how it is going to give the devils trouble. I am curious to see how big of an advantage (if any) this is in reality, so I have done a breakdown of the two teams rosters with size and playoff output included. We'll start with the Kings since they are the team whose size the experts have been gushing about. (All size measurements taken from NHL.com official rosters)

Kings

First Line:

Dustin Brown: 7G-9A-16P (6'0" 204 lbs.) - Anze Kopitar: 6G-9A-15P (6'3" 225 lbs.) - Justin Williams: 2G-9A-11P (6'1" 191 lbs)

Second Line:

Dustin Penner: 3G-7A-10P (6'4" 242 lbs.) - Mike Richards: 4G-7A-11P (5'11" 199 lbs.) - Jeff Carter: 4G-5A-9P (6'4" 199 lbs.)

Third Line:

Dwight King: 5G-0A-5P (6'3" 234 lbs.) - Jarret Stoll: 2G-2A-4P (6'1" 213 lbs.) - Trevor Lewis: 1G-5A-6P (6'1" 194 lbs.)

Fourth Line:

Brad Richardson: 0G-1A-1P (5'11" 191 lbs.) - Colin Fraser: 1G-0A-1P (6'1" 191) - Jordan Nolan:1G-0A-1P (6'3" 227 lbs.)

Defense:

Willie Mitchell: 1G-1A-2P (6'3" 208 lbs.) - Drew Doughty: 2G-8A-10P (6'0" 212 lbs.)

Rob Scuderi: 0G-1A-1P (6'1" 219 lbs.) - Slava Voynov: 1G-2A-3P (5'11" 199 lbs.)

Matt Greene: 1G-3A-4P (6'3" 232 lbs.) - Alec Martinez: 0G-1A-1P (6'1" 206 lbs.)

Devils

First Line:

Zach Parise: 7G-7A-14P (5'11" 195 lbs.) - Travis Zajac: 7G-5A-12P (6'3" 200 lbs.) - Dainius Zubrus: 3G-6A-9P (6'5" 225 lbs.)

Second Line:

Patrik Elias: 4G-2A-6P (6'1" 195 lbs.) - Adam Henrique: 3G-8A-11P (6'0" 195 lbs.) - Ilya Kovalchuk: 7G-11A-18P (6'3" 230 lbs.)

Third Line:

Alexei Ponikarovsky: 1G-5A-6P (6'4" 225 lbs.) - Jacob Josefson: (3 games) 0G-1A-1P (6'1" 190 lbs.) - David Clarkson: 3G-7A-10P (6'1" 200 lbs.)

Fourth Line:

Ryan Carter: 4G-2A-6P (6'1" 200 lbs.) - Brian Gionta: 3G-4A-7P (5'7" 185 lbs.) - Steve Bernier: 2G-4A-6P (6'3" 220 lbs.)

Defense:

Bryce Salvador: 3G-8A-11P (6'3" 215 lbs.) - Marek Zidlicky: 1G-7A-8P (5'11" 190 lbs.)

Andy Greene: 0G-1A-1P (5'11" 190 lbs.) - Mark Fayne: 0G-3A-3P (6'3" 215 lbs.)

Anton Volchenkov: 0G-1A-1P (6'1" 225 lbs.) - Peter Harrold: 0G-4A-4P (6'0" 190 lbs.)

Adam Larsson: (5 games) 1G-0A-1P (6'3" 200 lbs.)

Breaking these stats down by line we see:

First Line:

Devils - 620 lbs. 17G-18A-35P Kings - 620 lbs. 15G-27A-42P

Second:

Devils - 620 lbs. 14G-21A-35P Kings - 640 lbs. 11G-19A-30P

Third:

Devils - 615 lbs. 4G-13A-17P (with Sykora's prod. it becomes 6-15-21) Kings - 641 lbs. 8G-7A-15P

Fourth:

Devils - 605 lbs. 9G-10A-19P Kings - 609 lbs. 2G-1A-3P

Defense:

Devils - 1st: 405 lbs. 4G-15A-19P 2nd: 405 lbs. 0G-4A-4P 3rd: 415 lbs. 0G-5A-5P

Kings - 1st: 420 lbs. 3G-9A-12P 2nd: 418 lbs. 1G-3A-4P 3rd: 438 lbs. 1G-4A-5P

Conclusion:

It is clear that the Kings do have more size than the Devils. However, the size advantage is not as large as it seems to be being portrayed in the media. The second line of the LA outweighs NJ's by 20 lbs., the third by 26, and the fourth by a mere 4 lbs. For all the talk of the Kings massive forward size, a collective advantage of 50 lbs. over all 4 lines is really not that much. Likewise, each Devs defensive pairing is outweighed by between 13 lbs. (2nd) and 23 lbs. (3rd) and a total of 51 lbs. This could also be decreased if Adam Larsson plays in this series (I suspect he might).

While the Devils are outsized by the Kings, I think it is quite clear that the team has superior depth both upfront and in overall scoring. While the first two lines are essentially a wash (and yes I know the Kings have played 4 fewer games), NJ's bottom six is significantly deeper; especially the fourth line. I think that although the 3rd line is currently not vastly superior statistically to LA's, the skill difference will be more pronounced as JJ plays more games and Elias potentially swaps with Poni.

The Devils also possess superior defensive contributions on offense thus far in the postseason. Devils defenseman have 7 more points so far in the postseason with the first pairing of Marek Zidlicky and Bryce Salvador leading the way with 19Pts.

In conclusion, I believe the Devils superior depth cancels out the size advantage of the Kings. Feel free to comment on my findings and let me know what you think of the size comparison and any effect it may have in the series.

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