What Carl Hagelin lacked in goals, he made up for in just about every other area of the ice. His presence on the team was a testament to the shift in the Penguins’ organizational philosophy. The Hagelin-for-David Perron trade on January 16, 2016 was the first deal by general manager Jim Rutherford that ushered in a new era of speed for the organization and, in reality, the league as a whole. Hagelin was the personification of that philosophy, one rooted in speed and relentless forechecking.



All that intangible talk aside, the proof was in the pudding. Puck possession seemed to follow Hagelin everywhere he went. Consider this year, for example. The Evgeni Malkin and Hagelin combination controlled 54 percent of the shot attempts at even-strength. For a frame of reference, that’s about plus-8 percent relative to the rest of the team. Without Hagelin, Malkin controls only 38 percent of the shot-attempt share, a precipitous drop in production from a possession...