Ben Bishop of the Tampa Bay Lightning is 6 feet 7. The only expected No. 1 goaltender on an N.H.L. club who is shorter than 6 feet is Jaroslav Halak of the Islanders, who is 5-11. During the past 10 seasons, only one goalie under 6 feet — 5-11 Tim Thomas, with the Boston Bruins in 2008-9 and 2010-11 — has won the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the N.H.L.’s top goaltender.

“If he’s not 6-foot-1, 6-foot-2, in the draft, you don’t even look at him unless he’s really special,” said Martin Brodeur, assistant general manager for the St. Louis Blues.

Brodeur, who is 6-2, retired in 2015 as the N.H.L.’s career leader in wins (691) and shutouts (125). During his career, he was involved with the players’ union’s effort to reduce the width of pads to a maximum of 11 inches, from 12.

“I’m sure goalies are tired of getting targeted all the time,” he said. “I couldn’t care less what guys wore. I felt more comfortable with smaller equipment, so everyone was always asking me questions about it. If I felt I could play with bigger equipment, trust me, I would have done it.”

Three years ago, in the most recent changes to goalies’ gear, the coverage of the pads from the knee to the pelvis was reduced by 10 percent.

But scoring did not rise. The average of goals per game has hovered just below 2.8 per team during the past six seasons, according to Hockey-Reference.com. In the meantime, save percentage increased to .915 over the past two seasons, from .914 in the 2013-14 season.

Like Brodeur, some other goaltenders said they felt more agile and effective with diminished pads.

“There’s a chance that happens with this,” Schneider said about slimmed-down gear. “When you look at the size and athleticism of guys today, at all positions but particularly in goal, these guys are incredible athletes. Gone are the days of the doughnut-eating, cigarette-smoking goalie.”