Before we get into this, full marks to Ryan Stimson of The Athletic Buffalo. The inspiration for this analysis came from his recent systems breakdown, which serves as a great introductory tool for anyone looking to dive into the nuances of the game.



While he looks at systems in use across the league, we’ll take a closer look at the foundation of how the Penguins approach the game of hockey. This can also serve as a bit of a training camp primer. A lot of the drills on display at camps throughout the league are direct reflections of what coaches perceive to be areas of importance within their system. These drills are the bricks being laid for the coming year’s structure.



It’s important to approach any systems analysis specific to the Penguins with the disclaimer that head coach Mike Sullivan has shown, on more than one occasion, that he’s more than willing to shake things up on the fly. While discussion about structure is subject to...