Quoting: HabsFan9
You may be right. The past ten years, thee haven’t been many 5’9 1Cs. But you cannot argue that’s the trend is favouring undersized forwards more and more. So let’s not jump to conclusions about height so quickly, because the NHL can change just as fast
I would argue the exact opposite.
There is a trend in sports. It happens over and over and over again.
Players get faster...they tend to be smaller.....Then larger players catch up on speed and that is what you see. Hence, athletes over time have become Larger and Faster.
This is true in every sport till it hits a peek where physiologically it's not really possible.
And the reality is, Guys who are 6' can be just as fast as guys who are 5'9. Which is why guys who are 5'9 get squeezed out.
Hockey is the rare backwards pro sport where it's just now happening. Mainly because the game was so much older and slower. So when the pace picked up, what you saw was an influx of fast, small players. But that will again balance out to larger faster players.
That larger faster player part...is happening right now.
Teams are moving away from smaller players and looking for larger players with speed.
Eventually we will get to sports like the NFL. Where guys are roughly 6' to 6'4 and 200 -220lbs moving really really fast. Much like Corner backs, WR, Linebackers, Safety.....etc.... in the NFL. Hockey is no different. Unless there is an advantage for being smaller...aka runningback...Don't expect to see many guys in the 5'9 range in the future. They will be weeded out.
That's coming we just aren't there yet as teams have just recently started playing with increased speed the last few years. But it's coming. It just takes time for them to get there. But all sports do.