Let’s take a look at why Chris Kreider is a great power forward.

In this article, I won’t be a team or system breakdown, instead I wanted to touch on what means to be a good “power forward.” For this one, I think we have a perfect model to follow, Montreal fans still talk about him from the playoffs…years ago.

At 30-years-old, Chris Kreider is having one of his best seasons so far, with 33 goals in 47 games and 47 points – only six points shy from his best season five years ago.

Let’s take a look at why I think he is a great power forward.

Rush

He can skate, we all know that. But he doesn’t stop after the blueline. He loves to skate around the D to get right in front of the goalie. A lot of times, he will be the middle lane drive, giving an option by having his stick on the ice and driving the net at full speed (sorry Montreal fans…).

Rush part 2

Well, we saw that he can drive the net and score goals. But he can snipe as well. Using his body to get inside the D, the D doesn’t have many options when the player is attacking with that much speed. His wrister is a threat, as we can see, with a quick release needing minimal stick handling.

Ozone

Off the faceoff, he already knows where to go: net front. Over 80% of his goals this season are from right in front of the net. He will drive the net and stay there. Sometimes, I watch some of his goals and I’m like, how do they not even notice that he was there?! Or it’s on purpose and the only option is to let the goalie play it. Anyway, he is one of the best in the league in this position, using his body and great hand-eye to generate scoring chances.

Power Play Beside The Net

17 out of his 33 goals this season have come on the power play. Just a little over 50%. I already said that he was good with his eye/stick, and we have another great example here. Watch Kreider pop out on the side and show a target with his stick. He is still a threat from the side of the net, deflecting the puck in like “Sid the Kid.” Again, it’s hard to contain a big body that can move like him and has skills like this.

Power Play Far Post

Screening the goalie while the puck is at the top is one thing for Kreider. But another thing they have done a lot this year is go to the far post. It’s like creating a 2 vs. 1 in front. If they can make the pass to Kreider, it’s almost a guaranteed for goal. It could be someone coming down the wall with the puck and Kreider will turn or pop out on the far post with the stick on the ice. It could be a tap-in or redirect.

Power Play Net Front

Good luck goaltenders trying to see the puck around 6-foot-3, 213-pound Kreider. Not only do you have him in front of the net, but most of the teams leave Kreider alone there. What I like about Kreider is, he doesn’t just stand in front and wait. We can see in some of the videos that he is using his speed and body to be first on pucks. Getting position before possession, first on the retrieval, moving the puck quick and then going straight back to the net. Hard to do much better than this.

Power Play Sneaking Behind

It’s still amazing to me that at 6-foot-3, and having the most goals in the league, that still sometimes players forget that he is on the ice, or maybe Kreider is more like Casper, being able to hide himself. Instead of going all in, in this video, we see him slowing down, trying to hide himself and be invisible. He goes behind the net and pops out on the far side. Almost alone and almost an empty netter.