Drive to the Net: Offensive, versatile winger Lucius brings 'great shot'

WASHINGTON -- The Penguins had a pretty good level of familiarity with forward prospect Cruz Lucius before acquiring him in the Jake Guentzel trade.

Lucius, who was the Hurricanes' fourth-round pick in 2020, is a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin this season, where he's teammates with another Penguins prospect in junior defenseman Daniel Laatsch. The Penguins' development staff, while keeping up with Laatsch's progress, had their eye on the skilled 19-year-old winger Lucius.

The Penguins' scouting staff has a pretty close connection to Lucius, too. Mark Osiecki, who is in his first year as a professional scout with the team, was the associate head coach for Wisconsin last year and coached Lucius as a freshman. 

"We've seen him a lot," Kyle Dubas said of Lucius after the trade. "He's gotten better and better as the year's gone on, and made a great impact in a tough conference in the Big Ten."

Lucius, listed at 6 feet tall and 178 pounds, is a right-shot forward who plays both wings. He has a pretty good comfort level on both sides, and grew up mostly playing on the right side but has been mainly a left wing for Wisconsin this season. He plays on the power play and doesn't kill penalties, but hopes to add penalty-killing as a skill of his next season.

Lucius described himself as a "pretty offensive winger" to me in a phone interview.

"I think my strengths are my shot -- I feel like I can shoot from distance -- and I say also my playmaking ability," Lucius added. "I think I can make a lot of plays, whether it's through guys' sticks, or just little plays that maybe some guys can't think of. I also think I'm a pretty competitive guy. I always want to win and succeed."

Lucius is succeeding through his first two seasons of college hockey. He led Wisconsin in scoring as a freshman last season with 11 goals and 23 assists in 34 games.

"I think it's just the environment I was put in," Lucius said of that early hot start to his college career. "I think that's a really big thing. When I went into Wisconsin, my first year, I really felt that it was a good environment, the guys were awesome, great staff, That's what made the transition go well, and I think that's also what led to my success. And the guys who I'm playing with, they're all really great players, great people. That's helped me have success."

The Penguins apparently agreed with Lucius' take about those great players. This week Wilkes-Barre/Scranton signed Lucius' winger Mathieu De St. Phalle to a two-year AHL contract that kicks in next season, but will allow De St. Phalle to finish the year in Wilkes-Barre on a tryout contract.

The scoring has remained pretty consistent for Lucius this season, with 13 goals and 21 assist in 36 games, to again lead his team in scoring for a second straight year. 

Where Lucius feels he's taken steps this season is his defensive game. He's become more of a two-way player and has an increased focus on backchecking. 

"Defense leads to offense," he said of his mindset. "If you take part in that and have control in that, you will have a lot more time in the offensive zone, and obviously being in the offensive zone a lot is what helps you get success."

Kind of like this play in January, when Lucius picked off a pass to start a rush that led to an assist:

Wisconsin head coach Mike Hastings told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel this season that Lucius is an "integral" player to the team and praised that effort at becoming more of a two-way player this year.

“He’s a gifted offensive player that is rounding out his game and being a guy who plays on both ends,” Hastings said. “And just his presence. I think he has a calming presence in our locker room, on our bench."

Where Lucius wants to keep improving the most is his skating and getting quicker, in particular with his first three strides when he gets the puck. It's something he's been working on and feels like it's paid off with a better pace this year, but wants to keep it a focus this summer.

WISCONSIN BADGERS ATHLETICS

Cruz Lucius

As far as Lucius' future next season, it's up in the air. He's able to sign an entry-level contract and turn pro, but he doesn't have to. The Penguins hold his exclusive signing rights for two more years, so Lucius could go back for his junior and senior seasons too. Dubas said that they'll wait to have those discussions with Lucius until after the season, but he suspects Lucius will return to Wisconsin for another year. Lucius told me that he hasn't thought about the decision too much yet and will talk about it with the Penguins and his family when the time comes. He said that he'll be able to lean on his older brother Chaz for advice in those discussions, a 2021 first-round pick of the Jets who is in his second AHL season.

The Penguins stocked up their forward prospect pool in the Guentzel deal, adding a two-way, playmaking center in Vasily Ponomarev, one of the top wingers in the Finnish league in the highly-skilled Ville Koivunen, and a well-rounded, playmaking versatile winger in Lucius. It's the deepest the prospect pool has been in a long time, and could go a long way in the coming years toward the Penguins' goal of getting younger.