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A New Model for Winning Hockey—Contrivance


SpikeDDS

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I have remained silent on the subject long enough. And I give permission for @hf101 to move this post to where it belongs.

 

I have two things to say about the Las Vegas Golden Knights:

 

1. The LVGK have demonstrated a new and very effective way to build a team that can win in the salary cap area. They don’t have a skater that is a true hockey headliner. Marchessault is a very good player, but a Sidney Crosby he is not. They don’t really have a superstar skater on their team. I mean, the second-highest paid skater on their team is Tomas Tatar.

 

However, what they were able to do instead is build a collection of enough middle-to-low-first tier and high second-tier players to fill all 12 forward positions on all 4 lines such that there is no real weak line. Same with the defense. No generational players and yet 3 solid pairs. 

 

The other thing to note is the speed of their skaters. This team is fast! In today’s game, that is huge.

 

But they also, most importantly, were able to acquire a veteran goalie who had won 3 Stanley Cups and was looking for redemption after having been relegated to backup duties. And Marc André Fleury has not disappointed.

 

In sum, a superstar skater or D-man is not necessary, especially if you have a superstar goalie. And as long as you have that, rolling 4 lines of solid, but not tip-top talent works well in today’s game.

 

Having said all that:

 

2. I agree with those who bemoan their ascension. It was anything but organic, and far from what it should have been.

 

And in this world of parity, the league basically gave them the equivalent of 30 late first round to early third round picks.

 

in today’s NHL, if you give a team so much opportunity that they can acquire a top-tier goalie and then 18 other position players who are solid such that you have no one you need to “hide,” it is your Stanley Cup to lose.

 

Add to that Mr. Bettman’s need to ensure that his experiment would not be a repeat of the Atlanta Thrashers story, and you have motive and opportunity for contrived success.

 

Yep, the Knights are probably gonna win—and I’m not sure they can be stopped in the next few years—but to me, if they do, there will be a big asterisk behind it.

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