Sean Garrity
Quack Quack Quack!
I disagree.
Sure, they have a lot of players having some unprecedented production everywhere, from each of the goalies they iced all the way up to Karlsson.
But that’s not because they’re star players in disguise...it’s because they bought into a system completely. It’s like Finland at the Olympics, where they succeed by playing an elite team game with few big names. They’ve been without a 1G for a while, they have Karlsson (who no-one could have predicted would take the 1C), and they don’t have a 1D.
The rest of the league did well in protecting their elite players. On paper, only Perron , Marchessault, Shipachov and Neal were expected to be top 6. The best defenceman they drafted was Nate Schmidt, and the rest they got were a pile of rejects and Theo. Miller? Sbisa? Hunt? Garrison? ****ing Reinhart? Come on.
Vegas doesn’t succeed because they chose well. They succeed because they play well, and so long as they continue to be underestimated by other teams because of the names on their roster, they’ll happily play the part of the underdog.
I agree, I still think their franchise would be much better off being last in the division this year as opposed to competing.