What system do the Knights play?

[tinyzombies]

Simple question?

Click to read more...

 

[BattleBorn]

Quick, trying to play into transition with stretch passes while also collapsing on the net on D. Aggressive to the puck on either end, though they've let the forecheck get a little weak lately compared to the early season.

It's kind of a weird mishmash of a good attacking style and a "cover up for weak D" style.

 

[tinyzombies]

The fourth line has ridiculous shots numbers, as does the first line of course. And the second line is scoring without great shots numbers. Very strange. And seems like Miller and whoever are playing with the fourth line, and Engellund/Theodore are paired with the top line? Also seems like they don't line match, they are just rolling lines. Whatever Gallant is doing, it's amazing. He has to be the runaway Jack Adams winner.

 

[tinyzombies]

Quick, trying to play into transition with stretch passes while also collapsing on the net on D. Aggressive to the puck on either end, though they've let the forecheck get a little weak lately compared to the early season.

It's kind of a weird mishmash of a good attacking style and a "cover up for weak D" style.

So they are playing a zone down low on D.

 

[BattleBorn]

So they are playing a zone down low on D.

I'm not a hockey coach, but I don't really think so. There's zone-like tendencies, but it seems like the ultimate goal is to stay in the passing and shooting lanes. Guys will commonly stick with their guy as they exit their zone and the rest of the defenders will take away the passing lanes while remaining in the lanes for the shot. It's kind of like a Wedge +1 PK, but all the time.

Again, not a coach and I'm usually a few drinks deep.

 

[tinyzombies]

So nothing special systems-wise, they are just outworking teams.

 

[tinyzombies]

"the Golden Knights swarm on an aggressive forecheck, overwhelm with swift counterattacks, suffocate through prolonged offensive zone possessions. They roll four lines and three defensive pairs without regard for matchups (and giant fuzzy dice, but more on those later). Given how often Columbus got hemmed in while losing 6–3 on Jan. 23—defenseman Seth Jones was credited with a muscle-melting shift of 2:53—it is a wonder that no Blue Jackets dashed across the street during intermission to huff the oxygenated air at the Monte Carlo.

“They play with arrogance, which is a compliment,” Columbus captain Nick Foligno gushed. “They’re making behind-the-back passes, passes in the slot right on guys’ tape. They just know when someone’s coming through, and—boom—they take off.”"

Roenick and Foley insinuated that opposing teams are partying too much when they go to Vegas, but the Knights are good on the road too.

 

[BattleBorn]

"the Golden Knights swarm on an aggressive forecheck, overwhelm with swift counterattacks, suffocate through prolonged offensive zone possessions. They roll four lines and three defensive pairs without regard for matchups (and giant fuzzy dice, but more on those later). Given how often Columbus got hemmed in while losing 6–3 on Jan. 23—defenseman Seth Jones was credited with a muscle-melting shift of 2:53—it is a wonder that no Blue Jackets dashed across the street during intermission to huff the oxygenated air at the Monte Carlo.

“They play with arrogance, which is a compliment,” Columbus captain Nick Foligno gushed. “They’re making behind-the-back passes, passes in the slot right on guys’ tape. They just know when someone’s coming through, and—boom—they take off.”"

Roenick and Foley insinuated that opposing teams are partying too much when they go to Vegas, but the Knights are good on the road too.

Yeah, I'm over the Vegas Flu thing. I thought it was stupid from the beginning, and a lot of it stemmed from the fact that Lagace got his time in net on the road, so there was a decent differential between the home and road records around 30-40 games in. Upon first glance, it supported the Vegas Flu theory and there was a lot of confirmation bias out there from lazy commentators and writers.

They're just a good team in all senses of the word. The top two lines have kind of pulled away from the physical lines down lower, but the 4th line still contributes, though we've missed Nosek and Carrier more than we should have expected and the 3rd line is just kind of meh, and likely where we need to improve at the deadline if a move is made at all, but they'll still roll four lines without much regard for who's out there on the other team. However, the 1st and 2nd are getting more time against other teams 1st and 2nds while the 3rd and 4th were getting mixed in those situations a little more earlier in the season.

 

[Sheng Peng]

Maybe this will help? I wrote about what players and coaches have said that Vegas does well (with plenty of video):

http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=90639

 

[IceNeophyte]

So nothing special systems-wise, they are just outworking teams.

This exactly hownGallant and most opponents have described it.

 

[IceNeophyte]

"the Golden Knights swarm on an aggressive forecheck, overwhelm with swift counterattacks, suffocate through prolonged offensive zone possessions. They roll four lines and three defensive pairs without regard for matchups (and giant fuzzy dice, but more on those later). Given how often Columbus got hemmed in while losing 6–3 on Jan. 23—defenseman Seth Jones was credited with a muscle-melting shift of 2:53—it is a wonder that no Blue Jackets dashed across the street during intermission to huff the oxygenated air at the Monte Carlo.

“They play with arrogance, which is a compliment,” Columbus captain Nick Foligno gushed. “They’re making behind-the-back passes, passes in the slot right on guys’ tape. They just know when someone’s coming through, and—boom—they take off.”"

Roenick and Foley insinuated that opposing teams are partying too much when they go to Vegas, but the Knights are good on the road too.

By the way oxygenated air and Vegas Flu are both fictional legends.

 

[BattleBorn]

By the way oxygenated air and Vegas Flu are both fictional legends.

The oxygenated air is always hilarious to me.

"Yes, the city with some of the most stringent fire standards that came as a result of some pretty major hotel/casino fires is going to allow places to pump oxygen into the air for some nefarious reason."

 

[willy702]

Simple answer: A winning system.

 

[Pirate Deadpool]

1-2-2 forechecking

 

[VanIslander]

Simple answer:

Playstation 4 pro.

Though for road games Nintendo Switch is popular.

 

[tinyzombies]

Great stuff - thanks

 

[Vegas Mac]

So nothing special systems-wise, they are just outworking teams.

You know I felt that way for the first couple months of the season, but it's much more than that. Gallant has them playing together, too, and maybe more importantly there's no fear of mistakes. It seems like what sets Gallant apart is his ability to get across to the players without wearing them down, and it leads to guys building and building and playing over their heads.

And I don't want to take away from the players here, either. Some of them have permanently improved their stock around the league and won't look back. But I just continue to be amazed by this team.

 

[Bart9349]

The VGK success is simply the result of the Vegas Vortex: a confluence of good coaching, hungry and motivated veteran players, a rocking arena, and of course, unidentified hallucinogenic chemicals pumped into visiting teams' air ducts. These mind-altering chemicals are obviously only activated by the lights of Las Vegas and no where else. No conspiracy theory here.

 

[HanSolo]

As to their system I view it as a blend of mixing Pittsburgh's speedy breakout style with Nashville's suffocating team defensive style

 

[derriko]

As to their system I view it as a blend of mixing Pittsburgh's speedy breakout style with Nashville's suffocating team defensive style

Definitely agree. Quick out the zone, quick on the puck to force turnovers, first man in goes in hard and quick on their defense, quick counterattacking / bottlenecking in the neautral zone. It’s all speed, all new age NHL.

There is nothing really fancy about it. Guys play the system to a T and know where everyone else should be at all times. This leads to a lot of easy breakouts, and a lot of puck possession. Guys don’t get trapped in the neutral zone and dump the puck in. They find the open man or even pass it back to the defense, regroup, gain the blue line, and set up shop. Even a shot with no traffic at the blue line with someone crashing the net gets you an o-zone faceoff. I would take that 9 times out of 10 over a dump in at the redline which is...9 times out of 10 a turnover. Gallant seems to agree.

The defense does tend to collapse, and block shots. Literally every single blue liner is a good to very good shot blocker outside of Hunt and Theodore, but even Theodore jumps in front of the odd puck. Engelland, Sbisa, Miller, and McNabb are all very good in that regard. Schmidt is a very underrated shot blocker.

If you wanted to sum up the Knights in 3 adjectives, you’d have speed / counterattacking / puck possession. A ton of credit goes to Gallant, he’s always been a wonderful coach (Florida should fold their franchise...wow) but the players deserve every bit as much credit as the coach.

Every player has checked their ego at the door and bought into the system. There are no selfish players on this team. They make the correct, unselfish play every time. Not going to deny they do outwork every other team which is to be expected from an expansion team. I also do slightly worry that others will catch up on them when the games become real, but this time is for real.

Do I foresee a Cup this year? No...but I would be over the moon for a WCF appearance. Even a playoff round win would cement this team in the record books.

Next year will be an interesting one. Suzuki, Glass, or both replacing Eakin +, and possibly Brannstrom in for Hunt makes this team even better in the future.

 

[Hal 9000]

Trading chances with reckless abandon - so far so good!

 

[willy702]

Definitely agree. Quick out the zone, quick on the puck to force turnovers, first man in goes in hard and quick on their defense, quick counterattacking / bottlenecking in the neautral zone. It’s all speed, all new age NHL.

There is nothing really fancy about it. Guys play the system to a T and know where everyone else should be at all times. This leads to a lot of easy breakouts, and a lot of puck possession. Guys don’t get trapped in the neutral zone and dump the puck in. They find the open man or even pass it back to the defense, regroup, gain the blue line, and set up shop. Even a shot with no traffic at the blue line with someone crashing the net gets you an o-zone faceoff. I would take that 9 times out of 10 over a dump in at the redline which is...9 times out of 10 a turnover. Gallant seems to agree.

The defense does tend to collapse, and block shots. Literally every single blue liner is a good to very good shot blocker outside of Hunt and Theodore, but even Theodore jumps in front of the odd puck. Engelland, Sbisa, Miller, and McNabb are all very good in that regard. Schmidt is a very underrated shot blocker.

If you wanted to sum up the Knights in 3 adjectives, you’d have speed / counterattacking / puck possession. A ton of credit goes to Gallant, he’s always been a wonderful coach (Florida should fold their franchise...wow) but the players deserve every bit as much credit as the coach.

Every player has checked their ego at the door and bought into the system. There are no selfish players on this team. They make the correct, unselfish play every time. Not going to deny they do outwork every other team which is to be expected from an expansion team. I also do slightly worry that others will catch up on them when the games become real, but this time is for real.

Do I foresee a Cup this year? No...but I would be over the moon for a WCF appearance. Even a playoff round win would cement this team in the record books.

Next year will be an interesting one. Suzuki, Glass, or both replacing Eakin +, and possibly Brannstrom in for Hunt makes this team even better in the future.

Excellent post, agree on all fronts. Only thing I would question is Eakin being replaced because that contract is going to be impossible to easily trade away (through 2019 at $4m per) and I don't think VGK are at the point where they will regularly bury guys in the minors for long. Its an important consideration because I'm thinking it may impact what they do with the UFAs they have and if they accept a slightly less powerful team in return for keeping open spots for rookies. Brannstrom especially, if they feel he's a contributor next year then Sbisa probably has to go because they have depth guys signed and a lot of spots taken on the blue line already.

Ideal would be to trade someone like Eakin for someone who is better suited to the system who also has a larger contract. Or of course take a bad contract and get prospects as well up to the cap. I think the second part might be most intriguing because lots of teams have these younger players who are NHL ready but at best get 3rd or 4th line duty. If they project well in the VGK system, go acquire them and a bad contract and send your pieces that are never going to work like Reinhart or Gusev.