Nope, those NYR teams certainly weren't that talented. They had Carl Hagelin as a top 6 winger, that says alot. A very soon to be retired, over the hill mercenary St Louis was one of their best forwards. Nash was invisible as always. McDonagh was solid defensively and maybe a true #1 D-man. Strålman was really good though as a #2 and of course NYR ditched him for the pylons Girardi/ Staal to albatross contracts (to the delight of Philly I guess
, thanks again $ather). At least Strålman could skate and pass the puck and had a nasty hip check. Alot of pylons on defense and AV wanted them to play like they all were Erik Karlsson in his prime. He wanted them to play a man to man defense/ overload hybrid. Total chaos.
The entire forward position was mostly carried by Brassard and Zuccarello on the 3rd line. The 4th line was good though, really good. Both giant Brian Boyle and Dominic Moore. All in all, not a Stanley Cup caliber team.
When the Conn Smythe candidates on the team were 1) Lundqvist 2) Lundqvist and 3) McDonagh maybe out of consolation(?), you're not winning a cup. I have no clue how they reached the finals, they were dominated from round 1 and forward. Well, because of their only Conn Smythe candidate, he played out of his mind. He had to be the best player on the ice every series - and he was.
It was basically the same story with Tortorella in 11/12, but he at least realized and completely understood it was Lundqvist and him only that would give the team a chance at success. Hence the pillbox defense and panic mode to just clear the puck for 60 minutes and a grindfest if the puck got to the other end, hoping to get a goal somehow. If NYR allowed 0-1, it was a mountain to climb. 0-2 and it was all over.
I think part of the reason why the team had success in 13/14 was because the team was still schooled the Tortorella, grindfest, eat nails for breakfast kind of way, while Vigneault wanted them to focus on that stretch pass. That's where a player like Carl Hagelin was gold and Kreider to some extent. He could skate like the wind and that was enough. They ignored Vigneault's other nonsense on the defensive end and it worked somehow. Apart from the abysmal PP of course. But then Vigneault's system set in to 100% next year and it was all over. A total circus in the own end. The pillbox era was over.
If you're not interested in the NYR stuff because your gag reflex sets in:
I think Philly should do what NYR did, look for new blood elsewhere. Younger, more modern coaches who know modern hockey. These archaic, outdated, stubborn old bastards still getting coaching jobs just have to go. They don't even know they can't yell racist slurs to their players in 2020, that says it all. Some of them still think it's effective coaching to yell and rant like a pissed off drill sergeant or an old, scared Soviet coach whose life depends on winning. I have no clue why the NHL organizations just keep rotating these fossils year after year, until they have a heart attack. Kind of the same with the anthem singers who should've quit 20 years ago. Probably because the GMs the owners hire are just as archaic and have their inner circle at the old mens' club.
Europe has a couple of really good coaches. I've always thought Roger Rönnberg would be a great NHL coach and he's fluent in English. The physical play in the NHL suits his up tempo style. He likes puck tempo and hitting. Perfect for a team like Philly. Sweden/ Finland and Switzerland has a couple of interesting choices. I mean, Finland has their golden coach that can make no name players compete for medals, but that's more for the bottom dwelling teams. Or how about scouting for a new coach in lower levels?