How are the Vegas Knights doing this Well?

[Atas2000]

Serious question. Is the scoring by committee and defense by committee going to keep working? I've watched 5 games of theirs this year and they all seem to be playing with so much adrenaline. The team is made up of players other teams didn't want and they all play with something to prove. Sbisa, Engelleland, Bellemaire all look like leaders of a legitimate NHL team--its crazy. Will they make the playoffs?

An unpopular opinion of mine is the league is not as good as it advertises itself. A bunch of expansion draft players with the right attitude and coaching is not getting stomped by the superior talent other teams are supposed to have. The salary cap era teams aren't that great.

 

[Machinehead]

Puck control
Defense
Organization

 

[Lampedampe]

Being good at the start should help sell tickets, so good for them I suppose. They also picked some good prospects in the draft so should be a fun team to follow. They really need to addess the defense long term though.

 

[Soundgarden]

I think the real question should be - do they want to be doing this well?

This could be bad for their team if they make the playoffs and get eliminated quickly. The idea behind some of the selections was to move them for more picks to create a better team going forward. If they are keeping rentals, that takes some of their picks away.

Now... the good thing is building a winner can build more fans. But I don't think the intention was to build a playoff loser. So ironically the winning and success story could end up bad. For the record - I want them to make the playoffs. I just think GMGM does not want them to.

Winning games builds a fan base, and they are fortunate that most of their best players are between 22-26, so they don't have to tank and even if they did there is no guarantee they make the team better.
They also benefit from having three firsts in this past year's draft and they have 10 top 60 picks in the next three drafts, so it's not like they aren't going to be getting good players at the draft.
Glass, Suzuki and Brannstrom give their prospect pool some good talent already and that's just the first round from this year, getting Theodore and Tuch was good to stagger the age of their prospects.

The only thing that separates them from the other teams now is how long they've been a franchise.

 

[belair]

Teams are under-estimating them. Wait until the play a string of divisional games and they'll come back down to Earth.

 

[Dessert Nights]

They are sacrificing goalies to hockey gods.

 

[YoSoyLalo]

I think a big part of it is the team built an identity from day one as a team that works its ass off and is tenacious on the forecheck, and they have the players that fit that identity. When you watch them play, it's not surprising they've done so well; they wear you down and force turnovers all over the ice. I gotta give it to Gallant, I was never particiularly bullish on him as a coach but he's done a phenomenal job thus far getting the team to play to its strengths. The fact that they're still in games with a goalie who may not even be ECHL caliber is a testament to that.

They've definitely gotten their fair share of luck so far, though. They're bound to hit a wall at some point. I do think, though, that as long as their goaltending can get healthy, this is a team that could challenge for a wild card, and even give a team a run for its money in the playoffs. Very reminiscient of when the Panthers got to the finals in '96.

 

[Evincar]

Theyve had it easy compared to past expansion teams.

 

[Doctor No]

I picked them to go to the Finals
Looks like I am right

Wow, the season really flew by. Can't believe it's the Finals already.

 

[ColbyChaos]

Their roster isn't a great deal worse than the 2011-12 Coyotes; who won their division and made the semis.

They made the WCF that year, they were the 3rd team LA faced in the post season that year they were the 8th seed.

 

[VanIslander]

Theyve had it easy compared to past expansion teams.

The expansion draft in the summer was geared AS ADVERTISED to making the expansion club more competitive this time around, with teams unable to protect as many as in the past. These are not a bunch of old has-beens and minor leaguers (aside from the multiple goalie injury situation); it's a full complement of clearly talented NHL-level skaters. Forwards like James Neal, David Perron, Cody Eakin, Jon Marchessault and Reilly Smith (5 of the top-6 Knight forwards in ice time) have shown EXACTLY what we have seen them capable of in the past, under a coach who made the Panthers into a division-winning team. Some of them are coming off of "off" seasons and are bouncing back, but they are doing what they have done before. It's not like they're elevating their game. The aforementioned had proven themselves previously.

Then there are guys who we knew were talented but didn't get the ice time to show it elsewhere:

Nate Schmidt easily leads all Vegas skaters in ice time (by over 2 minutes), playing on the top pairing and both special team units, assisting, shooting and blocking shots. He was 5th/6th dman in Washington and got zero PP or PK time as a Cap.

William Karlsson plays both the PP and PK for Vegas and has seen his ice time go from 13 minutes in Columbus in a limited 3rd line role to 17+ minutes as a Knight, actually leading all Vegas forwards tonight with 20+ minutes of action and a goal.

The ONLY real surprises among the Knights core are a trio of blueliners who all, gee, are UFAs at season's end: Sbisa, Engelland and McNabb. Each is hitting, blocking shots and hustling on every shift, as you often see from players in their contract year.

For the record, I have multiple posts on this site, including a couple on the Vegas board, where I predicted prior to the season that this squad was very likely to start the season with a 6-2-2 record. I am not at all surprised by their success. I would however be surprised if they actually do more than earn a wild card berth and get bounced in the first round. But I'm cheering them on nonetheless!

 

[Ainec]

league parity
something to prove
league parity
no expectations
league parity

 

[VanIslander]

league parity
something to prove
league parity
no expectations
league parity

Parity is something Leaf and Hawk fans are selling. Tell that to the Coyotes!

Teams like Tampa and LA are +18 and +17 in goals for vs. against whereas Buffalo and Montreal are approaching Arizona level with -18 and -16 respectively. That's not parity. That's a big disparity in competiveness.

Vegas, by the way, sits a pleasant +10.

 

[Ainec]

Parity is something Leaf and Hawk fans are selling. Tell that to the Coyotes!

Teams like Tampa and LA are +18 and +17 in goals for vs. against whereas Buffalo and Montreal are approaching Arizona level with -18 and -16 respectively. That's not parity. That's a big disparity in competiveness.

Your example of Montreal and LA are further proof of parity

Las Vegas Knights is definitive proof and counter point to Tampa

 

[Bood12]

They are treating every game as it is a game 7 SCF as they are not wanting to be seen as a group of rejects, but I am thinking they are going to come back to the earth eventually

 

[Beville]

I hate them now they beat Ottawa

 

[sr edler]

What I've seen from them in highlights they look like a pretty quick team. Also, castaways wanting to prove doubters wrong. They have nothing to lose and can play all out.

 

[Bronson]

Generous entry draft rules and a smart (no, really) general manager.

I mean look at earlier expansion teams and tell me that they had any chance to pick up stars like Fleury, Neal or Marchessault or budding young players like Tuch, Karlsson or Miller. I think the Knights will look good for a long time.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Hunger as a new franchise?

 

[Lame Staley]

An unpopular opinion of mine is the league is not as good as it advertises itself. A bunch of expansion draft players with the right attitude and coaching is not getting stomped by the superior talent other teams are supposed to have. The salary cap era teams aren't that great.

I actually agree with you. There's so much talent that any team can beat any team on any given day. Even superstars are lucky to score 40 goals.

 

[Ainec]

or maybe the league has gotten better with all the younger skilled players and that is the reason for the lack of separation and overall depth of expansion drafted players

 

[I am not exposed]

Taking advantage of the Florida Panthers stupidity

Yep. They have a solid coach in Gallant.

And they took two really good players in Smith and Marchessault.

 

[SniperOnTheWing]

A lot of folks, myself included, were saying they will come back down to earth one of these days, they're playing over their heads, etc. Here we are how many wins and FOUR goalies later and they're still going. Good for them!

(And good for my pool team, Marchessault has been a beat since he came back from injury)

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

A lot of folks, myself included, were saying they will come back down to earth one of these days, they're playing over their heads, etc. Here we are how many wins and FOUR goalies later and they're still going. Good for them!

(And good for my pool team, Marchessault has been a beat since he came back from injury)

To be fair they already came down with 3 straight losses, i doubt we'll see another 8-1 run this season.

Next challenge is to keep playing .500 hockey and look for another win streak. Not a lot of teams in the NHL can lose 3 in a row and follow it up with a streak, usually this is where the ups and downs hit. Starts tomorrow against the pissed off Leafs.

Hopefully they don't fall into 2 losses/1 win pattern, or worse. Can't afford to do nothing else than stay the course, as well as they've played they have to keep it going otherwise reality hits, they're still not a team that can just flip a switch after losing enough games.

Hard not to root for them though, fun team to watch and man, the odds are juicy as hell. I laughed my ass off at +400 line against Ottawa that had a losing record over their last 5. Vegas baby!

 

[Fogelhund]

Last six games... one win, four losses, one OT loss.. have the wheels finally come off the bus?