soothsayer
Registered User
- Oct 27, 2009
- 8,651
- 10,986
I wouldn't say that was their least talented team. Kuznetsov became a legit superstar and played like one in the playoffs especially where arguably he was their best player.
They were still very talented and deep. Kuzy turning into a star was the difference IMO, they didn't have that in their previous runs.
Not to mention, Carlson became a no-doubter number 1 defenseman, scoring nearly a PPG in the playoffs and playing very well defensively. They also sped up their transition game by moving Alzner out and replacing him with speedier options. They identified their slow-ish blueline as a main area in need of fixing, so off Alzner went. Their quicker transition was one of the bigger factors in their success. (There were a lot of factors, but the decision to speed up their back-to-front transition paid off big time.)