Las Vegas Top 4 D (Magical run)

[lawrence]

My gosh......

did they ever debunk every myth or every ideology about how you need a solid top 4 to make it.

can anyone actually name their top 4 without hockeydb ing their top 3 highest Dman by points? no one really.

Unbelievable how their Defence consists of former bottom 6 guys number 7 guys, guys that played parts with the AHL last season with current clubs, look at them. 8-2. Inspirational .

Not to mention their foward core, had no years playing together, 2011 Canucks consists of players playing together for a long time, these guys less then a year.

Unreal.

As a fan, most of us (nucks fans) are thinking we should grab a D, seeing the Vegas knights make you think, maybe we don't need a d after all, and take Whalstrom or something and just load up the team with epic Arsenal.

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[HanSolo]

Theodore, Miller, and Schmidt when at their very best are 2D level defensemen. Haven't seen that consistently from Schmidt and Miller in this series but Theodore was playing like a borderline #1. Bear in mind I said borderline. Like the type of guy you have fill that role in lieu of actually having that guy. His defense all series long was better than its ever been in his career and offensively he was really important to Vegas' transition game.

He's really starting to play like his pedigree and potential wasn't a joke/overstated.

 

[docbenton]

Their forwards backcheck like mothers. Defense wins championships and all the best teams now have fast forwards who play well without the puck and can win battles regardless of their size. Montreal had success with this strategy for a number of years in the playoffs despite having pretty untalented teams. Vegas's D can move the puck and jump up in the play and that's been plenty enough so far.

 

[Yarborough]

They’re all young guys, really not a surprise they can play better than ever before.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

did they ever debunk every myth or every ideology about how you need a solid top 4 to make it.

If there ever was a myth, you'd think the Pens already did that last year.

 

[lawrence]

If there ever was a myth, you'd think the Pens already did that last year.

True but they don't have a Malkin or a Crosby to make up for a weakened D core.

 

[Sprague Cleghorn]

If there ever was a myth, you'd think the Pens already did that last year.

The pens are not a good example. What other team has the luxury of having arguably the best player, another top 5 player and a top 20 FW? Throw in super clutch goaltending from Murray too.

As for the Knights, they havent won the cup yet so they havent broken any “myth” yet. Plus, as someone mentioned above, their Ds on their best days are capable of being good #2s which seems like what they are playing at right now in the playoffs. Combine that with excellent defensive play from the Fs and goaltending from Fleury and you get a team thats not going to allow many goals.

If you dont have a solid top 4, then what Vegas is doing works too. The Vegas model hardly proves “defense is overrated”, in fact it reinforces it.

 

[MessierII]

Vegas is a nod to what can be accomplished by a well coached team playing 100% for each other and working hard night in night out. Reminds me of San Antonio in the NBA.

 

[Volica]

An A+ coach, a great system, speed and youth is a good recipe for potential success.
Vegas is making Deryk Engelland look like an absolute stud. The only stud like abilities he showed in Calgary, is that he'd be nailed down in his own end all night and get hammer on a lot.

 

[ponder]

I do think that Theodore, Schmidt and Miller are looking like legit top 4 dmen, and McNabb is pretty good too. Engelland ... no idea how he's playing this well. They've also got a top notch goalie, forwards who are strong defensively, the hustle displayed by the players is top notch every night, and they've got a really good system that the players totally buy into - their strong team D is about a lot more than their top few dmen.

Vegas have some underrated/surprisingly talented players, but they're a team that are really not about individual players. They're a team with a really strong identity - they push the pace all game long, hit you with a tonne of speed, hard work, and surprising amounts of skill. No superstars, but no weak lines/pairings, nobody just trying to survive until the stars get back on the ice, they're in attack mode all game long, no matter who's on the ice. Their coach, system and players all fit in great with this style, and it's working really well. Analyzing their top few dmen, or top few forwards, is kind of missing the point.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

I will curse Bob Murray til the day I die for letting his bullshit erection for Kevin Bieksa cost us Shea Theodore

 

[ThePhoenixx]

I will curse Bob Murray til the day I die for letting his bull**** erection for Kevin Bieksa cost us Shea Theodore

Can't blame the Oilers. They gave Vegas Griffin Reinhart.

 

[HanSolo]

I will curse Bob Murray til the day I die for letting his bull**** erection for Kevin Bieksa cost us Shea Theodore

I started the year thinking Montour will be the better player. I still think it'll be close but in the last month or two Theodore's defensive ability has skyrocketed out of nowhere. Now I'm not so sure Montour will be the better guy.

That said, Anaheim is still lush with young defensive talent. It sucks they lost Theo at Bieksa's expense but it's not the worst thing in the world.

Can't blame the Oilers. They gave Vegas Griffin Reinhart.

Easily the biggest throwaway pick at the expansion draft. He may be one of the worst defenesemen I've ever seen and I've stomached Kevin Bieksa's entire run with the Anaheim Ducks.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

I know but it still pisses me off we gave away such a good young player when it didn't have to happen

 

[hangman005]

Can't blame the Oilers. They gave Vegas Griffin Reinhart.

If I recall correctly and forgive me if I'm not remembering this correctly, but Griffen Reinhart did play an extremely valuable roll for Vegas.... That roll being stuck on the roster keeping Tuch and Ship in the minors until a couple of injuries happened and they were called up and Tuch worked out great and Ship got shipped back to Russia.... probably the most valuable thing he's done for an NHL team.