Vegas turning zeros to heros

[TheAngryHank]

I can see Vegas making it to the playoffs this year. That would be a record right? First expansion team to make it to the playoffs in their first year of existence.

Florida?

 

[PunkRockLocke]

Florida did not. They made it in their 3rd season, and went to the SCF that season.

The 1967 expansion from 6 teams to 12 created a whole second conference of all expansion teams. So it was guaranteed a few of these new teams would make the playoffs - and that one would make the SCF (St Louis 1968-1970, as stayed earlier in the tread).

I can't speak to expansion teams between 1919 and 1942 (pre "original 6") without looking it up - but I'm sure some of them would have made it in their first year between Brooklyn Americans, Montreal Maroons, Pittsburgh Pirates etc and the still remaining Original sixers Hawks, Rangers, Bruins, Red Wings (Cougars).

So, not counting years when there was less than a dozen teams and the league and the game were fresh (1919 - 1942), and years where it was a foregone conclusion that some expansion teams would make it (1967-68), Vegas would be the first to make the playoffs. It would be quite a feat. They're looking strong and I hope they pull it off!!

 

[johnnybbadd]

The Vegas management team deserves credit. I know that they had better conditions than past teams to ice a more competitive team, but they were still drafting what would equal a 3rd line player or 4th-5th defenceman from every team.

 

[Ducks in a row]

The St. Louis Blues lost in the Stanley Cup Finals in their first three seasons in the NHL.

And still made playoffs the next 3 seasons after that too.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

Vegas picked good players in the ED. It's not surprising to see them play well.

What's impressive is that they all have it going at the same time. Part of the credit has to go to their great fans, winning culture they created for themselves, and the insane work ethic that team has had so far this year. It's fun to play for that team, and when it's fun, it's easy to play well.

The only disappointment so far is probably Oscar Lindberg, i thought he'd be part of those guys who produce more but so far it hasn't happened.

But let's also keep in mind it's only 1 season, and a special one at that. What all these guys do moving forward when things kind of calm down, maybe they make the playoffs and expectations are set higher for next year. Just like they all have it going at the same time right now, they could all regress together as well.

In any case, Vegas did their homework. They picked players they felt would serve a purpose and it worked out.

 

[aufheben]

Vegas picked good players in the ED. It's not surprising to see them play well.

What's impressive is that they all have it going at the same time. Part of the credit has to go to their great fans, winning culture they created for themselves, and the insane work ethic that team has had so far this year. It's fun to play for that team, and when it's fun, it's easy to play well.

The only disappointment so far is probably Oscar Lindberg, i thought he'd be part of those guys who produce more but so far it hasn't happened.

But let's also keep in mind it's only 1 season, and a special one at that. What all these guys do moving forward when things kind of calm down, maybe they make the playoffs and expectations are set higher for next year. Just like they all have it going at the same time right now, they could all regress together as well.

I was wondering how he was doing for them.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

I was wondering how he was doing for them.

Start of the season i thought he showed some flashes, but last 17 games he only has 1 goal and is -8 i believe.

 

[PepsiMayWest]

The goals have to come from somewhere, and someone has to pad the stats. It's partially why counting stats are hard to trust.
Vegas has gotten strong production from players with low expectations so it catches many off guard when maybe it shouldn't.

 

[GnrlDisarray]

A lot of people seem to be convinced Vegas is going to fall off soon. Do you think Vegas will run into cap issues now that low expectation players are really showing up?

 

[KingsFan7824]

The St. Louis Blues lost in the Stanley Cup Finals in their first three seasons in the NHL.

Yeah, the league put all the expansion teams into one division and guaranteed one of them a trip to the Final. They even had participation trophies back in the 60's. Philly and Pittsburgh in the West? All typical Bettman NHL moves.

 

[Elvs]

Their forward group always looked decent on paper, certainly from a depth standpoint. There defense is very weak on paper however, but they've gotten around it so far by playing a good structured team defense.

With all that being said, Marchessault and Perron are producing at a PPG pace. Karlsson is also on pace for 70+ points, Smith for nearly 70 and Haula for 60. All those paces certainly won't last. At some point they'll hit a wall. But at this point I gotta think Vegas manages to sneak into the playoffs, even if 'only' as a wild card team.

 

[triggrman]

The league forced teams to expose far better players for Vegas compared to the last expansion teams

 

[Sam Spade]

I didn't really believe in the Vegas but credit to them for continuing to win.

Ultimately though, for the franchise, wouldn't it be better to be a bottom team and pick top three this season instead of in the early 20's? Can you imagine getting a franchise D or a true number center next June?

 

[Armourboy]

See I don't really think the problem for Vegas is that guys start falling off, although it's certainly possible, I think where they will start to slip a bit is when other teams hit that extra gear later in the year like they normally do. I think they have a good system, and I think the guys are playing it with a ton of effort, the question becomes can they up that another level or are they tapped out already?

I'm really interested to see what the GM does if they are in a playoff spot. Do they move the guys they probably need to to continue to build the farm system or do they risk losing them for nothing because they are in line for the playoffs?

I tend to agree with several others though, I think next year could be pretty rough.

 

[maacoshark]

I honestly think Vegas had it too easy in the expansion draft. There were too many good players available for them to not be a decent team. When my team was an expansion team in 74 they didn't get an opportunity at that kind of talent.

 

[Number 57]

Their forward group always looked decent on paper, certainly from a depth standpoint. There defense is very weak on paper however, but they've gotten around it so far by playing a good structured team defense.

With all that being said, Marchessault and Perron are producing at a PPG pace. Karlsson is also on pace for 70+ points, Smith for nearly 70 and Haula for 60. All those paces certainly won't last. At some point they'll hit a wall. But at this point I gotta think Vegas manages to sneak into the playoffs, even if 'only' as a wild card team.

If you look at past expansion teams (NSH, ATL, CBJ, MIN) plenty of random journeymen finished with personnal highs in points simply because they were put in the top-6 all season long. Keep in mind those teams were absolutely terrible, finished at the bottom of the standings and had barely any good players.

Fast forward to Vegas who actually have good players, good support and are finiding success with a good coach and system. It's not surprising that their top-6 guys like Marchessault, Perron, Haula, Neal and Karlsson would post nice numbers. If guys in the NSH and ATL era posted 50 or 55 points, why couldnt the Vegas guys be able to post 60 or 65 pts?

They're scoring goals, so someone has to collect the points right? Especially on a winning team. And Vegas is not showing signs of cooling down. Even if they do cool down a little bit, and end up missing the playoffs, I don't see why Karlsson or Marchessault couldnt record a 60-pts season.

 

[Elvs]

If you look at past expansion teams (NSH, ATL, CBJ, MIN) plenty of random journeymen finished with personnal highs in points simply because they were put in the top-6 all season long. Keep in mind those teams were absolutely terrible, finished at the bottom of the standings and had barely any good players.

Fast forward to Vegas who actually have good players, good support and are finiding success with a good coach and system. It's not surprising that their top-6 guys like Marchessault, Perron, Haula, Neal and Karlsson would post nice numbers. If guys in the NSH and ATL era posted 50 or 55 points, why couldnt the Vegas guys be able to post 60 or 65 pts?

They're scoring goals, so someone has to collect the points right? Especially on a winning team. And Vegas is not showing signs of cooling down. Even if
they do cool down a little bit, and end up missing the playoffs, I don't see why Karlsson or Marchessault couldnt record a 60-pts season.

Current point paces:

Marchessault 79 in 79
Perron 73 in 76
Karlsson 73 in 82
Neal 65 in 82
Smith 63 in 82
Haula 59 in 78

You are talking about guys scoring 60-65. Yes I think two or three of them will reach those numbers, but that's a clear downgrade from the numbers shown above.

The Blue Jackets had an entire top six racking up points for a long time last season, yet Atkinson ended up leading their team with 61 points when it was all said and then. Columbus didn't show any signs of 'cooling down' either. It's not unreasonable to think that Vegas goals for ratio is gonna drop a bit.