What team improved the most mid-dynasty?

NHL WAR

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Sep 29, 2018
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If you are judging this by biggest acquisition mid-dynasty... the Leafs getting Max Bentley during the 47-48 season has to be up there. The Leafs won 5 of 7 Cups from 1944- 1951. The season after the 2nd of those championships, they traded an entire line for Bentley, who had led the league in scoring each of the last two seasons. They won the next two Cups (sweeping their SCF opponent both years). A loss in the semis in 1950 and then back on top in 1951 (Bill Barilko year.)

It's tough to think of a modern comparable. It would be like if the 2013-14 Blackhawks traded for Malkin/ Giroux/ Stamkos.
 

Voight

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Feb 8, 2012
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1980 Islanders - 91 points, 15-6 in the playoffs
81 Islanders - 110 points, 15-3
82 Islanders - 118 points, 15-4
83 Islanders - 96 points, 15-5
84 Islanders - 104 points. 12-9

The 1980 Islanders were somewhat of an outlier/underachiver, the 5 years prior they had finished with 116 (1979), 111, , 106, 101 and 88 points.

1983-1984 Islanders still ended up with a pretty good record, despite the fact that they hadn't had a long off season in 4 years. There was also the 81 and 84 Canada Cups in between their dynasty, so some of their top guys had even less time off in the summer.

Always found it interesting that when the dynasty ended, their core really wasn't that old. Bossy/Trottier were 27, Potvin 30, Gilles 29, Tonelli 26. Sometimes dynasty end because everyone gets old, but in their case I suppose it was the fact that everyone had hit their peaks already.
 

Hobnobs

Pinko
Nov 29, 2011
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1980 Islanders - 91 points, 15-6 in the playoffs
81 Islanders - 110 points, 15-3
82 Islanders - 118 points, 15-4
83 Islanders - 96 points, 15-5
84 Islanders - 104 points. 12-9

The 1980 Islanders were somewhat of an outlier/underachiver, the 5 years prior they had finished with 116 (1979), 111, , 106, 101 and 88 points.

1983-1984 Islanders still ended up with a pretty good record, despite the fact that they hadn't had a long off season in 4 years. There was also the 81 and 84 Canada Cups in between their dynasty, so some of their top guys had even less time off in the summer.

Always found it interesting that when the dynasty ended, their core really wasn't that old. Bossy/Trottier were 27, Potvin 30, Gilles 29, Tonelli 26. Sometimes dynasty end because everyone gets old, but in their case I suppose it was the fact that everyone had hit their peaks already.

Nah the dynasty ended because of injuries. Bossy had to retire, Potvin should've retired but kept going even though his body had given up, Gillies shouldve retired as well. Trottiers offense fell off a cliff though. Kallur went home, Nystrom had eye injuries iirc and Goring was injured beyond repair as well. Those cup runs simply took their toll on the players bodies.

And unlike the Oilers they didn't have the same kind of quality prospects to help some of the old guard like Graves, Gelinas, Simpson, Murphy, Ranford and Beaukeboom.
 

The Panther

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Mar 25, 2014
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Nah the dynasty ended because of injuries. Bossy had to retire, Potvin should've retired but kept going even though his body had given up, Gillies shouldve retired as well. Trottiers offense fell off a cliff though. Kallur went home, Nystrom had eye injuries iirc and Goring was injured beyond repair as well. Those cup runs simply took their toll on the players bodies.

And unlike the Oilers they didn't have the same kind of quality prospects to help some of the old guard like Graves, Gelinas, Simpson, Murphy, Ranford and Beaukeboom.
Not sure about that. Bossy wasn't injured until fall of 1986, three years after the last Cup. Trottier didn't fall off a cliff until the 1988 off-season, five years later. And while Potvin was never the same after 1984, he was still highly effective until 1988 too. Guys like Tonelli and Brent Sutter were just hitting their primes when the Islanders' dynasty was ending. And Lafontaine and Hrudey were on the rise.

Cup runs took a toll on the Oilers' players, too (and over an 8-year period of runs, not a 5-year period). Nor did the Oilers have a lot of prospects. I would argue that from 1982 to 1993, the Oilers had the #1 worst drafting in the NHL (possibly of all time).

Two players who emerged mid-Dynasty were impact players, though, for Edmonton -- Steve Smith and Esa Tikkanen.

The "advantage" Edmonton had, perhaps, is that (a) their core was younger when they started doing well (in 1983, Gretzky / Messier / Kurri were 22, Coffey 21, Fuhr 20), and (b) Glen Sather was forced to make big-risk trades (because of Edmonton's declining status as a pro-hockey city), which conversely forced the team to welcome newer, younger players in to replace departing legends. There would have been no Stanley Cup after 1988, I think, if Jimmy Carson hadn't sat out in autumn 1989, forcing Sather's hand and indirectly creating a 4th-line for Edmonton in the 1990 run.
 
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vadim sharifijanov

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Oct 10, 2007
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If you are judging this by biggest acquisition mid-dynasty... the Leafs getting Max Bentley during the 47-48 season has to be up there. The Leafs won 5 of 7 Cups from 1944- 1951. The season after the 2nd of those championships, they traded an entire line for Bentley, who had led the league in scoring each of the last two seasons. They won the next two Cups (sweeping their SCF opponent both years). A loss in the semis in 1950 and then back on top in 1951 (Bill Barilko year.)

It's tough to think of a modern comparable. It would be like if the 2013-14 Blackhawks traded for Malkin/ Giroux/ Stamkos.

it's like the warriors getting KD
 
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Hobnobs

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Nov 29, 2011
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Not sure about that. Bossy wasn't injured until fall of 1986, three years after the last Cup. Trottier didn't fall off a cliff until the 1988 off-season, five years later. And while Potvin was never the same after 1984, he was still highly effective until 1988 too. Guys like Tonelli and Brent Sutter were just hitting their primes when the Islanders' dynasty was ending. And Lafontaine and Hrudey were on the rise.

Cup runs took a toll on the Oilers' players, too (and over an 8-year period of runs, not a 5-year period). Nor did the Oilers have a lot of prospects. I would argue that from 1982 to 1993, the Oilers had the #1 worst drafting in the NHL (possibly of all time).

Two players who emerged mid-Dynasty were impact players, though, for Edmonton -- Steve Smith and Esa Tikkanen.

The "advantage" Edmonton had, perhaps, is that (a) their core was younger when they started doing well (in 1983, Gretzky / Messier / Kurri were 22, Coffey 21, Fuhr 20), and (b) Glen Sather was forced to make big-risk trades (because of Edmonton's declining status as a pro-hockey city), which conversely forced the team to welcome newer, younger players in to replace departing legends. There would have been no Stanley Cup after 1988, I think, if Jimmy Carson hadn't sat out in autumn 1989, forcing Sather's hand and indirectly creating a 4th-line for Edmonton in the 1990 run.

I was commenting on their dynasty ending because of players not being in their peak. Which isnt true. By 86 the year they were swept by the caps and the probability of them still being able to being a dynasty was over it was because of injuries.

Where did I write that Oilers drafted their prospects? No idea where you got that from.
 

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