Who deserves the credit for VGK success?

[Not So Mighty]

The Anaheim Ducks, Arizona Coyotes, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Wild, Montreal Canadiens, Nashville Predators, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, St Louis Blues, San Jose Sharks, Tampa Bay Lighting, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, Washington Capitals, and Winnipeg Jets get the credit imo.

For real though, the players deserve most of the credit. They're playing for each other. They're playing for Las Vegas. They're playing for THIS SEASON. They deserve credit for not treating this as a brief speed bump in their careers.

 

[Bandit]

The NHL deserves credit for giving them the single most favorable expansion rules I have ever seen. All GMGM had to do was make up a team

Yes, because when you look at Vegas' roster is definitely screams "Conference leader at the midpoint of the season". Brayden McNabb is on their top D pair. Let that one sink in for a minute. To not give credit to the GM, Coach and players is ludicrous.

 

[Dewey Eye]

basically, anyone who is griping over the unfair "system" that allowed Vegas to be competitve is likely a fan of a perenially-underachieving dumpster fire team whose own mismanagement causes their prolems.

It's unfair I tell you. Vegas has David Perron and Deryk Engelland!!!

 

[CuriousGeorge]

Before the season started, everyone on here trashed George McPhee for picking a horrible roster. He was considered a joke on here and nobody thought the team could even come close to the playoffs. Are his expansion picks completely redeemed at this point (and are people willing to admit they were wrong)? He was widely considered a bottom-3 GM to start this season but could easily win GM of the year.

Then there's Gerard Gallant, as a coach he's definitely gotten the most out of his players. He should win the Jack Adams this year for what he's done. Looking at the roster they have, does GG deserve more credit than McPhee?

The players also deserve credit for performing way above expectations, but would they have been able to do so without Gallant, or McPhee to an extent?

Lastly, does Gary Bettman get credit for changing the expansion rules to make it much more favorable than in past years?

Let me know who you think deserves the most credit for their success, sorry I'm kind of asking a lot of questions.

No one. Why would anyone get credit?

 

[wintersej]

The Strip.

 

[smytty]

The Anaheim Ducks, Arizona Coyotes, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Wild, Montreal Canadiens, Nashville Predators, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, St Louis Blues, San Jose Sharks, Tampa Bay Lighting, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, Washington Capitals, and Winnipeg Jets get the credit imo.

For real though, the players deserve most of the credit. They're playing for each other. They're playing for Las Vegas. They're playing for THIS SEASON. They deserve credit for not treating this as a brief speed bump in their careers.

The Oilers never helped. They just dumped Reinhart on them

 

[BattleBorn]

The Oilers never helped. They just dumped Reinhart on them

Which allowed us to send Vadim Shipachyov to Chicago, thus pissing him off and causing the Knights to lose (what seemed to be) a dressing room issue early.

So, thanks Oil.

 

[HanSolo]

Gallant is the easy answer but I think some honorable mention should go to the pro scouts and the physical trainers. Vegas is so well conditioned, it's scary.

The NHL deserves credit for giving them the single most favorable expansion rules I have ever seen. All GMGM had to do was make up a team

Where were you when this board was screaming bloody murder that Vegas failed the expansion draft and would be fishing for Dahlin?

 

[HanSolo]

Honestly I only just got through this whole page and I gotta ask where all you "favorable ED rules" people were after the expansion draft because the people who felt Vegas botched the draft outnumbered the people open to the idea that Vegas could compete with the rest of the league at least 30-1

Yup, all this.

The plan from the start was to hand VGK a "competitive" team so they wouldn't have to go through the pains all expansion teams go through. It was said many teams by Bettman and crew. So when the draft protection comes into play, as many people stated here, a lot of teams were royally effed and were forced to protect very serviceable players. Add to that list Florida gifting them their players, the "Vegas flu", etc.

This team was built to bypass the pains of being ****ty. Which annoys the hell out of me.

Then how do you explain Edmonton getting four first overall picks and still being trash? Favorable rules and GM failures only explain why they're competitive (even though the overwhelming majority of people after the expansion draft felt Vegas failed and would bottom feed, so this new majority opinion is deliciously ironic to me) not why they're atop the league with Tampa.

 

[These Are The Days]

Gallant is the easy answer but I think some honorable mention should go to the pro scouts and the physical trainers. Vegas is so well conditioned, it's scary.


Where were you when this board was screaming bloody murder that Vegas failed the expansion draft and would be fishing for Dahlin?

Sticking my head in the ground. The talent VGK was going to get on their expansion roster was going to be of historical precedence. When teams like the Lightning expanded something like 10 forwards, 2 goaltenders and 5 defensemen could be protected for each team. The Knights got the likes of Fleury, Neal, Theodore. The Lightning got Wendell Young... The Knights were NEVER not going to get 30 NHL caliber players. Teams back in the day got maybe 10.

All they had to do was not royally f*** up and they were gonna be better built than about 1/4 of the league

 

[HanSolo]

Sticking my head in the ground. The talent VGK was going to get on their expansion roster was going to be of historical precedence. When teams like the Lightning expanded something like 10 forwards, 2 goaltenders and 5 defensemen could be protected for each team. The Knights got the likes of Fleury, Neal, Theodore. The Lightning got Wendell Young... The Knights were NEVER not going to get 30 NHL caliber players. Teams back in the day got maybe 10.

All they had to do was not royally **** up and they were gonna be better built than about 1/4 of the league

Glad you can admit it at least.

I'm not saying they didn't get favorable rules. They did. But as I said above. That explains why they're not getting thrashed every night. Not why they have the second best record in the league.

 

[UltimateIdiot]

Glad you can admit it at least.

I'm not saying they didn't get favorable rules. They did. But as I said above. That explains why they're not getting thrashed every night. Not why they have the second best record in the league.

Agreed. Outside of Neal and Fleury, Vegas didn't really get any stars. Dependable players, sure, but nothing that suggested they'd be leading the conference after Christmas. They were basically written off from the start, and expected to put up a fight but eventually sell their best players at trade deadline for picks.

I'd get the anger at the expansion rules if Vegas was just barely hanging onto a playoff spot, but they're kicking ass and taking names right now, when there's a number of teams in the same conference who have (on paper) much better players. Vegas came into the season with the depth, the system, and the will to compete every night, and they deserve all the praise for playing that well.

 

[TheJadePipe]

Agreed. Outside of Neal and Fleury, Vegas didn't really get any stars. Dependable players, sure, but nothing that suggested they'd be leading the conference after Christmas. They were basically written off from the start, and expected to put up a fight but eventually sell their best players at trade deadline for picks.

I'd get the anger at the expansion rules if Vegas was just barely hanging onto a playoff spot, but they're kicking ass and taking names right now, when there's a number of teams in the same conference who have (on paper) much better players. Vegas came into the season with the depth, the system, and the will to compete every night, and they deserve all the praise for playing that well.

A lot of Players considered to be 2nd and 3rd liners whom are pretty Solid but get to play with a Huge chip on thier shoulder......They were not important enough to protect..... I think when you get a roomful of guys with that exact same experience and feeling, those guys can overachieve. To me it is the best example of a coach being able to hang a sign “Us against the world” .... and it is felt
-The replacements-

 

[LeHab]

NHL handing them a competitive team by allowing them to take good players from other teams.

And yet once lineup was made, few gave them chances at being competitive. The supposed offensive face of the franchise Shipa got to play about 30min before getting the boot. Fleury the other face missed most games. Very impressive what the team managed to accomplish so far.

 

[Pilky01]

The NHL should allow teams to dissolve themselves, have a dispersal draft for their old players, and then have an expansion draft to get a new team.

Having players under contract is the worst thing an NHL team can have. That is what this expansion process has demonstrated.

 

[kingsholygrail]

The ownership for investing.
The management for running the ship.
The players for performing.
The fans for filling the arena.

There's just nothing bad I can say about the Knights.

 

[LeHab]

The NHL should allow teams to dissolve themselves, have a dispersal draft for their old players, and then have an expansion draft to get a new team.

Having players under contract is the worst thing an NHL team can have. That is what this expansion process has demonstrated.

How is that the worst thing? Years are negotiable, up to individual teams to mage associated risks and benefits.

 

[aemoreira1981]

I'm going to say Gerard Gallant and the goaltending. Like Barry Trotz, he can get buy-in into a system, and the goaltending also helped Nashville (and has helped Vegas out) a lot as well.

 

[HanSolo]

The NHL should allow teams to dissolve themselves, have a dispersal draft for their old players, and then have an expansion draft to get a new team.

Having players under contract is the worst thing an NHL team can have. That is what this expansion process has demonstrated.

Signing any player to a contract is as risky as a trade or draft pick. In the latter's case probably less so. Without contracts how are you supposed to build a team? How are you supposed to make sure a player shows up to practice and a game. How are you supposed to secure payment for the players? Like it or not contract law exists to protect the offeror and the offeree. There is an exchange agreed upon by both parties. Millions of dollars for years of the service of playing hockey for a club. Being able to terminate a contract just because the performance was not what the offeror wanted goes against the foundations of contract law. If contracts stipulated payment or exit clauses if performance benchmarks weren't met then termination would be legal. But nhl contracts don't feature those because no player is gonna want to be restricted by performance benchmarks. The agreement between a team and player is one of good faith that the player will play the best he can to his abilities and the team will confer payment. How do you run a club without a contract for a player?

 

[Bixby Snyder]

Donald Trump, there was no team in Vegas before he took office, now there is and it's a huge success.

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

Gallant and how Vegas played as a team. They have more point than Colorado did last season already.

Wish Engelland was captain though, but Marchessault proved he could be the future captain.

 

[me2]

GMGM gets a lot of credit for Gallant. Right coach for the assembled team, he must have had some input into it. A little less credit for the roster, most of the major picks were pretty straight forward (the equivalents they passed on would likely have made no difference). Haula/Tuch looks like a good draft/trade move.

Florida, WTF were they thinking.

Bettman for helping an expansion team not be trash.

So long Karlsson keeps shooting nearly 30% and Fleury keeps pushing .943, and their patchwork D keeps holding together, who knows how far they could go.

 

[PeanutButterPoti]

Then how do you explain Edmonton getting four first overall picks and still being trash? Favorable rules and GM failures only explain why they're competitive (even though the overwhelming majority of people after the expansion draft felt Vegas failed and would bottom feed, so this new majority opinion is deliciously ironic to me) not why they're atop the league with Tampa.

First #1 pick was in 2010, that was Taylor Hall. The team was shallower than a spit on a ground. Hall got elevated pretty quickly and though he played well, there was nothing behind him.
2011 was Nuge, who is a good player but not exactly a superstar. Same situation, except with a draft+1 Hall in the lineup. This year sucked too.
2012 was Yakupov. Bust.
2015 was McDavid, which was only a 12.5% chance. Odds were stacked against the Oil, but it happened. Though it's obvious why the league-wide disillusionment was there.

With the expansion rules that were in place for other expansion teams in the 90s and 2000, they left the expansion team in a much harsher position. Though it also was in an era where NMC's were very rare, so that only further added to teams getting handcuffed in their protection lists. This leaves Vegas in a pretty favourable position when it comes to exploiting the issues faced by teams who can't protect the players they want to.

I was in the camp of people thinking they came in not having any real glaring weaknesses (I was skeptical on their defense, but still felt they had it better than some sieve-like d-cores from other teams). Why they're atop is weird to me, but it could circle back to the lack of glaring weaknesses part. They were able to gel pretty easily, despite the goalie carousel, and the Shipachyov "disaster" (a symptom of their better-than-expected system, he was simply not needed like they he was back in the summer).

But hey, they're in my division, I'm jealous/annoyed at their success in spite of other Oilers fans jumping on the bandwagon due to the lack of established rivalry. We're supposed to not like them, damn it!!

 

[Montecristo]

The city of Vegas. No secret why the home record is so good. Visiting teams go out and experience the city the night before and are sluggish for the game. The city of Vegas is the biggest reason for their success

 

[SherVaughn30]

Strippers in Vegas! They keep the whole team motivated!