NHL Notebook: Lessons the Bruins (and the NHL) can glean from the Golden Knights’ run

Every year the Stanley Cup gets handed out.

Every year NHL general managers presumptively ask themselves and their front office cohorts, “How can we do that, but better?”

It’s why you see role players on those Cup teams often fetching inflated contracts or trade returns. Or players of similar style, but perhaps lesser ilk, command similar prices.

Everyone wants a piece of the pie. It is a copycat league, after all.

The early 2010s Los Angeles Kings is how you end up with Kyle Okposo, Milan Lucic, Andrew Ladd and David Backes signing some of the wealthiest deals of the now infamous 2016 free agent class. 

The St. Louis Blues and Tampa Bay Lightning are why teams have become obsessed with powerful forecheckers like Barclay Goodrow, who swung a six-year deal from the Rangers, in the depths of their lineups. 

There will be plenty of lessons to be gleaned from this season’s Vegas Golden Knights, and even, to a certain extent, the Florida Panthers for that matter. Some of those lessons could even be repeats from other recent champions. 

It’s why the NHL is perhaps the most copycat league of any. 

Here’s what the Bruins and the remaining 30 losers can learn from Vegas’ march to the Cup:

Speed, speed, speed

The Golden Knights were blessed with speed throughout the lineup, whether it be in some of their headliners like Jonathan Marchessault, Chandler Stephenson and William Karlsson or with foot soldiers like William Carrier. 

Speed proves to be more and more imperative each year, especially when seeing how effective forechecks like Vegas' and Tampa Bay's have been in some of the most recent Cup winners. The Golden Knights' checking line with Carrier, Keegan Kolesar and Nicolas Roy went to work throughout the playoffs. 

While the Bruins weren't exactly a slow team, their only true burners were Taylor Hall and Jake DeBrusk. In the bottom-six, aside from Hall, who isn't exactly paid for his forechecking prowess, Boston lacked a speedster, like a Carrier or the aforementioned Goodrow that can drive an opponent mad on a forecheck. They thought they had it in the Garnet Hathaway addition, but he failed to deliver in that area in the postseason. 

Even Florida got it from Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett and Anthony Duclair.  

It's part of what made Jakub Lauko so impactful, especially in terms of drawing penalties, in his regular-season sample size. The Bruins should hope he, and perhaps others who could potentially fit that role like John Beecher or Oskar Steen, can have a similar impact in that area next season. 

Size matters on defense

The Bruins have tried to get into this continuing trend, whether it be through signing Derek Forbort (6-foot-4, 208) or trading for Hampus Lindholm (6-foot-4, 215) and Dmitry Orlov (5-foot-11, 214). Orlov, although not the tallest, had typically played above his size throughout his career and in Washington's run in 2018. 

It's become apparent that size (while still being mobile) is crucial on defense. Just have a look at the last five champions:

Vegas:

Alex Pietrangelo: 6-foot-3, 215 pounds
Shea Theodore: 6-foot-2, 197 pounds
Alec Martinez: 6-foot-1, 210 pounds
Brayden McNabb: 6-foot-4, 215 pounds
Nic Hague: 6-foot-6, 230 pounds
Zach Whitecloud: 6-foot-2, 207 pounds

Average: 6-foot-3, 212 pounds

2022 Avalanche:

Devon Toews - 6-foot-1, 191 pounds
Cale Makar - 5-foot-11, 187 pounds
Bowen Byram - 6-foot-1, 190 pounds
Josh Manson - 6-foot-3, 218 pounds
Erik Johnson - 6-foot-4, 225 pounds
Jack Johnson - 6-foot-1, 227 pounds

Average: 6-foot-1, 206 pounds

2021 Lightning:

Victor Hedman: 6-foot-7, 244 pounds
Ryan McDonagh: 6-foot-1, 215 pounds
Mikhail Sergachev: 6-foot-3, 215 pounds
Erik Cernak: 6-foot-4, 224 pounds
Jan Rutta: 6-foot-3, 204 pounds
David Savard: 6-foot-1, 235 pounds
Luke Schenn: 6-foot-2, 225 pounds

Average: 6-foot-3, 223 pounds

2020 Lightning:

Victor Hedman: 6-foot-7, 244 pounds
Ryan McDonagh: 6-foot-1, 215 pounds
Mikhail Sergachev: 6-foot-3, 215 pounds
Erik Cernak: 6-foot-4, 224 pounds
Kevin Shattenkirk - 6-foot-0, 206 pounds
Zach Bogosian - 6-foot-3, 221 pounds

Average: 6-foot-3, 220 pounds

2019 Blues:

Alex Pietrangelo: 6-foot-3, 210 pounds
Colton Parayko: 6-foot-6, 230 pounds
Jay Bouwmeester: 6-foot-4, 206 pounds
Carl Gunnarsson: 6-foot-2, 198 pounds
Joel Edmundson: 6-foot-4, 215 pounds
Vince Dunn: 6-foot, 203 pounds

Average: 6-foot-3, 210 pounds

Even if you want to look at some of the teams that lost in the Final in some of those years, the trend holds up. There was Tampa with that stalwart core last season. Montreal’s top-six blue-liners had an average height of 6-foot-3 and weight of 210 pounds. Like the Avs, Florida might be a bit of an exception, but the Panthers' defense group still came in at an average of 6-foot-1, 199 pounds. 

This season, the Bruins averaged 6-foot-1, 204 pounds on defense, so slightly below average from the five most recent winners. In 2019, a group that had Zdeno Chara at the top of the list and Torey Krug at the bottom, Boston averaged 6-foot-1, 206 pounds on the blue line. Again, slightly below average.

That's not to say the Bruins need a handful of additional Forborts. While a player like No. 28 is impactful with his size around the net and on the penalty kill, it's also become increasingly important for those bigger defensemen to be able to move as well, whether it's aiding in transition out of the defensive zone or contributing at the offensive blue line, while at the same time, using their bigger frame to make it harder to gain inside ice and wear opponents down. 

The B's got that in Lindholm until he got hurt in each of his two postseason appearances in Black and Gold. Orlov did not hold up the physical end of the bargain in the playoffs, even if he was one of Boston's more effective blue-liners. 

It's not about having several hefty, burly role players like Hague, Bogosian or Schenn, although there's typically room for one of them on a Cup-winning roster. Size on the blue line matters, making life difficult for opponents as a seven-game series draws on and as they struggle for inside ice, even if the defense isn't out there cracking skulls. But it's important to have the right blend of size and mobility, as Vegas and Tampa, in particular, have shown.

Players like Pietrangelo, Hedman, Cernak, Parayko and McDonagh obviously don't grow on trees, but between Lindholm, Brandon Carlo and Charlie McAvoy, Boston has some defensemen that should fit that blend.  

You might not need to commit tons of money to goaltenders

Look, if you have Andrei Vasilevskiy or prime Carey Price, then sure, back up that Brinks truck for them. 

If you don’t, well, maybe you’re once again taking a hard look at your goaltending budget after seeing what Vegas did with Adin Hill and Laurent Brossoit (and even rookie Logan Thompson, in the regular season), what Colorado did with Darcy Kuemper or St. Louis with Jordan Binnington. 

Vegas had less than $5 million tied up between Hill ($2.175) and Brossoit ($2.325 million) – we’re not going to count Jonathan Quick or Robin Lehne here. Up until these playoffs, the $10 million Sergei Bobrovsky experiment had been a disaster for Florida. 

Now that we know what Hill did, should the Avs have tried Keith Kinkaid in the postseason because maybe, just maybe, he could have gotten hot? Absolutely not. 

There has to be a rational, level-headed approach to seeing what Hill did in these playoffs. It's completely unreasonable to think any backup and third or fourth-stringer can suddenly go on a tear. Of course, goalies will always be a little voodoo, but maybe it points to front offices needing to make smarter gambles with the help of analytics when it comes to their backup or 1B goaltenders. A more calculated bet is exactly what Vegas placed on Hill when it acquired him for a fourth-rounder last August. 

Does this strengthen the case for moving Linus Ullmark with Jeremy Swayman due a new contract? Maybe. The Bruins would need to take the same type of formulated approach to find someone to supplant Swayman, rather than rolling the dice on any goaltender on the clearance rack or hoping Brandon Bussi is ready for the NHL after one pro season.

Speaking of goalies, don’t run yours into the ground

Bobrovsky was out of gas in the finals. Kudos to the Russian for living up to his contract when the Cats needed it most, left with minor-league journeyman Alex Lyon as their only alternative, but when the Final rolled around, he was gassed. 

Bobrovsky made 19 straight appearances (18 starts) for the Panthers. He let up more goals in Game 5 (eight) than he did in four games against Carolina (six). It was the worst he had played since Games 4 and 6 against Boston. 

Hill, thrust into action midway through the second round, made 16 straight appearances (14 starts) for the Golden Knights. Maybe he would have turned into a pumpkin in a hypothetical fifth round or if the Final dagged on to a sixth or seventh game. The defensive structure in front of him, as opposed to Bobrovsky, certainly helped things, too, even if Hill did indeed play out of his mind. 

Jake Oettinger, the young horse that he is for the Dallas Stars, had emptied the tank just in time for the Western Conference finals. Oettinger started 17 of a possible 22 games to finish the regular season after March 1. Tack on an additional 19 consecutive starts in the postseason, and it’s no wonder his save percentage plummeted to .877 in the third round after it was a staunch .936 through the first two.

There were the Bruins with a freshly cooked Ullmark by the disastrous Game 6 of the first round. Ullmark never played as many regular season games in his career with 49 before an additional six in the playoffs. His body broke down. There were reports of illness early in the first round as well as a "debilitating" injury that plagued him as the series wore on. He posted an .896 save percentage and a 3.33 GAA. There was the overtime gaffe in Game 5 (mental fatigue) before giving up six goals in Game 6 (physical fatigue). Swayman took over for Game 7 in an impossible spot.

It feels like for a few years now we’ve been wondering which team will finally commit to a tandem approach in the playoffs, and it never happens. Beyond that, it lends to a larger conversation about regular season workload (once again) for goaltenders, and how to best optimize them down the stretch. 

The Bruins were perhaps the most well-equipped of any contender to break the mold and keep what worked so well in the regular season. Maybe Vegas could have, had Brossoit or Thompson been healthy. Same for Florida, if Spencer Knight were available. Dallas needed Oettinger to be that Vasilevskiy-like workhorse, though. At full health, the Hurricanes were set up wonderfully between Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta. 

But when Boston had the chance to stick with what worked and even had another chance to go back to it later in the first round, they stuck with the traditional approach until it was too late.

Tradition, as Jeff Marek has said, is simply peer pressure from dead people. 

Be aggressive

This is as "easier said than done" as it gets. 

Vegas has totally bucked conventional front office trends in its brief time in the league. It was front and center for Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, Alex Pietrangelo and other prized players. Sometimes, it meant possibly upsetting it's internal makeup and those around the league, whether it was the sudden trades of original Misfits like Nate Schmidt (beloved in the locker room) or Marc-Andre Fleury (who was told he'd retire in Vegas). 

Picks and prospects be damned. The Golden Knights identified players that would make them better, acquired them and locked them up as part of the core. Acquiring them sometimes came at the expense of loyalty. 

Florida defenestrated loyalty when it sent Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar to Calgary for Tkachuk. 

Loyalty has been the downfall of other cores, like the Winnipeg Jets with Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler. Kyle Dubas went down with the ship of Toronto's "core four." The Chicago Blackhawks agonizingly kept the band together before trying and failing to get it back together. 

Vegas has gone outside the proverbial box and flipped it upside down, starting with conning gullible teams at the expansion draft and continuing with stopping at nothing to improve its team. Nobody is complaining about their below-average prospect pool these days. Winning cures that, of course.

Don Sweeney has had his fair share of aggressive plays, whether it be this season's trade deadline, acquiring and extending Lindholm or swinging for the fences in Rick Nash. There have been plenty of rentals, whether it be (likely) Orlov, (likely) Hathaway, Nash, (possibly) Tyler Bertuzzi, Marcus Johansson, Nick Holden and others. The Golden Knights have rarely gone after pure rentals.

Even with his big swings, Sweeney has also nibbled around the edges plenty, whether it be the failed experiments in Ondrej Kase, Nick Ritchie, Brett Ritchie and so on.

It's a copycat league, and there could be plenty of teams taking a hard look at their approaches in the front office in relation to Vegas this summer and possibly taking a page out of Florida's book in search of the next Tkachuk trade, even if it's easier said than done.