Vegas Golden Knights - One of the Greatest Franchises Already?

[Boreal01]

Season-long lockout implemented by the new commissioner after Gary Bettman retires.

 

[who_me?]

The Knights have had a great run. They’ve made lots of good moves. But let’s also be honest here. They were supported by the most team-friendly expansion program in NHL history, a flat cap league salary structure that let them weaponize cap space for than normal, a league willing to turn a blind eye to LTIR shenanigans, and no state income tax. They’ve plundered their draft capital and prospect pool and will start a long and slow inevitable decline very soon. We’ll see how much they are idolized when they struggle to make the playoffs. I look forward to their slide into irrelevance because they went from a lovable bunch of misfits to a crooked bunch of arseholes.

The Vegas Golden Knights business model on running an NHL franchise can defintely go on indefinitely.

That's because unlike most teams that rely on tanking and trying to draft #1 overall for years and years, they rely on disgruntled/mis-managed stars from poorly run teams --- and there is a neverending supply because most teams in the league have bad management. And ever since their inaugural year, they know how to identify and get the their supporting cast (i.e. cast offs and rejects from other teams). So they just re-load on the fly every year.

They also don't fall in love with their stars, and won't think twice about shipping out a former Conn Smythe winner or firing a Cup winning coach. For Vegas, it's about the team and not about the individuals. The owner and management deserve all the credit.

Vegas has already been in the league for about a decade; a decade from now they will most likely still be competitive but the teams with bad management now will still be bad then.

 

[Ryuji Yamazaki]

You can thank the ridiculous expansion draft for that.

Oh….and Dale Tallon.

Oh and the Eichel trade. Buffalo got completely fleeced.

 

[T REX]

who would've had the option to draft Gretzky if they hadn't cheated at the time bypassing the NHL entry draft?

Man...that is some shady stuff even for back then. Crazy. Personal services? Sounds shady AF

 

[Iggys Dome]

Yes, no debate.

 

[nogatco rd]

TB dominated Montreal though

I was rooting for the Habs but they were the weakest finalist in recent memory

 

[wgknestrick]

The loophole is available to everyone so those that manipulate it better than others get kudos!

The "loophole" is ONLY available to those franchises who have owners willing and able to spend +10mill over it.

 

[G50]

They're literally just copying the Chicago Wolves model of running a franchise. Big difference is how they actually treat their players.

 

[Mike C]

The "loophole" is ONLY available to those franchises who have owners willing and able to spend +10mill over it.

Gotta spend money to make money sometimes

 

[Section 104]

If you discount the first two years, the New York Islanders come close. Stuck with the poor expansion rules and the WHA taking a lot of AHL talent, they struggled for two years. But in year three they finished tied for 7th in points (out of 18 teams), beat the Rangers best of 3, fell behind Pittsburgh 0-3 but won four straight. Fell behind Philadelphia but won three straight and the Flyers brought in Kate Smith (back when they had integrity) for “God Bless America” . They had two semi finals losses to Montreal at their Pollack-Bowman peak. After a couple years of slipping back, came the 19 straight playoff series .
Unlike Vegas they were built through the draft. A couple first (Harris eventually brought in the final piece in Goring) and Gillies and Trottier in a weak draft.
Vegas reminds me, in a more successful way, of the George Allen “The Future is Now” Washington Redskins but with far more post season success. Allen’s trading away draft picks didn’t really hurt the team in the future (as many predicted) as Joe Gibbs would trade several first round picks but had good selections later on.

 

[Frank the Tank]

Uhhh that’s not a sarcasm emoji lol, that’s the shushing face emojis. (Ie. quiet or silent).
So no didn’t go whooosh overhead.

Also most posters read the texts in order they appear, not looking for potential follow ups.

Hover over the emoji with your cursor and you will see it. So, yes, whoosh... Mr Jet

 

[SillyRabbit]

They definitely did some underhanded things, but you gotta pull out all the stops to win in a league as competitive as the NHL.

They are without question a model franchise, insanely impressive what they have accomplished so far, and like mentioned already: Without tanking and landing a superstar player through the draft.

99% of teams would love to be run the way Vegas has been run.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Hover over the emoji with your cursor and you will see it. So, yes, whoosh... Mr Jet

🤫 Shushing Face Emoji: Meaning & Usage

The shushing face emoji 🤫 typically features a finger pressed to the lips, signaling a need for silence or secrecy. It's used to ask for

emojiterra.com

 

[thebeernerd]

Much like ISIS, you do not "gotta hand it to them"

 

[hangman005]

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Incredible how many hot names they've added via free agency and trade since their inception. Seems like upper tier players want to play in Vegas rather than other cities.

Is there proof for this ? It makes sense to be honest

 

[HamiltonNHL]

This is a weak era of hockey teams, man

Parity era

 

[Lunatik]

The loophole is available to everyone so those that manipulate it better than others get kudos!

not anymore, it was closed already

 

[Lunatik]

No you misunderstand. Each Canadian hockey fan is likely only upset about their own stanley cup drought. I just painted them all under the brush of a +30 year drought at best.

Trust me as a Leaf fan I could care less about your Quebecois team which I don't even consider Canadian in the slightest. But that's a different story.

As a Flames fan, I am actively hoping no Canadian Cup drought ends but ours in my lifetime lol

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

You can thank the ridiculous expansion draft for that.

Oh….and Dale Tallon.

Oh and the Eichel trade. Buffalo got completely fleeced.

What was ridiculous about it? Most fans and experts thought they completely botched it and drafted a horrible team

 

[JoVel]

I would love for there to be two HF polls about Vegas' expansion rules. One before the expansion draft, and one after they had made the finals. A lot of people, I'd even say the majority, only started hating on the rules after Vegas were successful.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

Is there proof for this ? It makes sense to be honest

Yep. Obviously the proof is that all those players are there now, but it's been confirmed the players who didn't have NTC's like Stone or Andersson wished to go to Vegas even though it didn't affect the final outcome, and obviously the players who did have trade protection like Hertl flat out got to choose.

Reportedly Marner was offered "significantly more" than 12M by multiple teams, but he chose to go to Vegas.

I would love for there to be two HF polls about Vegas' expansion rules. One before the expansion draft, and one after they had made the finals. A lot of people, I'd even say the majority, only started hating on the rules after Vegas were successful.

I think the rules being "too favorable" is overblown. I thought they were fine honestly.

Some teams were just in a tough spot (or good spot, however you want to look at it), forced to give up something good regardless of what they did. It led them to making deals that didn't work out.

But ultimately it was all because of the Florida Panthers mess. There wasn't an abundance of quality forwards to choose from. If they never give up Marchessault and Smith, which I highlight they didn't need to do, I don't think Vegas even makes the playoffs. It was the misfits line with Karlsson in the middle that gave them the punch up front to score enough goals, and the confidence that they can compete with the best of them.

That had nothing to do with expansion rules. The Panthers were just a mess for a brief time there, from sending Gallant off in a taxi to missing the playoffs to botching the expansion draft.

 

[CokenoPepsi]

It crazy how successful they've been.

Compare them now to teams like Buffalo in Vancouver who have been around for 55 seasons in playoff series wins lol

 

[adarebad]

Then Tampa is also one of the Greatest Franchises Already.
3 cup wins and 5 apprences in 30 years.

And they clearly do not get any kind of props

 

[Bixby Snyder]

How many cups will VGK win before the Leafs make it past the 2nd round?