What Makes a Hockey Organization Thrive in the current NHL?

[GrandmaCookie]

Hey everyone,

I’ve been thinking about how much the NHL and hockey as a whole have evolved over the past few years, both on and off the ice. From front-office strategies to player development, there seem to be new standards for what makes a hockey organization truly successful in 2024.

But I can't seem to pinpoint what makes successful teams successful. I mean obviously you need elite talent and to draft well, but this can't be just that. Some teams have been drafting elite talent but the results aren't showing.

In your opinion, what are the key characteristics of a top-performing hockey organization today? Are there specific approaches in scouting, player development, analytics, coaching, or team culture that you think are essential for a team to thrive in this modern era?

Let's say you were to be the GM of an expansion team, what kind of players would you target and management / staff?

If you we're to be the GM of a bottom of the barrell team, how would you proceed to make them successful again?

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[hotcabbagesoup]

I don't know man. Seriously, I just don't know. We've lost for so long now that it seems we've lost any inkling of what it takes. All I see is mediocrity throughout. Go Sharks I guess. Sigh.

 

[Breakers]

Ruthless roster construction.

I think fans are irrational and will easy move on from a fan favorite.

“are you guys actually letting me go for real?”
- Marchessault in regards to Vegas management letting him go to free agency

Tampa with Stamkos and diverting the money to a 5 year younger guentzel

These are teams moving on from a conn-smythe winner and captain of the last 10 years.

 

[GrandmaCookie]

I don't know man. Seriously, I just don't know. We've lost for so long now that it seems we've lost any inkling of what it takes. All I see is mediocrity throughout. Go Sharks I guess. Sigh.

You have a great pool of young talented player. Just be patient man, Sharks can't suck forever.

 

[Chainshot]

I don't know man. Seriously, I just don't know. We've lost for so long now that it seems we've lost any inkling of what it takes. All I see is mediocrity throughout. Go Sharks I guess. Sigh.

Sabres fans look at your recent lack of success in wonder.

 

[TS Quint]

You need that core of winners. Being good just isnt good enough.

Draft well.

Being a desirable market sure helps. Being able to attract free agents is pretty important to fill the holes from trading your draft picks and losing your best 3rd liners once you start winning.

 

[GirardSpinorama]

You need that good mix of old school hockey experience/relationships/negotiation skills and new age analytics. And you need this embedded everywhere in the organization, from pro scouts, amateur scouts, to AHL, to coaching.

 

[Rorschach]

First key to having an effective team on ice starts at the very top. Is the owner capable? They need to have deep enough pockets, be willing to spend, hire the right front office staff and then let them do their work. They need all of the above. Other factors help as well, such as various taxes.

You can see Darryl Katz who has half of the above and is completely missing the other half.

The organization as a whole has to have a winning vision as well that drives every level of said organization.

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

Same as before. Get lucky and land a couple of top players from outside the 1st round.

 

[miscs75]

Tax breaks

 

[WaitingForThatCab]

Good management staff.

There are some teams that are perpetually terrible (like the Panthers were for a long time!) and it's because they have boobs running the show (like the Panthers did for a long time!). In a business, in the military, at a school, even in a social club... if you have poor decision-makers at the top, things are going to be run rather poorly. You will consistently get bad results.

It's usually not outside factors. It's usually incompetence at the management level. Corporate C-Suite, general manager position, whatever, there are a lot of people out there being paid to make decisions who really should not be.

The only thing I would add is that hockey executives are paid very well to run incredibly valuable businesses. Ownership groups should be more willing to fire these guys when they do not get results. They usually get recycled to screw up another team anyway, so no harm done.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Tank, collect superstars, watch them develop, manage the salary cap well and make good trades/free agent signings. Ride until the wheels come off.

 

[Svechhammer]

Find one thing that you are really, really good at and double down or triple down on it.

The biggest mistake I see so many teams and franchises make is that they are always chasing the new flashy thing, always trying to innovate and adjust their style to fit the game of today rather than just to know what you're good at and capitalize on it.

And this is where teams that tank so often get it wrong. In order to be bad enough that you get top spot in the draft, you basically have to completely gut your roster of players who play the way you are best at. And while you might end up with some elite talent in the draft, its going to be surrounded by a mishmash of crap that plays a disjointed style of hockey, and then they get into a cycle of always picking toward the top, and grabbing great talented players, but maybe not necessarily players that can play cohesively together, and it becomes an absolute mess.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Honestly, 60% of it is luck of the draw in the draft. It’s more than just acquiring talent, you also need to get the guy who puts in the work and stays healthy and has that next gear. That sort of thing is incredibly unpredictable. You can draft for talent all day and still end up with head-scratching busts or guys who never really got better after 20. Then some other team stumbles into a franchise player in the third round.

As for things that are more under the organization’s control, there’s something to be said for the character of your leadership group. That includes the front office all the way down through the coaching staff to your captains and key players. Everyone in the team doesn’t have to be a stand-up guy, but groups of people do tend to take on the character of their leaders — and when it gets competitive, divided groups will fall apart. That’s why you see a house-cleaning at the late stage of a rebuild, to reset the tone and get everyone on the same page moving forward. I look at organizations like Arizona and Buffalo, among many others including the Canes for a long time, and you can easily see the difference between them and orgs like Boston and Vegas who have a clear organizational culture of doing things a certain way and moving on from guys who aren’t on board.