What Makes a Hockey Organization Thrive in the current NHL?

[1989]

Not being Ottawa, Arizona, or Buffalo really seems to help.

 

[jkrdevil]

Luck and the ability not to squander said luck.

The way things are set up getting to the top is more about luck and timing. However bad management can can get in the way and torpedo things even if you end up finding that luck and timing.

 

[Lt Dan]

A constant inflow of young effective cap controlled players

in the cap era , success makes players expensive and a competitive teams needs to get younger

 

[HabsQC]

Good players.

 

[ScottyMascotty]

If you want to have a significant chance to win it all for a long time you typically need to build "the core" - a group of especially talented players who make most of the difference. The more talented core you have, the better. Ideally, you have either 2 legit superstars or 1 absolute gamebreaking player + 2-4 stars. Lock these players on long-term contracts if you can.

It is important for these core players to have chemistry: their playing styles should be compatible enough & their personalities should correctly shape team attitude in locker room. Core players themselves should be very competitive and care for winning & not only individual stats/awards/collecting paychecks. They better have a playing style that translates well enough to the postseason, and ideally 1-2 of them should be a "clutch artists". If your core just don't have enough talent/too small/consistently can't perform in the playoffs as expected, your Cup perspectives are likely in trouble.

And that's only the first part of basics of building the winning team.

 

[SladeWilson23]

Good GM
Good Coaches
Good Players

Get all three and you get good results.

 

[VivaLasVegas]

Success starts at the very top. So does failure. Aggressive and smart ownership is most important.