What's makes Tampa's Powerplay the best in the NHL?

[SeanMoneyHands]

I know they have two options (Point and Stamkos) always open for a one timer from Kucherov. And Kucherov could be the best in the NHL on slap passes. But what else? It's such a well run man advantage.

Every team in the NHL has struggled to defend against this PP.

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[WarriorofTime]

Kucherov mostly but yeah, Stamkos and Point can score from anywhere, Herman is dangerous shooting, passing and skating as well.

 

[Svencouver]

Elite passing. Great coaching, better execution on every set play

 

[Akrapovince]

Beyond the plethora of shooting options and skills on their power play, it just comes down to Kucherov at his best cannot be defended. Same thing with McDavid or MacKinnon/Makar/Rantanen.

If you give him space, he will burn you. If you give him time, he will throw cross seam passes to Stamkos, or play it back to the point to Hedman. If you try to take both or any away, he will beat you straight up.

When the game slows down, Kucherov will shine and he controls the pace when up a man.

Absolute menace in the corners too, just so elusive and tricky. Head fakes galore, a treat to watch.

 

[Regal]

Beyond what’s been said, I think chemistry is part of it as well. The main 4 have all played together for a long while and know what the others are going to do. Sometimes that can get stale, but that’s difficult to do when you have that much talent.

 

[jetsforever]

Doesn't hurt to have 3-4 hall of famers on it

 

[WarriorOfGandhi]

The fans keep the players accountable, unlike other country-club franchises I could name

 

[Killer Orcas]

Insane talent would be my guess.

 

[Duodenum]

3 future hall of famers on that pp.
At least 3 elite finishers and probably the best powerplay passer/quarterback in the league in Kucherov.

 

[DownIsTheNewUp]

I think a lot of it comes down to having a great one timer on both sides of the ice. Stamkos still has probably the most accurate one timer in the league. Kucherov also has a very good one timer so Hedman can feed it either way. If you're trying to block both that opens things up for Point in the middle. Kucherov has that great slap pass he can either feed to Point in the slot or all the way through to Stamkos. If somehow all those lanes are blocked Kucherov can feed down to the 5th player near the goal line or recycle it back to Hedman for another look. Just too many options to defend with some great shooters.

 

[Despote]

Oilers top unit scores at a much better rate.

 

[NVious]

Doesn't hurt to have 3-4 hall of famers on it

More teams should try this strategy

 

[Norwegianoiler]

More teams should try this strategy

It is rumored that Craig Conroy is looking into this strategy.

 

[Darcy Tucker]

It is rumored that Craig Conroy is looking into this strategy.

We're going to follow the Tampa Bay model and try to win championships. - Craig CONroy.

 

[Sky04]

Kucherov + space

 

[Rodgerwilco]

The fans keep the players accountable, unlike other country-club franchises I could name

What exactly do you mean by this. What affect do the fans have on the players in terms of accoutability?

 

[Rebels57]

They have four top 30 players in the NHL on one unit and all of them can pass and shoot and make quick decisions on which is the better option.

 

[Michael Farkas]

Ignoring the tactics of it (which are really great, there's constant misdirection, isolation, and weakside rotation built-in to basically every pass)...Tampa's power play shows the value of having balanced attackers (those who can shoot and pass) as opposed to just specialists.

 

[JTToilinginToronto]

Good players

 

[Il Stugotz]

I think it's being able to pass well through the interior, either to the flanks or centering passes. It's simple as a concept, but you need guys who can actually pass through defenders and not turn it over all time.

You see some teams pass it around the perimeter of basically a pentagon and maybe a lucky shot gets deflected through sometimes but it's not really that challenging.

 

[The Macho King]

The answer is Kucherov. He's so good at manipulating the penalty kill into going where he wants them to go. He'll shoot twice to set up a pass the third time the puck comes to him. He'll drift down to pull defenders before he pops back toward the top of the circle to open up passing lanes.

He's also pretty much impossible to pressure. He takes pucks so well on his backhand around the boards, and while he can handle the puck for days on most of the goal scoring plays the puck is on his stick for a blink before it's going to Point/Stamkos/Paul. So as much as you want to pressure him he doesn't give you time if you try to close with him, and if you try to just take away all of his options he is dangerous on his own.

Finally - he's super underrated in puck retrieval along the boards. He's far from the biggest guy on the ice but he's so good with his stick he still walks away from board battles more often than not with the puck on his stick.

Dude is really good at hockey.

 

[GoldenKnight]

Three current 40 goal scorers and Hedman all on the same PP unit will always be hard to defend. Should give kudos to their coaching staff a little as well, credit where credit is due.

 

[Brodeur]

Obviously as everybody else said, Tampa has an embarrassment of riches with one timer options on either side plus Point in the bumper. Maybe a cherry on top is Nick Paul being a good faceoff guy and big body to set up screens and help with puck retrievals (that was the Bobby Holik role back in the day when the Devils had the #1PP). Not sure without looking it up, but Tampa could have options depending on the side of the faceoff if they wanted to use Stamkos as well.

 

[I am Bettman]

Point is a great bumper, Stamkos can still rip one timers, and Kucherov can shoot well if those two are covered. 3 serious shooting threats and Kucherov can find the other two with ease.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

I think a lot of it comes down to having a great one timer on both sides of the ice. Stamkos still has probably the most accurate one timer in the league. Kucherov also has a very good one timer so Hedman can feed it either way. If you're trying to block both that opens things up for Point in the middle. Kucherov has that great slap pass he can either feed to Point in the slot or all the way through to Stamkos. If somehow all those lanes are blocked Kucherov can feed down to the 5th player near the goal line or recycle it back to Hedman for another look. Just too many options to defend with some great shooters.

I think the bolded is so on point. Having those shooting options on both sides means the PK can't "cheat" toward one side like it can if you only have a shooter on one of the dots.

Add to that Point's effectiveness in the bumper position and it makes it very difficult for the PK to key in on one particular area of the ice.