So is Vegas for real? Are they a playoff team?

Mitchrapp said:

So is Vegas for real? Are they a playoff team?

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Right now they are !!! Probably like the wings they will fade soon.
Hammer how good are they for reals !!!!

I wouldn't expect them to be a playoff team.

But to how good the team is nobody knows. On paper they aren't great, but shouldn't have too much problems scoring.

Goaltending: Fleury/Subban is a solid duo
Defence: Is the weak point of the team. They got a bunch of serviceable vets (mostly bottom pairing guys) and a couple younger players like Theodore who is sitting in the minors cause they got too many D.
Offense: They should be pretty decent. They got tons of middle 6 talent.


Reilly Smith is a normal 40-50 point guy so far getting top line minutes.
Perron should be in the 40-50 point range as well if he continues playing 17+ per game.
Marchesault has a 51 point breakout season in Florida.
Neal has been carrying the team thus far with 5 goals in 3 games. He is the best forward on the roster.
Shipachyov is the wild card. Coming from KHL its still an unknown if he can dominate at NHL level. Gotta wait for Vegas to dump a defenceman to minors before he can be "called up" to play.


Leipsic is amazing offensively (at least at AHL level). Has potential to be the best forward on Vegas, I was surprised when Nashville traded him for Jokinen.
Haula don't know much about him, but could break 40 points if he plays enough minutes.
Karlsson is a young player that should be in the 20-30 point range, which is typical for a 3rd liner.

Nosek has potential to be anywhere in the bottom 9 forwards.
Lindberg is another youngster with potential to grow and score more depending on icetime.


In the minors they got:
Pulkkinen who is a Frk type player who dominates AHL, but rarely gets more than 10 minutes at the NHL level.
Bennet is another young player who could produce 30-40 points if given sufficient ice-time.
Tuch is another young player who could fill in 2nd/3rd line quite nicely.
Pirri same as Tuch and Bennet
Wong is another player worth watching in the next few years.

Given how many offensively gifted players they got in the AHL, any of the 4 mentioned above could be inserted into the NHL lineup and the team shouldn't miss a beat.

While they lack star-power, offensively they got enough guys with skill to put the puck in the net. Keeping it out will be more difficult but thankfully they got a solid goalie in Fleury.


Coaching: Gallant is a great coach and showed what he could do in Florida.


From the first 3 games played:
Neal stole a couple games offensively (doubt he will be able to do that all season), and Fleury played great from the game and half I watched. IIRC, 2 of the games were late come from behind wins.

Forgot to mention Eakin.

He is a regular 30-40 points guy coming off a bad season in Dallas.

Thanks for all the info.

The Hammer knows his hockey . Great stuff hopefully the Wings can get this one. Looks like Marzek will be in net though on the back to back nights.

Polish-Hammer said:

Pulkkinen who is a Frk type player who dominates AHL, but rarely gets more than 10 minutes at the NHL level.

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In your estimation, is it due to the talent gap between AHL/NHL or is it a different style of play that leads to that playing disparity? I've noticed it with a couple Griffins as well.

I saw that they carry an unusual amount of defenseman.. 7 is normal, maybe 8 - they carry 10.

sggatecl said:

In your estimation, is it due to the talent gap between AHL/NHL or is it a different style of play that leads to that playing disparity? I've noticed it with a couple Griffins as well.

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In my opinion, it is a combination of the factors. The difference between 20 minutes a game and 10 minutes a game is the biggest factor. The biggest factor in point production is ice-time. Powerplay time is another key factor. Easier to score when you have the man advantage.

Typically if someone at the NHL level plays 18+ minutes a game minimum low end point production is 40 points. 40 is like the bare minimum expected, 50+ is what you are looking for.

Last season 74 forwards averaged 18+ minutes a game (min. 50 gp) and only 6 scored below 0.5 points per game.

Since 2010-11 only 3 players playing under 14 minutes a game broke the 20 goal mark, McGinn, Marchand, and Chimera. Chimera was the only one to do it in last 5 years.

There is also the talent gap you mentioned, but most guys scoring point per game in the AHL (if they can skate and play defensively) could fill a middle 6 role on most NHL teams.




Lack of opportunities: Generally teams only have 1-2 spots available every summer for prospects to come up. Usually on the 4th line/bottom pairing and players have to show something special to get more ice-time.

Hence even if you are getting 10 minutes a game, you generally aren't getting PP time, and playing with bottom 6 players which on most teams is filled with guys who don't have the skill to be big point producers.


So you go from 20 minutes a game to 10 (less is typical in Detroit), no PP time, teammates from other skilled players to bottom line grinders (ex Jurco playing with Ott/Glendening), and thus playing a different role (checking vs scoring) against a tougher competition (and bigger/better goalies).

One other factor is the AHL is a "learning" league. Meaning if you make a mistake the coach will just throw you back out there learn from it and continue playing.

At NHL level the stakes are higher so if you start making mistakes as a young player you tend to get benched. Or benched for no logical reason.

Example of the latter, AA was benched in his rookie playoffs against the Lightning for most 3rd periods despite being one of a few players to make anything happen offensively.

Reminds me of the Babcock interview explaining why Tootoo wasn't in lineup for playoffs. We can't be taking any stupid penalties. Rule obviously doesn't apply to his favourite Abdelkader who led team in penalties by a wide margin.

Damn, thought I could finish watching Clemson/Syracuse and not miss much.

Already 1-0 Wings.

Game looked ragged with tons of turnovers and chances from both sides in the first . Glad that Golden Knight missed the open net !!!!

Missed the early part of the game but did see a reply of that sweet pass by Z. Nice to get a 1st period goal.

Man lots of chances .. Come on Wings bury another one !!

Just amazing stats from HZ from such a little hockey guy. His final game last season was his 1000 of his Red Wings Career closing out the Joe with a goal and a assist i think.

Figures 1-1. Come on Wings .. That was to easy. Freaking turnovers .

9 freaking shots on goal .. Pathetic

Zetterberg!!!!!!!

These Detroit announcers keep saying Mrazek has improved. I don't see it.