shows all hockey NHL finals as live broadcasts. The Vegas Golden Knights and Florida Panthers will meet between Tuesday and Wednesday night in the fifth final. You can watch the match live on TV2 and Areena from 3:00.
LAS VEGAS. Back in the dead of winter, the Vegas Golden Knights didn’t seem like the biggest championship candidate in the eyes of many, but that’s what it is right now. Vegas leads the final series with 3–1 wins and can decide the championship early on Wednesday Finnish time.
The well-coached Vegas has honed itself into a team with virtually no weak points by spring at the latest.
When it comes to the quality, balance and depth of the roster, Vegas is undeniably ahead of Florida. But how did it come to this?
We have quite a masterpiece of club management at hand, of which the greatest honor goes to the first GM of the six-year-old club To George McPhee as well as for the current incumbent To Kelly McCrimmon.
This duo has played through the NHL’s player market and recruiting game for quite some time now. Of course, credit must also be given to the club’s scouts, who have their own significant role in the player recruitment process.
Let’s create an overview of the club’s hardest successes in the player market – and there are plenty of them.
Expansion draft in summer 2017
Many NHL club bosses overreacted to the expansion draft for Vegas. Many clubs made additional deals to protect some of their players. It’s about the human learning process in a certain way, but those tuitions really cost a lot of money because Vegas showed no mercy.
Shea Theodore: Anaheim gave its promising first-round pick to Vegas if it would otherwise take a veteran defenseman from the team by Clayton Stoner. Theodore had not yet broken through in Anaheim, but he did so right away in Vegas and now belongs to the sport’s absolute defense elite. A huge heist.
William Karlsson: Also Jarmo Kekäläinen wandered into the side shop. Kekäläinen gave Vegas “Wild Bill” Karlsson, who has since grown into an elite two-way center forward. Karlsson is even a candidate for the most valuable player in the playoffs. Kekäläinen also sent the first- and second-round picks to Vegas to protect them Josh Anderson and Joonas Korpisalo. Rude set.
Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith: Florida’s moped went into a ditch so that the bench got dusty. Operating on a ridiculous $750,000 contract, Marchessault had scored 30 goals the previous season, but that didn’t convince the GM Dale Tallonia. The club didn’t protect the wing, who is currently the hottest scoring gun and MVP favorite in the playoffs. Smith had played a weaker season, so he was also allowed to go and beat Florida on another reserve shift in the fourth round. Now the same guys are punishing Florida in the finals. Ouch!
Brayden McNabb: The pick didn’t attract much attention at the time, but the canuck picked up from Los Angeles has grown into one of the league’s best base defenders. A great search.
Player trades
In terms of player deals, Vegas has also made an exceptionally strong mark.
Chandler Stephenson: Definitely a lot of finds. The rookie center from Saskatchewan had a stagnant career in Washington, but McCrimmon saw something in the man. Fifth round pick for the Capitals and Stephenson to Vegas in December 2019. 35, then 64 and now 65 points in the first season. 10+9 in the playoffs so far. Unfathomable search! These are trades that push a team over the threshold of the final championship level.
Alec Martinez: A fantastic balancing two-way defender that Vegas acquired from Los Angeles in exchange for two second-round picks. Won two championships with the Kings and decided one of them personally. Vital player through routine and experience.
Jack Eichel and Mark Stone: Hard-class moukers, with which the tip was made sufficiently hard. The club paid a really heavy price for Eichel Alex Tuchin, By Peyton Krebs and through the reserve rotations, but the Stone trade with Ottawa still looks like a complete steal. Stone is the best two-way wing in the league and a leader in the tough class. Hit the middle of the dart board again.
Ivan Barbashev: The big Russian forward was an excellent addition to the squad in late February. Has adapted to the team excellently and has been an important piece of the winning machinery throughout the spring. Not the hottest player trade of the winter on paper, but through the player profile and personality, Vegas hit the right spot again.
Free agents
The last pieces of the puzzle have been retrieved from the free market. From the beginning, Vegas has had a very good reputation among the players and there has been constant attraction to the club. The club management has not failed to take advantage of this.
Alex Pietrangelo: The captain of the St. Louis championship team is among the best in the hockey universe at his position. Pietrangelo, who has seen, experienced and won everything, brings to the team’s play a dose of toughness, but also a calmness brought by experience. A team chasing its first championship needs players in key positions who know how to do the trick.
At least one more could be added to the list Nicolas Roy, By Keegan Kolesar and the goalkeeper on the sidelines by Robin Lehner.
In the salary cap era, building a championship team, let alone a dynasty, is extremely difficult. The fact that Vegas has managed to build a team of this level in the first six years and at the same time to be successful is a great proof of the professionalism of the club management.
The culmination of the great work may come early Wednesday morning Finnish time.