When You’re The Most Hated Team In The NHL

When You’re The Most Hated Team In The NHL

There was no team in the NHL who made a bigger splash this off season than the Vegas Golden Knights, picking up the biggest fish that was almost a free agent. Mitch Marner only made everyone look around and say, “Shit, they’re cup contenders yet again.” Vegas has the lovely luxury of being one of, if not the NHL’s most hated team. Whether it is ruthless decisions when it comes to player management or their very famous transformation into the Vegas injured reserves to exploit the LTIR and win a cup, it is all on the basis of one principle. Win at all costs. Some of you may not like it, but the numbers don’t lie. Vegas is one of the best teams in the NHL early into the season and will likely be throughout the season. Now, first, in case you weren’t aware, the NHL did close the LTI loophole, so people will have to find a new reason to hate them. Someone should probably tell Captain Mark Stone that since he’s hurt. But regardless, Vegas is a very well coached team. As it stands right now, they are the highest scoring team in the NHL with Jack Eel leading the league in scoring. Vegas because of their personnel can score in almost every way. But let’s start with the nitty-gritty and probably the most important way to score come playoff time and that is off the four check. Tactically, it is nothing special. They run a 122. F1 comes in to give initial pressure and F2 and F3 are there to kill the next play. People naturally think that a strong forcheing team is one that hits guys through the walls to create turnovers. Yes, that is certainly helpful, but the best for checks in the modern NHL incorporate speed and anticipation as much as they do physicality. We’re probably going to be highlighting Martel a lot in this video, so get used to it. But watch Eel here as the F2 close the gap on the D. Now, Eel here could use his physicality, but instead he’s going to lean on his strengths, which is his cerebral play. Just with his positioning, he cuts off the wall where the defender wants to make a play on his forehand. Eichel’s presence forces the D to now shift to his backhand. F1 is there to disrupt. In comes Marner as the F3. Eek reloads into the slot and that’s the six sense magic that MNER adds to the Golden Knights right there. No look dish right to Eel. Ends up in a really good chance. Now for Vegas, it’s the speed of the waves coming at defenders that make them really good on the for check. Again, you’re going to see Eel here close the gap really quickly as the F1. He doesn’t even really do anything here. He throws a subtle little head fake to force the D into rushing his play. Once this play is reversed, Barbashev as the F2 is already hounding the play. Pick pocket. Give me your money right out to Mner. And that’s a goal off the forche. This is an area where a player like Mner really shines as well. We all know the playoff narrative, but he is one of the most intelligent for checkers in the game, which may make some Leaf fans laugh because he’s not really known to throw big hits, but it’s his reads as that F2 or F3 role that causes havoc for the other team. He’s so good at reading off puck carriers next move and picking off the plays, not only to cut off the breakout, but to create a really high danger scoring chance off the turnover. The forche up and down the lineup has been really effective for them early in the season, which is why they rank third in the NHL when it comes to five-on-ive goals. Now, you don’t become the league’s best offensive team without torching your opponents on the rush. Vegas already had Eel, who does prefer to use his speed in a more north south manner, but because he’s such a dynamic skater and playmaker, he demands immediate attention when attacking in between the dots. This is lovely stuff right here. He’s going to take this possession and just drift from the middle right of the ice to the middle left to slowly pull the defender and Zidorov over to his side right here. He’s got him right where he wants him. Hook line and sinker. Perfect aerial pass to Mark Stone who gets a grade a chance. That’s what makes him and Stone such a dynamic pairing too because if you’ve ever seen Stone skate, it is not the prettiest thing. And it’s like he’s carrying two bricks on his feet. But he’s incredibly smart and he knows how to play off of the speed of Eel. The man is an international thief when it comes to stealing pucks. When he can steal pucks like this, it makes Vegas a threat off a neutral zone turnover and on the forche as well. Then you add in a player like Mitch Marner in these rush situations and it adds a whole new layer to their attack. His east west approach that uses a lot of these speed changes to draw in defenders for a quick slip pass to an open man is what makes Marner so good. Having a player like Ekeel who understands how to work in between the gaps of defenses created either by Marner or Barbashev opens up a lot of opportunities for Vegas to burn teams in these soft areas. Now, the next area of Vegas’s early offensive domination is the power play. Yes, it is a simple 1-31 setup, almost like everyone in the league, but Vegas is probably the best team in the world at using the bumper to score or as a dummy play to create a way better chance. First of all, everything once again starts with Jack Eel on the flank. If you see him set up like this, you’re already in trouble. Teams want to take away any direct pass to the bumper and any cross ice feed as those are the most dangerous chances to allow here. Watch Eel just creep up ever so slightly near the top of the circle. The PK shifts up to cover those threats and it simultaneously opens up Mark Stone on the goal line. As soon as the pass is made, it’s bang bang. Everything is a one-touch right to the bumper. And now that defender is watching tape the next morning on what he did wrong. But that’s the thing. This power play is so good because it takes what it is given. Carolina’s PK is one of the best in the league for how aggressive they are. And even when they play Eel tight like they’re doing here, his craftiness gets him out of pressure and it directly opens up the bumper for a grade A chance. And look at this little wrinkle they put in here against Boston. Watch Scoriev on the flank slip down the post. This Boston killer sees that and is like, “Oh, I better cover that.” So he slips down as well. Then hurdle in the bumper is going to slowly back up into the space that is created from that defender going down to the post while waiting for a dish from Eel. It is another gradea look that was all created by movement away from the puck. When you start to feed the bumper that consistently and effectively, guys start to cheat and it opens up either a direct pass across or an opportunity to drive the net yourself. A few times already this year, Vegas has taken full advantage of teams cheating to the bumper threat and have taken it directly to the house. That level of precision right there is why they have the second best power play in the NHL as of right now. Put all this together and you get one of the best offenses in the league. Now, that’s great, but what about defensively? Are they any good? Well, numbers-wise, they are around middle of the pack at 12th in terms of goals allowed, but I do think that’ll get better. under Bruce Cassidy. They played this one 122 that works really well with their range of defenseman to shut down plays in the neutral zone and create turnovers. They’re a bit more passive at times, too. If they’re going up against a team that likes to regroup and attack, they will sag into this 113 and hold the line. They actually rank first in the NHL right now in terms of time spent with the puck in the neutral zone, which means early on they’re creating turnovers and carrying the play in this area of the game. Now, when it comes to the DZone, Vegas is all about this zone coverage and making life easy on their goalenders. It’s nothing groundbreaking here as most teams are still playing this to protect the most important part of the ice and deter any crossseene passes. However, when you play this system, you have to be willing to front pucks as low to high plays that go to the point will have space to throw them on net. The good thing for Vegas is that they’re already one of the best shot blocking teams in the league so far, ranking fifth overall. Good structure leads to turnovers and then it’s how Vegas translates it into offense that makes them deadly. The great thing about Mner is that he’s really good defensively as well and the addition of him is really valuable in the breakout. The Knights tend to want to keep their breakout simple with a rim up the wall to the winger and then a simple bump play to the middle, preferably to Eel so he can use that speed to lead the rush. That does put pressure on wingers to make a play. With Marner’s skill and awareness, he is naturally pretty good at catching pinching defenders with their pants down with a soft chip or a skill play to evade all that pressure. So, is all of this sustainable? It is early. We’re not even 10 games into the season, but Vegas was one of the cup favorites coming into the year the day they acquired Mitch Marner. Based on their system, we’ve already seen from a small sample size how well this could be a great fit. That’s not to say there aren’t concerns, though. their best defender in Alex Petrangelo is out for the year and goalending is always a question mark especially with their latest moves but this team is as deep as any. There is the concern that they’re riding an unsustainable high when it comes to their shooting percentage but offensively barring any injury which Mark Stone is already way ahead of. I do think that they will maintain this level of offense based on the sheer talent and depth that meshes really well with their current system. Defensively, I’m not sold on them just yet. They’ve had a relatively soft schedule minus Carolina, but hey, good teams find a way. So, what do you think of the Golden Knights? How far do you think they will make it in the playoffs? Do you think Eel finishes as the top scorer in the NHL? Who is your most hated team in the league? Drop a comment down below. 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In this video we take a look at the Vegas Golden Knights, the NHL’s leading scorer in Jack Eichel & the new addition of Mitch Marner.