Unexpected matchup
Breaking down Washington, Vegas Stanley Cup final
In a matchup no one foresaw at the start of this season, the Washington Capitals and Vegas Golden Knights are facing off in the Stanley Cup final.
It’s a matchup of two clubs battling for their first Cup.
The Golden Knights, a team consisting of castoffs that didn’t exist a year ago, defied the odds to dominate the Pacific Division en route to winning the Western Conference crown.
The usually dominant Capitals entered this season with lowered expectations and overcame a decade’s worth of post-season demons to become Eastern Conference champs.
Coached by Summerside’s Gerard Gallant, the Golden Knights embrace a fast, aggressive forechecking style. Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury is enjoying the best postseason of his 14-year NHL career. He’s considered the front-runner for playoff MVP honours.
The Capitals, meanwhile, are led by this generation’s greatest goal scorer in Alex Ovechkin. They’ve got more offensive depth than the Golden Knights, a top goalie in Braden Holtby and play a solid defensive game.
With Ovechkin looking like a man on a mission and his teammates playing well at both ends of the rink, the Stanley Cup could soon reside in Washington.
Prediction: Capitals in six games.
Lamoriello’s back
Only two weeks after stepping down as general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Lou Lamoriello recently joined the New York Islanders as their new president of hockey operations.
Lamoriello is considered among the most respected executives in hockey. He built the New Jersey Devils into a threetime Stanley Cup champion and helped resurrect the Leafs out of a decade of mediocrity.
The Islanders roster could see significant changes under Lamoriello. He could use their prospect depth, as well as one or two of their four selections in the first two rounds of this year’s draft, to bring in established talent.
Lamoriello’s biggest challenge is convincing captain John Tavares to remain an Islander. The 27-year-old centre is due to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. Don’t be surprised if Lamoriello makes a couple of big trades in the coming weeks aimed at keeping Tavares in the fold.
Keep it together
Despite being eliminated from the Western Conference final, the Winnipeg Jets had their best season in franchise history. They set team records for wins (52) and points (114) and went further into the playoffs than ever before.
General manager Kevin Cheveldayoff did a fine job assembling a roster that looks like a future Stanley Cup contender. Now comes the challenge of keeping it together.
Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck and defensemen Jacob Trouba and Josh Morrissey are restricted free agents (RFA) this summer. Rising young forwards Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor are RFAs next summer while captain Blake Wheeler is slated to become an unrestricted free agent next July.
All of them will be expensive to re-sign. Their new deals could push the Jets up against the salary-cap ceiling over the next two years.