National Post (National Edition)
NHL dark horse? Roll the dice on Vegas
GOLDEN KNIGHTS HAVE TALENT TO MAKE ANOTHER CUP RUN
Who is this season’s “dark horse” to pull off some playoff upsets and possibly even win the Stanley Cup? That’s easy.
The Vegas Golden Knights. Nobody outside of Nevada is picking them to win it all, but they have a very good first line made up of former hired guns — Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty and Paul Stastny — who are now settled in and comfortable; they have a 1A line of Jonathan Marchessault, William Karlsson and Reilly Smith that has proven it can carry the team; they have a solid bottom six led by Alex Tuch, Cody Eakin and soon to be joined by 2017 sixth overall pick Cody Glass, a centre the Knights absolutely refused to part with when trading to get the aforementioned hired guns; they have a sturdy back end which includes Nate Schmidt, Shea Theodore and Brayden McNabb; they have an ageless goalie who has shown he can go the distance in Marc-Andre Fleury, and they have a top grade, problem-fixing, coach-management team in Gerard Gallant and George McPhee.
They also have an atmospheric home rink where they’ve won a lot more than they’ve lost (53-22-7) in their first two seasons since their birth.
But are the Golden Knights a true dark horse? They made it to the Cup final their first year and lost in a hard fought, seven-game series with San Jose in their second. Or are they just one of the all-time greatest dark horses who kicked opened the door for future dark horses?
Either way, long gone are the days of sure bets. Especially after last season, when the St. Louis Blues charged from last place on Jan. 1 to win the Cup in the most unlikely story ever. And the Columbus Blue Jackets, after narrowly making the playoffs, pulled off a first round sweep of the Presidents’ Trophy winning Tampa Bay Lightning, who had lost just 16 times all season.
And the New York Islanders shaved 100 off their goals against total from the previous season, made the playoffs then put the broom to the high scoring Pittsburgh Penguins, holding them to six goals in the first round.
And the Carolina Hurricanes, after narrowly making the playoffs, upset the defending Cup champion Washington Capitals in seven before sweeping the Islanders.
Never before has the NHL seen this kind of parity. Be a playoff contender and you really, truly have a chance to win the Cup.
Thank you salary cap. Thank you Gary Bettman.
So who are this season’s honest-to-goodness dark horses? Teams that didn’t play more than 82 games last season but could do that and much more this year?
1.
Florida Panthers
After missing out on the post-season tournament the last three years and 16 of the past 18, the Panthers could go a long, long way.
They now have a three-time Cup winning coach in Joel Quenneville and a two-time Vezina winning goalie in Sergei Bobrovsky. One of the game’s best centres, Aleksander Barkov, leads a group of forwards who should score plenty. The bottom six has been bolstered by the additions of experienced winners, Brett Connolly and Noel Acciari. Anton Stralman has been scooped from the Lightning and he’ll greatly help a blue line that’s overpaid but still decent.
The Panthers could be so good the fans might consider coming back to BB&T Center. They could be this season’s Blue …. Jackets.
2.
New Jersey Devils.
Must be the only team in history to have three first overall picks — none over the age of 27 — among their collection of forwards. It’s probably too early to expect much from Jack Hughes, but Nico Hischier, who had 47 points in just 69 games last season, should be good for 70-80 if he plays a full schedule.
Most importantly, returning to the lineup is the team’s bona fide superstar, Taylor Hall. He missed all but 33 games last season and still had 37 points. Expect big things from Hall in 2019-2000, the last year on his contract before he’s eligible to test the UFA waters. The Devils won’t be able to trade him at the deadline if they haven’t inked him to a new deal because they’ll be in the thick of the playoff race. If Nikita Gusev is as good in the NHL as he was in the KHL, and if newly acquired P.K. Subban and veteran goalie Cory Schneider can also stay healthy, the Devils can return to the post-season and pull off an upset or two.
3.
Philadelphia Flyers/Buffalo Sabres
In order to be a Cinderella playoff team, you need a proven goalie. Unless you’re the Blues. A couple of guys named Carter — Hart in Philly and Hutton in Buffalo — definitely won’t do what Jordan Binnington did last season. But just because they’re not starting in the minors. Can they give their teams the goaltending needed to take the next step? Quite possibly. Both the Flyers and Sabres are close to becoming post-season regulars again.
It’s very difficult to imagine any of last year’s playoff teams in the West — Nashville, Winnipeg, St. Louis, Calgary, San Jose, Vegas, Dallas and Colorado — falling out of the picture this season. The vets in Chicago might pull it together and challenge, while the Oilers, under new leadership, could surprise some people. Now that would be a story.
Otherwise, the only dark horse to emerge from either the Central or Pacific division will be … that’s right, the Vegas Golden Knights.
dbrennan@postmedia.com