The implication being: Whether a team has superstars or not, one of the best things it can do to help itself is not to have glaring weaknesses down the lineup. Even in cases where there are a few so-called “anchors,” most of the league’s playoff teams have less of their roster at or below that zero goals above replacement (GAR) line than their non-playoff counterparts. Once again, there are plenty of different flavors.īut when parsing the league’s haves and have-nots, one big difference seems to be the relative lack of weak links on the playoff teams. The second, meanwhile, requires a look at the league’s non-playoff teams, from the same data and visualization sources. There are teams built around big stars at the top, teams built mainly around depth clustered similarly together, and even teams that seem to be surviving a couple of anchors. The first, unsurprisingly, is that these teams don’t all look the same. You could spend hours, for example, poring over this visualization from Prashanth Iyer (using data from Evolving Hockey), highlighting the composition of the NHL’s playoff teams.īut two things stand out. But as Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews would surely tell you: it also demands a whole lot more. Louis in 2019) has had a top-two pick on the roster - it has never truly been that simple.īuilding a true winner demands great players, there’s no doubt about that. But while having a true superstar of course helps - you’ve likely heard the stat that every champ but one since the ’08 Red Wings (St. And with the team now on the upswing, it’s only getting less likely to happen.ĭoes that mean the rebuild can’t work? That a Cup contender can’t be built? In terms of finding their own Patrick Kane, Sidney Crosby or Nathan MacKinnon, though? That lottery-delivered savior never did materialize for Detroit. Simon Edvinsson and Marco Kasper are right on the doorstep, looking to prove they belong in that same conversation. Lucas Raymond is one of the most talented young wingers in hockey. Moritz Seider is a cornerstone piece on their blue line. The Red Wings have, of course, brought in high-end talent as a result of their on-ice woes. When Detroit entered this rebuild, the hope, certainly, was to come out of it like the Blackhawks and Penguins had once upon a time emerged from theirs, or like the Avalanche were about to - with a payoff in the form of era-defining superstars who could headline a potential dynasty.īut after seven years picking in the top 10, that vision looks a bit different. The angst arising from that question has been evident in fans. But in both cases, one question has loomed even larger: Is it still possible for the Red Wings to build a Stanley Cup contender without that lottery win, and the superstar talent it can deliver?
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