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Just 4 years after winning a Stanley Cup, the Vegas Golden Knights are back in the finals. And the craziest part of all is that this team going there this year is a whole lot different than that team that went there 4 years ago. I did some digging of the teams who have made at least two finals appearance in 4-year spans, Vegas by far has the least amount of returning guys. You think about the Panthers teams, the Lightning teams, Pittsburgh did it in the late 20 10s, and then like Chicago, LA. In recent years, those teams all had 12, 13, 14 guys coming back. This Golden Knights team has eight players who won a cup with them in 2023 still on this team. And you look at some of the departures from that team. It
wasn't just depth guys or whatever. Their second leading scorer that playoffs, Jonathan Marchessault, gone. Chandler Stephenson's not there. Alex Pietrangelo's not there. to mind, yeah. Nate Schmidt, the goalies are completely different. This is a completely different Vegas Golden Knights team aside from, you know, Mitch Marner. Not Mitch Marner. Jack Eichel's there, Mark Stone, Shea Theodore. You have some of the big names Yeah. But like that's the thing. Everything else is different. So this is This is a very un- As much as it's been already, this is a completely unprecedented run from the Golden Knights to get back here. What we're going to do today is an exercise where
we've got the five defining moves that the Golden Knights have made to go from one Stanley Cup finals to the next. Uh we've predetermined this list. We've got There's a bunch of moves, obviously. The It takes a lot to go to whittle it down to five. a lot to go from uh from, yeah, one finals to another with a completely different batch of guys. But the five most impactful moves that the Vegas Golden Knights have made. First on the list that you guys are going to talk about, we have Or sorry, fifth on the list to start things off, Pavel Dorofeyev extension happening back in 2024. 2 years, $3.67 million. there. Let's talk about that. You want to kick it off, Kyle?
Yeah, like you think about what makes a cup contender and a team that can make it back to a cup final and a lot of it when it's a team that's already been good and has a lot of high contract players is finding those value contracts. And over the last two seasons who in the NHL is like in that tier of value contracts as a guy who's signed for 3.67 million for a 1.8 cap hit and has 72 goals in the regular season over the last two seasons. And I don't even know if people realize how high like his numbers are like 35 goals, 37 goals. Insane production 10 goals this playoff is that number there. The 10 goals in these playoffs. Like you look last year the one goal, two points in eight games
in the playoffs which is basically the first time that he had actually played in the playoffs. And after a 35 goal regular season like that's not the production you're looking for in the playoffs. This year they've made it back to the Stanley Cup Final in a large part because of his production. He's very much a streaky goal scorer. It's not like he's consistent like one goal here, one goal there. It's very much like you look at like that Ducks series him popping off, some things like that like the hat trick in the first round. But it's those goals are key reasons why the Vegas Golden Knights are back in the got back to the Western Conference Final and are now back in the Stanley
Cup Final. And you think about the cost effectiveness and you think about like he's an RFA this year so going into whatever his next contract is going to be, Vegas is not going to be the same team next year because they're going to have to cut bait on some guys that make some money because of Dorofeyev's next contract. Because he's making so little this season they can afford a bunch of those what you might call more luxuries that help them in addition to Dorofeyev's production as well. Like he's a very underrated reason why the Golden Knights are back here in the in the Stanley Cup Final.
I do love just watching a guy who can just absolutely rip the puck and that is Pavel Dorofeyev to a T and it's really that perfect storm on the power play where he has the right shooting Mitch Marner at the top of the umbrella, the right shooting Jack Eichel on the other side and then he's a left shot on that right flank, and it's just what more could you want out of a left-handed sniper, right? Like, yeah. It's perfect, and like he's he's going to make a lot of money because of it. Yes. Yes, and it's funny, too. He's the only guy on this list that technically was on the roster of that Cup-winning team, but he wasn't playing. He only
played 18 games that season, obviously didn't even come close [snorts] to that lineup come playoff time, but he was there. So, this is a guy that they had all along. You know, he played 20 games his first 2 years and only had nine points to show for it. And then the second after they win a Cup, he comes in, he starts playing better. And yeah, like you said, the last 2 years, 35 goals, 37 goals. You just don't see that from a team who wins the Stanley Cup with a guy on the team not playing. Like, to get a production like that coming in post-Cup is insane. So, And I think he's the only player on the roster that was actually drafted by Vegas.
Yes. That's correct as well. Which That's the only player. It's crazy stuff. That's correct as well. actually, but Uh Korczak now, but when that came Yeah, an undrafted guy or May- maybe, yeah. Korczak was drafted, but it was when that stat came out, he wasn't playing on the team at that point. Yeah. Anyways, he's one of like every Yeah. So, yeah, of course, the one guy they draft, they just huddle like this, and now he's a stud for them going back to the Cup. So, uh yeah, Vegas has made some smart decisions, as we'll find out with the rest of this list. Um fourth on the list, uh a bit of a contested one here, but it's Carter Hart signing back in November, 2 years, $4 million.
Obviously, he had the off-ice issues. He didn't play hockey for quite some time. They take a chance on him as they have with a ton of different players in the same thing where they make a bit of a controversial move, and what does he do? He's just absolutely lights out this postseason. He's been in a complete wall back there. Again, they had I think Adin Hill made the last Cup run, right? And he's still on the team, but they've got Yeah. And now they've got Carter Hart coming in and absolutely stealing the show. Uh yeah, what do we have to say about this signing and what it's meant to the Golden Knights.
I mean, obviously off the hop a controversial signing, right? But of the five of the Hockey Canada five, I felt like he was always the player who was going to sort of make teams think, right? Like none of the other four guys were worth the PR nightmare, essentially, but he was the one guy who was always interesting. Maybe a team will take a chance on him even if it risks alienating a large portion of your fan base, which I'm sure it has. But Yeah. I mean, Carter Hart, yeah, on the ice he's been outstanding, right? And I think the relationship with John Tortorella going back to their days with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Like I think something maybe we don't talk about enough is the goalie being familiar with a defensive system and knowing the reads, and I think that's obviously played a part in his success cuz I mean, he wasn't playing well under Bruce Cassidy. You know, some of that might have been rust being off for a few years, but yeah, since Torts has come in, he's been just absolutely incredible. Like the difference in stats between the regular season and post season. Like it was one of the biggest concerns I had for the Vegas Golden Knights going into the playoffs was goaltending because it had been so It's the reason why Bruce
Cassidy got fired, really, when you look at the underlying numbers in the goaltending post Olympics especially. There's two ways to talk about like the Carter Hart signing. It's a big reason why that they're back in the Stanley Cup Final because of the goaltending performance, and it's also something that a lot of people, myself included, don't think he should be in the NHL. Mhm. And so, that controversial thing that we've talked about plenty, even recently on this show, with the Golden Knights is a big reason why they're successful.
Yeah. It's also a big reason why a lot of people hate the team. So, I think it's completely fair to talk about his on-ice impact because without his on-ice impact, they're not back in the Cup Final. I feel pretty confident saying that. Yeah. But it's also a reason why you might look at the team and have some reservations about cheering for them or just be a fan of a different team and dislike the team. Yeah, I mean, as we've discussed, we did an episode on it just last week. Like Josh, you talked about bringing a guy like this in is kind of might alienate the fan base. This is a franchise that has no problem doing that to their fans and they're
Winning over everything. We've That's what we know now like 100%. they're in the Cup Finals and he just he just allowed seven goals against the best team that we've seen like a top 10 team of all time at least according to the stats. Seven goals in four games. So, yeah, he's obviously played a massive role in Vegas' success. Moving on to the third biggest move. Noah Hanifin getting acquired from Calgary back in 2024 for a first, a third, and Daniil Miromanov. There you go. I got him. Proud I got that name down. Uh but yeah, this is a move that's obviously a couple years in the making and he's he's been a stud bit ever since he's got there. He's playing great. He's playing on the Olympic team now for uh
Team USA. So, yeah, what do we have to say about Noah Hanifin signing? The Yeah, well, and signing because the extension came a little bit afterwards. The trade like for him, you think about the evolution of this defense going from an Alex Pietrangelo led team the last Stanley Cup to a team that needed kind of that new head and like Shea Theodore is still there, but you think about Noah Hanifin, his impact playing on the top pairing and in the top four. And then we don't have Rasmus Andersson in this mix, but like Them as a pairing have been awesome.
Exactly. So, I think the Hanifin trade and the extension is probably the reason why we have him up here versus Anderson where there's a lot more question going forward. But like Hanifin, his year-over-year impact on this team being a key part of the defense core, um huge for this Vegas Golden Knights team because like we talk about the goaltending, the issues they had there. Think a lot of people were concerned what this defense would look like without Alex Pietrangelo at the top there. I think Noah Hanifin in terms of that Pietrangelo type role has done the best job of trying to fill that void.
Yeah. I think when you hear us or you just other people talking about the draft and like really fixating on like size and mobility, like this is exactly why, right? Like a guy like Alex Pietra- or, sorry, Noah Hanifin who's, you know, 6'4" but like a great motor and just a really fluid skater and a guy who can just chew up minutes, play difficult matchups, but also like enough offensive talent to like quarterback a power play in a pinch if you need. So, just think that exact type of two-way horse that you need to win a Stanley Cup. And it's funny, we you talk about the draft process. Like going back to his draft, Yeah. conversation with Hanifin and Theodore.
Hey, how about both on the same team? Sounds like a pretty good recipe. Yeah, seriously. And it's it's been such a staple of all of the Vegas teams really since the first cup run that they made when in their first year of just the big, like super sizable defensemen that just shut it down and they've had McNabb and Theodore be there the whole time kind of playing that role They've got a tight little group. Yeah. Pietrangelo out, oh, let's bring in Noah Hanifin and just have him do exactly what he does for them now. So, yeah, credit to them for pulling off that trade. I do you think Calgary regrets that one now or are they fine with where they at? They
They needed a third out of Yeah, I mean, they weren't I don't think Hanifin was signing there, so. But, yeah, maybe you would have liked a bit more value. I can't recall who that first turned into or if it has turned into anyone yet, but I don't remember exactly, yeah. Because Kole Sherwood they drafted recently, but I don't think it was that pick. I could be wrong. It's nice I like this little thing that Vegas has going on where they're like, "Yeah, we need like a little bit of grit on defense."
Calgary's just a farm system for Vegas. Seriously, they're like, "Do you want Hanifin? Oh, do you want Hanifin as well?" So, yeah, they're they're in a good spot for sure. Q Zane Parekh going to Vegas in 10 years. You heard it here first. Coming soon. Uh, yeah. And onto our top two moves here, two very, very big splashes that this team made both within the last year that got them to this cup. Second on the list, first that we'll talk about here, John Tortorella hired to replace Bruce Cassidy this season with eight games left in the regular season while they were in the playoffs still. We've talked about this on the
show already, so we don't need to get too in the weeds, but now seeing how this Tortz uh hiring is playing out in the playoffs is a completely different story than the one we were talking about when he was coming in the regular season. What have you guys seen from him? Why is this the second most impactful move they've made? I mean, all the players are buying in, clearly, right? I mean, I know it's easy to say now that they're in the Cup Final, but like they just swept the best team in the league, like the most potent offense and made them look so like un-scary, basically. They like Colorado looked nothing like themselves during the regular season and in the past playoffs. And I think that's a large
credit to John Tortorella and getting his team to buy in and playing that great defensive structure. And it's also a credit to the front office and Kelly McCrimmon and George McPhee, like having like being willing to make that risky move with eight games left in the season and firing a coach who won you a Stanley Cup and bringing in a guy who, you know, is a little volatile, but obviously it's paid huge dividends. So, I mean, yeah, you just got to tip your cap, man. Torts The Torts magic is here. right? It's Like if you said like 3 months ago, like this is how it would have played out for Vegas, it's insane. But you talk about the reasons why they're back in the Cup Final, and it's hard not to point to the coaching move
they made eight games before the regular season when it looked like they were trending towards maybe not making the playoffs at all and are now in the Stanley Cup Final. Worth noting they're 18-4-1 under John Tortorella since hiring him. That's okay. It's pretty good. Ridiculous. Playoffs and regular season. Yeah. Crazy. Ridiculous. And I mentioned it in the episode we just filmed about the Avalanche, but I it's so worth noting the fact that he went to the Cup Finals in '04. He I'm sure he was like, "Oh, I'll be back." And you look at some of the teams that
Torts has coached since then. And for him to not get back there until now with this team that he just got on board with at the end of the regular season is incre- it's insane, but it's also just such a testament to Torts. Like this is the perfect move. And I and we when the hiring happened, we talked about it. And now I feel this way more than ever, but I would not be surprised if this is a trend we begin to see a little bit more. Teams who kind of need something to get over the hump coming down the stretch. They're on the fringe of the playoffs. It might not be Torts available every single time, but bringing a guy like it might be Torts available every time.
Maybe. be like, yeah, one-year coach and It'll all depend on who's available a lot. I think that's going to be a big thing. Like the other thing for Tortorella here, like you mentioned him not being able to make it back. There hasn't been a Stanley or There hasn't been a coach to win a Stanley Cup with two teams since Scotty Bowman. And I think there's like four in NHL history and then you're going back to like the '40s and '60s for that stuff. Yeah. Like it is very shocking. Punch him luck on that last think he is. Um it's very shocking like how few coaches have been able to find that elite level success. Not just like being a good team, but going and winning a Stanley Cup with two different
franchises. Obviously very different circumstances here for Tortorella, but it would be fascinating if he's the one of all coaches to break that drought. Yeah. Sorry, I said 18-4-1. Yeah, I think it's 19-4-1 actually. 7-0-1 the regular season now. 12 wins in win, yeah. That's just what he needed this time. Right? But yeah, yeah, it's been incredible again, like we said. A team like this makes moves like this and they have success doing it. So, Vegas is going to keep doing stuff like that.
Finally, number one on our list, probably pretty obvious by now, the Ivan Barbashev extension. Yeah, Nick Cousins. Nick Bjugstad. They wouldn't be here without All those guys. No, it's Mitch Marner signing trade from all of our Toronto Maple Leafs. He goes to Vegas. He's leading the playoffs in points entering the Stanley Cup Finals. He's the favorite to win the Conn Smythe. And he's just doing everything for Vegas that he wasn't doing in Toronto. Um I mean, at the end of the day, not only a hell of a signing by the Golden Knights, but I have to give credit to Mitch Marner. If you're going to pick
your location and he just happens to pick a team that swept their way into the Stanley Cup Finals, that's about as good as it gets. Um it's also just makes guys like that much more angry that he didn't go to some bottom feeder that didn't even make the playoffs. Um Yeah, this is a huge deal and I don't know where this team is at in the regular season or in the playoffs without a guy like Mitch Marner. I would assume you guys agree. They probably missed the playoffs without Mitch Marner, right? I mean they barely made it. Like we kind of forget that now with them. So without Mitch Marner, I mean look what happened.
The Leafs without Mitch Marner, they missed the playoffs. So Uh yeah, I mean he's been obviously absolutely outstanding Conn Smythe frontrunner and I don't think there's any question about that. Like I don't know how you can make a case for anyone else at this point. No, no, definitely not. He's been such a great fit, especially which is crazy to say, in these playoffs for the way that Vegas is playing because he's such a responsible defensive player. But then he can bring the puck up the ice and like I still can't get over that second round goal against Anaheim. Like Outstanding. ridiculous between the like just the kind of stuff that you always hope to see from Mitch Marner in the playoffs,
you're actually seeing it now. And the Leafs fan obviously is jealous of that. But it is fantastic to see from a hockey fan perspective to see a talent like Mitch Marner finally breaking through and succeeding in the playoffs because he is one of the legitimate best players in hockey in the NHL and he's showing it on the biggest stage now. And whatever reasons you would have for why it didn't work in Toronto, it didn't work and he wasn't that good in the playoffs, especially in clutch moments. In these playoffs he's been able to go out and do it with Vegas, which has been very fun to see. One thing that's really caught my eye, too, is just the way he's driving a second line with not a ton of help around him. Like no disrespect to
Brett Howden and William Karlsson, like two really solid two-way players who clearly fit well with him. But like Marner is the engine of that second line and it I feel like it's something as Leafs fans we kind of clamored for years. Like hey, maybe put let Marner drive his own. He doesn't have to handle the matchups cuz Matthews is going to get that. and like lo and behold here he is just absolutely thriving in that role. I found myself watching that last game and I had such a hard time quantifying it because he played with good players in Toronto. He had Matthews, Nylander, Tavares. But it felt to me like watching the way Marner plays and on the power play too like
I couldn't figure it out. He was such a better player on my TV when I was watching. But it he's got the same sort of like he's got Jack Eichel, Mark Stone. Like he has good players around him. It just feels like the situation He's playing for three. Yes, it and it's lending itself so much more to his game where he's suddenly yeah, he's noticeable there. He's not just a guy kind of passing Austin Matthews the puck on power plays and stuff where he's driving plays. He's ever all over the ice and he's obviously like the numbers don't lie but he's been the best to the eye test, the best player this post season bar none. Which again, sitting here if we were to sit here and tell you the camera and the audience that uh at the
start of the playoffs I'd This is No rage baiters would have said oh Mitch Marner Conn Smythe. Yeah, yeah, right. I yeah, I yeah, I yeah, I yeah, I yeah. supervising editor of Hockey Michael Bradburn in our playoff predictions picked Mitch Marner to win the Conn Smythe and people told him he was a fool. Yeah, I'm sure. Now he's laughing at them. Still might be a fool, but Not for this one. It's gotten to the point that we've we've sat down and talked about Mitch Marner so much that I have nothing left I've no more hate left to give. All I can do now is give respect. So for all
of you guys I don't have to go to therapy anymore. Exactly. I can just appreciate what he's doing out there. So I think it feels good. I think one thing this list really sort of shows that any GM out there who says oh you know, it's tough to make moves like oh you know, we tried. They're lying or they're just not good at their job because clearly it can be done and like the fact that they've these five moves you know, not all of them were acquisitions. Dorofeyev was just an extension but I mean these moves show like it can be done if you're willing to give your own talent and capitalizing on it.
It's only a two-year extension, but at that number and for what he's done, I think the one guy worth mentioning here is like an honorable mention Brett Howden who's tied with Dorofeyev for those playoff leading goals. Three shorthanded goals these playoffs is tied for the NHL record with a handful of players, but if he has one more then he has the record himself. And he signed like a five-year deal at a 2.5 million dollar cap hit which looks fan Yeah, I mean it's super important to note too like we were saying earlier you look at the our five here that we had to pick and choose. There's so many. You never see that from a team who won four years ago. Like this team won the cup.
Normally if a team can win a cup the next five years or so they're like okay, let's just try and work with that core. They obviously worked one and won us a cup at one point so why won't it work again? And the fact that they've got like 10 plus moves that we're sitting here debating which is the best. That's just this basic Vegas Golden Knights organization. That's what they do. That's why they're so good at what they do and that's why they're in a Stanley Cup Finals again third time in four years. And I think to cap that there is if they'd kept the Marchessault Stephenson era and tried to bring it along would not be here. No, absolutely not. So there's our top five the five most impactful moves that
the Vegas Golden Knights have made to get back to the Stanley Cup Finals. If you think any of the other moves that they made are more impactful, feel free to let us know in the comments. Excited to watch this team play in the Stanley Cup Finals. I think that they're probably going to win the Stanley Cup this year as much as it pains me to say that. Um but we're going to enjoy watching the rest of this playoffs and we'll catch you guys in the next video.
