In the NHL, the Stanley Cup is the ultimate prize to capture. Thirty teams gear up every October with the best lineup they can put together to try and capture the “Holy Grail of Hockey.” Since the first NHL season in 1917-18, the Cup has been won by a combined 22 teams (18 active and five now defunct teams) for a total of 95 winners. Out of those years, there were only two seasons where the Cup was not awarded: the Spanish flu epidemic tragedy in 1919, and of course, the 2005 NHL lockout.
There have also been teams where they have won numerous Cups in a row or many times in a single decade. We call these teams dynasties or powerhouse teams. It takes a lot of work and patience to build a true dynasty, however. It is more difficult to achieve now in the salary cap era, but it is not always about icing the highest paid players on a team; it is about the chemistry within and having the heart and determination to battle for 60 minutes.
The last true dynasty was the Edmonton Oilers throughout the 1980’s, who won five Stanley Cups in a mere seven seasons. It is true that they had unbelievable talent, having so many legends on their team from Wayne Gretzky to Mark Messier to Paul Coffey and Grant Fuhr and Andy Moog. But that was the free wheeling 80s, where 100 point and 50 goal seasons were common.
Looking in the 1990s and early 2000s, three teams were able to win the Cup two or more times. The Detroit Red Wings (97,98,02,08), the Colorado Avalanche (96,01), the New Jersey Devils (95,00,03), and the Pittsburgh Penguins (91,92) could fall under the powerhouse category, the Red Wings and the Devils especially, for winning multiple Cups and reaching the finals, or making the playoffs, in a ten year period. This is a typical life of a powerhouse team, unless they constantly are adding and subtracting players every season, but the serious dynasties maintain the same core of the team for that period.
After the 2003 Devils won their third Cup in a eight year span, the Cup went out to nine different teams until the Chicago Blackhawks became the first team since the 2000 and 2003 Devils to win the Cup on two separate years, the Hawks winning it themselves in 2010 and 2013. The Los Angeles Kings soon followed in their footsteps, winning their own Cups in 2012 and 2014. The Boston Bruins are sandwiched in between the two with their own Cup and one later trip the finals, losing to the Hawks in 2013.
So the question is this: are dynasties returning to the NHL, and if so who are they?
The Chicago Blackhawks
Since 2007-08, the Hawks have done a complete 360 turnaround. Drafting Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane back to back sure doesn’t hurt, but since getting those two franchise pieces in the organization, the Hawks management started to build around those two and it hugely paid off. The Hawks put up their first winning season since 2001-02 in 2007-08 with a record of 40-34-8. They started their ascent to one of the NHL’s top teams in 07-08, and haven’t looked back since.
In 2009-10, the Hawks put up their very first 50 win season in club history, going 52-22-8. But they didn’t just stop there. They went on a rampage through the playoffs, losing only six games in 18 total games, and reached the Stanley Cup Finals versus the Philadelphia Flyers, where they ultimately won the series 4-2, and effectively ending the forty-nine year Cup drought in Chicago.
The next two seasons were difficult to get back on track in playoffs, losing in the first round both times to the Canucks and the Coyotes, respectively. Then came the lockout shortened season, and the Hawks took full advantage. They went 36-7-5 in the 48-game schedule, which gave them a record-breaking .802 point percentage. The Hawks then went off to the playoffs, only struggling against a strong Red Wings squad, but winning in game seven. They then dethroned the previous years champions, the Kings, in five games, and then beat down the Bruins in the Finals to win their second Cup in three seasons.
The Hawks are a well-built team thanks to former general manager Dale Tallon and Stan Bowman (the current residing in that position), but with Toews and Kane both signed to identical monster contracts worth 10.5 million a year each, that takes up just at 30% of today’s salary cap. So there will be problems down the road, unless the cap takes a big jump in little time. Having Marian Hossa, Duncan Keith, and Corey Crawford signed to multi year contracts helps too, but the rest of the Hawks core contracts of Brandon Saad, Kris Versteeg, Andrew Shaw, Brad Richards, Ben Smith, Marcus Kruger, and Jeremy Morin on forwards to expire in either one year to three years, and Patrick Sharp and Bryan Bickell both expiring in 2017-18, while five of their defensemen on the roster are set to be either UFA or RFA within two years. So Stan Bowman will need to work some magic to keep this team a contender and become one of the 2010-2020 dynasties.
The Los Angeles Kings
The Kings had a similar past comparative to the Hawks, struggling to maintain a winning record. Prior to the 2009-10 season, the Kings had failed to make the playoffs in six consecutive years. The 2005-06 saw them put up a 42-35-5 record, but the 05-06 season was a record year with twenty teams able to put up forty or more wins, and the Kings fell four points short of securing a playoff spot. The next three seasons saw them plunge to the basement, but while also stocking up on high level talent. In fact since the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, the Kings have drafted and developed 11 of their roster players today, and have traded six others who have a starting roster spot on teams. Dean Lombardi and his scouting/management staff deserve a lot of credit for building such a great core in five short seasons, and still are adding intriguing prospects.
The Kings started to turn around their franchise in 2009-10, by going 46-27-9 but losing in the first round of the playoffs to the Vancouver Canucks. They repeated that success in the regular season the next campaign, with a record of 46-30-6. Once again, they exited the postseason early, this time to the San Jose Sharks. Then came the 2011-12 season. Granted, their regular season record was worse with a 40-27-15 line, but once the playoffs started, they showed critics that they were not to be underestimated, despite being a lowly eighth seeded team. They disposed of the league leading Canucks in five games, swept the Blues, hunted the Coyotes in five, then took on the Devils and won the Stanley Cup in six games, becoming the first team in major league sports to finish as an eighth seed and go on to win the championship.
In the lockout shortened season, the Kings put up a record of 27-16-5, and made the playoffs as the fifth seed. They beat the Blues and Sharks again, respectively, before meeting the Hawks in the Conference Finals and ultimately losing in five games, as the Hawks went on to win the Cup for the second time in three seasons. In 2013-14, the Kings went 46-28-8, made the playoffs again for fifth straight year. They had a tougher time in the first three series, meeting the Sharks, Ducks, and the Hawks, respectively, and the Kings won the first three rounds in seven games each, mounting comebacks to steal the series. They met the New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup Finals, and won their second Cup in three seasons.
The Kings are one of the most well rounded teams in the National Hockey League, utilizing physical mixed in with skill to succeed consistently. Mike Richards, Marian Gaborik, Jeff Carter, and Dustin Brown (the Kings captain) are signed for the next four plus years each, with Anze Kopitar due for a renewal in 2017. The problematic scenarios will begin next year though, as Kyle Clifford, Tyler Toffoli, Tanner Pearson, Jordan Nolan, and Andy Andreoff will all be RFAs and will be looking for raises. Toffoli and Pearson will be the most important, as they are so far really clicking with Carter, as part of the “That 70’s Line.” Justin William’s and Jarret Stoll’s contract will both expire next summer, and Williams will be one piece Lombardi will want to keep.
Dwight King and Trevor Lewis will be UFA’s in three and two years, respectively. On defense, Drew Doughty and Slava Voynov, Jake Muzzin, and Matt Greene are signed to long term contracts. All three of Doughty, Muzzin, and Voynov’s cap hits are steals at 7 million, 4 million, and 4.1 million. Robyn Regehr and Alec Martinez will be UFA’s in 2016, and Brayden McNabb will be an RFA the year after. Having Jonathan Quick as your starting goalie ensures that your team will have a great shot of winning more games then losing, and Quick is signed all the way to 2023, with a paltry cap hit of 5.8 million per year. Martin Jones is the backup, and impressed in 2013-14 with a record of 12-6, 1.81 GAA, .934 SV%, and is looking the same so far in 2014-15.
Dean Lombardi will need to trade a chunk of salary this season or in the offseason to accommodate the RFA’s this summer because they are the Kings future, and so far it is looking very bright. They should be an annual Cup contender for many years now.
The Boston Bruins
The Bruins have been one of the more frequent visitors to the playoffs in the last fifteen seasons. They are not like the Kings or Hawks, who went through four to six years of basement dwelling and stockpiling the picks to build a contender. The Bruins just had a couple bad outings, some good drafting, some good and odd (especially Joe Thornton) trades, to get where they are today. Despite them making the playoffs more often than not, they could never get past the Eastern Conference Semifinals, as the last time they got to the Conference Finals was in 1991-92 where they lost versus the eventual Cup winning Penguins, prior to the 2010-11 playoffs.
But in the 2011 NHL Playoffs, that all changed. After winning in seven games against the Montreal Canadiens, they swept the Philadelphia Flyers, then hit the Conference Finals for the first time in almost twenty years, defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games. The Bruins then met the Vancouver Canucks in the Finals, and took care of them in seven games to win their first Cup since 1971-72.
In 2011-12, the Bruins suffered the Stanley Cup hangover however, despite putting up three more wins than 10-11. They were knocked out in the first round by the Washington Capitals in seven games, ending their season. In the lockout shortened season of 2012-13, the Bruins made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals once again, but were unable to gain any momentum against the Hawks, losing in six games.
The Bruins have somewhat of a solid line up, but with trading Johnny Boychuk early in the season, they are beginning to look a little weaker on defense. Zdeno Chara is not getting any younger, let’s face it. But their forward corps are definitely one of the best, and having Patrice Bergeron is a huge plus. Bergeron, Krejci, and Marchand are signed for the next three plus years, but Milan Lucic, Chris Kelly, Loui Eriksson, Gregory Campbell, Reilly Smith, Daniel Paille, Carl Soderberg, Seth Griffith, and Simon Gagne are all expiring within the next two years. GM Peter Chiarelli will need to work some magic to keep his core together if they want to keep contending. Matt Bartowski, Adam McQuaid, Torey Krug, Dougie Hamilton will also be eligible for new contracts next summer. Joe Morrow, Kevan Miller, and Zach Trotman all expire in two seasons. Finally, Tuukka Rask is signed up until 2021. The Bruins will need to work on getting some cash traded out, so they can resign their younger players, and once they do so, they will be a contender once again and should be challenging for a Cup in no time.
Some teams who have not won the Cup recently, but are looking like they may challenge for it soon.
Dallas Stars – The Stars are shaping up to be a contender after suffering from a long playoff drought. If it wasn’t enough that they acquired Tyler Seguin a couple seasons ago, they solidified their centre depth by adding Jason Spezza. Jamie Benn is evolving into one of the best in the league each and every year. Valeri Nichushkin is looking to be a part of their top six, standing at 6’4, as he scored 14 goals and 34 points in his rookie season. The Stars have six UFA’s, including Spezza, Sergei Gonchar, Rich Peverley, Patrick Eaves, Erik Cole, and Shawn Horcoff, and Spezza looks to be the only player the Stars hope to retain. With 18 million freed up this upcoming offseason, providing Cole, Horcoff, Peverley, and Gonchar walk, the Stars will be looking to sign some free agency talent, or bring some kids from their prospect pool up. Whatever they decide to do though, as long as their top six contains Seguin, Benn, Spezza, Nischushkin, and Hemsky, they will remain a dangerous unit.
Montreal Canadiens – The Habs have been knocking on the door for a while now, despite missing a true #1 center and lacking in secondary scoring. Adding P.A. Parenteau was a good addition, especially since Daniel Briere went the other way, but so far they have been struggling mightily not just in winning, but maintaining a lead. Overall though, the Habs are a nicely built team. They have multiple franchise pieces in Alex Galchenyuk, Max Pacioretty, PK Subban, and Carey Price. They just need to build around those four, decide if Galchenyuk will be a left wing or center, and then they can start calling themselves a true contender.
Anaheim Ducks- The Ducks have been finding success in the dreaded Western Conference over the years, there’s no argument there. Since winning the Cup in 2006-07, they have missed the playoffs twice, but have only gotten to the Conference Semifinals, never past that. Having Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry in the top six are guaranteed to win some games, and the Ducks still have a decent core built around them. They solidified their center depth in the offseason by acquiring Ryan Kesler from the Vancouver Canucks, but also let Jonas Hiller walk too, leaving Frederik Andersen and John Gibson to man the crease. This is a huge gamble since the both do not have a full NHL season played combined, but so far it has paid off. The Ducks are sure to be one of the stronger teams in the next few years, and possibly beyond.
New York Islanders – Now I know what you’re thinking. The Islanders? Are you insane? Not really. It is true that the Isles have had a reputation of being a bottom feeder team, having only made the playoffs five times, never past the first round, since the 1994-95 season. But Garth Snow has really started to right the ship. Drafting John Tavares was his best move, and only an idiot could have screwed that up, but regardless he made the right choice. Drafting has been a big part of the success in the Isles turnaround, as eleven of their players on the roster today have been drafted and developed by the Isles. Prior to the season start, the Isles still had two glaring holes on the team, a shoddy defense, and the goaltender position. Snow fixed the first problem by acquiring Nick Leddy from the Hawks for three picks, then acquiring Johnny Boychuk from the Bruins for Ville Pokka, T.J Brennan, and RFA goalie Anders Nilsson.
The goalie situation still remains, as Jarsolav Halak and Chad Johnson are the two netminders, definitely not goalies who will be able to carry a team to the Finals, unless it is a Cinderella run. Snow also added Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin in the summer, and it has paid off so far. The Isles still have a bevy of prospects in their system, just waiting to break into the league, so they could trade one or two of them to acquire an elite goalie. The Isles will also be moving to Brooklyn for the 2015-16 season, so along with an up and coming franchise, they are getting a makeover financially and arena-wise. It may be a good two-three years before the Isles can start getting past the first round of the playoffs, but when they do, look out.
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