Early in the run to the Stanley Cup in 2023, Bruce Cassidy rolled out a forward lineup that looked a bit different than anything we’d ever seen in the past with the Golden Knights.
Rather than looking for the best combination of six forwards to play in the top-six, he went to a more balanced lineup including what he described as pairs. Each line had a strong center with an excellent winger on one side and a player typically not expected to play in the top-six on the other side. Jack Eichel’s partner was Jonathan Marchessault, Chandler Stephenson’s was Mark Stone, and William Karlsson had his PowerKill buddy, Reilly Smith.
The three wingers to fill each of those lines were Ivan Barbashev, Michael Amadio, and Brett Howden. In each case, Cassidy explained that this “third” player on the line was to drive the net to create space for the other two.
It worked like a charm.
Barbashev, Amadio, and Howden contributed at least five goals and ten points a piece in the 22-game playoff run.
The lineup allowed the Golden Knights incredible flexibility both on the road and at home against every opponent they faced, consistently finding mismatches for their top players. In many ways, that lineup structure won Vegas the Stanley Cup.
Heading into the upcoming season, after allowing a bevy of talented forwards to leave in free agency, it appears VGK are looking to find a little bit of that magic again.
I like our centers. What you have with a lot of teams around the league is you come up with pairs. Then you are looking for complementary wingers to go with those players. -Kelly McCrimmon
So, if they plan on creating a lineup utilizing forward “pairs” it could start with something like this.
Barbashev-Eichel-XXX
XXX-Hertl-Stone
Dorofeyev-Karlsson-XXX
XXX-Roy-Kolesar
Then, it’ll be about finding the right mix to fill the gaps. Players like Brett Howden, Brendan Brisson, Alexander Holtz, and Victor Olofsson appear to be the most likely candidates to mix and match with to start the year, but there’s still time to add more options.
The concept has shown to work and it appears the Golden Knights are committed to it moving forward, whether that’s by choice or not.
