When the Golden Knights diagnosed what went wrong towards the end of the season and into the playoffs the first word that came to mind for most was chemistry. Because of all the moving pieces with injuries and trades they said it was hard to get the full team on the same page so quickly for the games when it mattered most.
In Game 5 against Dallas the Golden Knights made changes to three of the four forward lines, two of the three defense pairs, and the goalie. Two of the forward lines, and one of the D-pairs, had never played together at all while the other two had seen less than 10 games together during the regular season.
It was like this pretty much the entire postseason. Because of the arrivals of Tomas Hertl, Noah Hanifin, and Anthony Mantha, coupled with the returns of Mark Stone and William Carrier, no matter how the roster was rolled out there was going to be a ton of uncertainty. Contrast that to the Stars lineup which had essentially played the entire season together en route to the best record in Western Conference.
But it wasn’t all bad, and while it’s more likely the team looks to the lessons of what went wrong, there were shining examples of what went right both this year and last.
Atop that list is defenseman Noah Hanifin. Coming over from Calgary with just 19 games left in the regular season, Hanifin stepped in and was arguably the best defenseman on the roster for the rest of the year.
Because of the time of year we weren’t really practicing a ton, we were kind of just playing games. Sometimes you just get into it and wing it almost and that helps. -Noah Hanifin
In his first game with the Golden Knights, Hanifin was partnered with fellow stud defenseman Alex Pietrangelo. After Pietrangelo’s appendectomy, Hanifin then found himself next to Nic Hague. In the playoffs he then played games with Ben Hutton and Zach Whitecloud. Through it all, he was consistently excellent both offensively and defensively.
For me it’s about not trying to change my game no matter who you are playing with. Try to be predictable for your partner and communicate, that’s a huge thing. -Hanifin
Last year, another one of the trade deadline acquisitions stepped in brilliantly as well. Ivan Barbashev came over from the Blues, was put on a line with Jack Eichel and Jonathan Marchessault, and instantly had an impact.
When you get traded you have no idea what to expect and you have no idea who you are going to play with. When I got here it probably took me a couple of games to get it going. We just kept it simple and played the game. -Ivan Barbashev
The lesson likely to be take from the successes of Barbashev and Hanifin is consistency. Both admitted it takes a bit to truly get up to speed with the new team. So, finding a home in the lineup can really help. Hanifin played his first five games with the same partner, Barbashev played his first 19 with the same linemates as well. Then, even when things had to shift in the playoffs, they both still performed.
The same can’t be said for Tomas Hertl, Anthony Mantha, or Teddy Blueger, none of whom ever quite found their footing early in their times in Vegas.
The chances the Golden Knights are active next season at the deadline remain high, so the lessons learned from integrating new players could be the difference between parades and sad handshakes.
