Pittsburgh Penguins GM Jim Rutherford is quick to point out that there are multiple ways to win a Stanley Cup in today’s NHL. His team won with speed, but he doesn’t think there needs to be a rush on adding high-end skaters to the lineup.
“There’s more than one way to win,” Rutherford said this week. “When you look at the teams that won over the last three or four years, they’re each different in little different ways. I don’t necessarily think you have to do it exactly the way we did it.”
Plus, it’s not easy adding speed when everybody identifies it as a need.
“It’s not like you can go somewhere and all of a sudden there’s a bunch of guys who have great speed and you go pick them up,” Rutherford said. “When we recognized early last year that we needed to add some speed, I know the list was pretty short when you start looking around.”
But there are qualities of the Penguins' blueprint that are a near necessity to be considered a true Stanley Cup contender, including these five:
1. A franchise centerman: Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are just the latest in a long line of franchise centers to win a Stanley Cup. It’s almost at the point now where you may be able to rule out really good teams out if they don’t have one. Pittsburgh happens to have two.
2. A franchise defenseman who can play 30 minutes if necessary: Kris Letang was fantastic in the postseason last spring. Just like Drew Doughty, Duncan Keith and Zdeno Chara before him.
3. Major contributions from players on entry-level deals: It’s a must-have in the salary cap economy. Championship rosters can’t only be built on expensive veterans. To have high-paid stars, teams need contributions from young players on their first contract. The Penguins don’t win the Cup without goaltender Matt Murray. He made $642,500 last season.
4. Three skilled scoring lines: Much of the Penguins' success can be traced to the creation of the Nick Bonino, Phil Kessel and Carl Hagelin line. It made the Penguins all but unstoppable while teams focused on Crosby and Malkin.
5. A mobile defense: You need defensemen who can quickly get the puck and start the transition the other way, ideally getting the puck to forwards with a head of steam. Adding a defenseman like Trevor Daley midseason helped transform the Penguins. The more puck-movers, the better on defense.
So how do the other teams in the NHL stack up in these five categories? We’ll examine that in the next two weeks, starting with the Metropolitan Division:
Note: Teams are in order of 2015-16 finish:
Washington Capitals
1. Franchise centerman: Check. Nicklas Backstrom isn’t spoken about with the same level of respect as his counterparts Jonathan Toews, Crosby and Anze Kopitar, and there’s only one reason for that. Those three have Stanley Cup rings. Backstrom belongs in that group, and will get there if he wins one.
2. Big-minute franchise defenseman: John Carlson finished 10th in Norris Trophy voting two seasons ago, and his minutes jumped by more than three minutes per game from the regular season to the playoffs. He’s borderline in this category, but we’ll give it to the Capitals.
3. Entry-level contributors: Andre Burakovsky scored 17 goals last season and is only getting better. The Capitals will likely get contributions from Jakub Vrana, and getting 24-year-old Brett Connolly at only $850,000 this season is basically an entry-level deal. The Capitals qualify here.
4. Three skilled scoring lines: This hinges on Lars Eller thriving in a very defined role this season. The Capitals' depth at forward allows Justin Williams to play on a third line, which qualifies Washington in this category. The Capitals will miss Jason Chimera.
5. Mobile defense: The Capitals have a couple good skaters on this defense, but as a whole there are some concerns about the overall speed of Washington’s back end.
Total: Four out of five: Capitals are again built to win it all and should be in the Stanley Cup conversation this spring.
New York Rangers
1. Franchise centerman: This has been the knock on the Rangers the past several seasons. Derek Stepan is a good center, but he isn’t a franchise center.
2. Big-minute franchise defenseman: Ryan McDonagh qualifies here. He’s still one of the best, finishing No. 15 in Norris Trophy voting last season.
3. Entry-level contributors: This is the biggest payoff of GM Jeff Gorton landing Jimmy Vesey. He may not live up to the hype, but he’s going to out-produce his contract. For a team that hasn’t had first-round picks recently, the Rangers have done a nice job bringing in talent on the cheap, either in the form of college free agents or bargain-bin veterans like Brandon Pirri and Michael Grabner.
4. Three skilled scoring lines: The emergence of J.T. Miller helps the cause here, but the Rangers' depth up front has taken a hit the last couple seasons as the price tags on their young talent have gone up.
5. Mobile defense: The loss of Keith Yandle hurts, as does the decline of Dan Girardi. The Rangers' defense still needs a retooling for New York to be considered among the East’s elite.
Total: Two out of five. As long as Henrik Lundqvist is in goal, you can’t discount the Rangers' chances, but this group looks more like a team in transition than a true Stanley Cup contender.
New York Islanders
1. Franchise centerman: Check. John Tavares is great.
2. Big-minute franchise defenseman: There are likable players on the Islanders' defense, including Travis Hamonic, Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuk, but nobody you’d plug into the Norris conversation.
3. Entry-level contributors: As this roster has matured, so have the contracts of its young players. Casey Cizikas saw a big jump in his salary, for example. The positive is that the system is still deep enough to produce a young useful player if needed, with Mathew Barzal and Ryan Pulock strong candidates to pitch in on their entry-level deals this season.
4. Three skilled scoring lines: The Islanders' forward depth is one of their strengths, with the additions of veterans Jason Chimera and Andrew Ladd strengthening the wing. The departure of Frans Nielsen hurts here, but Brock Nelson, Barzal and Ryan Strome are candidates to take advantage of the additional ice time in the middle. We think there’s enough at forward for Jack Capuano to construct three skilled lines.
5. Mobile top four: Leddy is one of the game’s best skaters. Hamonic is a good skater who is as solid as they come. Guys like Calvin De Haan and Thomas Hickey are strong skaters and puck-movers. Boychuk is the exception on the Islanders' defense, but is surrounded by enough speed on defense to make up for it.
Total: Four out of five. If you’re looking for a team outside the normal conversation in the East to surprise, this might be a candidate.
Philadelphia Flyers
1. Franchise centerman: Claude Giroux qualifies here. He’s not your prototypical two-way franchise center, but he is a star in his own right.
2. Big-minute franchise defenseman: Not yet. GM Ron Hextall has been building a strong, young defense that should be a strength of the team soon, but there isn’t a Drew Doughty in this group.
3. Entry-level contributors: The Flyers can afford to pay a premium for guys like Giroux and Jakub Voracek because they have young talent coming. Shayne Gostisbehere should be good for 40 points on an entry-level deal; that’s a nice edge for the Flyers.
4. Three skilled scoring lines: The Flyers aren’t at the point in their development where they have the depth up front like some of the other Eastern Conference playoff contenders.
5. Mobile defense: Michael Del Zotto is a good skater and strong puck mover, but there’s still work to be done on this defense to fill it with good, strong mobile defenders. If Ivan Provorov can secure a job and serious minutes, that helps the cause significantly.
Total: Two out of five. Philadelphia is headed in the right direction, but the Flyers aren’t Cup contenders yet.
Carolina Hurricanes
1. Franchise centerman: Nope.
2. Big-minute franchise defenseman: Justin Faulk qualifies here. As Carolina gets better, the appreciation for his game leaguewide will grow.
3. Entry-level contributors: The Hurricanes have no shortage of entry-level players capable of contributing, but it only becomes an advantage if ownership is then willing to spend on veterans to surround those young players. Right now, according to generalfanager.com, Carolina has the league’s lowest payroll. So Carolina only gets half credit here.
4. Three skilled scoring lines: Not yet. But with the addition of Teuvo Teravainen and the expected emergence of Sebastian Aho, Carolina is building in this direction.
5. Mobile defense: Check. One of the things that makes Carolina a strong possession team and provides the most hope for the future is a good, young, strong skating defense. Faulk can skate. Noah Hanifin is a great skater. Jaccob Slavin quietly had a strong season last year. Brett Pesce is a good puck mover. And there’s more coming.
Total: Two and a half out of five. Carolina has a very modern defense, the kind needed in today’s NHL. Now GM Ron Francis needs to strengthen the forward group.
New Jersey Devils
1. Franchise centerman: There are good centers on this roster, but nobody who is quite franchise level. Pavel Zacha is the hope here for Devils fans.
2. Big-minute franchise defenseman: The downside of trading for Taylor Hall is that the best candidate to fill this role -- Adam Larsson -- is now in Edmonton.
3. Entry-level contributors: The Devils are rebuilding, so there will be young players coming, but like Carolina, there’s no payoff to having entry-level contracts if the overall payroll remains near the bottom of the league.
4. Three skilled scoring lines: GM Ray Shero still needs to work on filling out the forward depth in New Jersey. A potential top line of Taylor Hall, Adam Henrique and Kyle Palmeiri can play with anybody, but it thins out after that.
5. Mobile defense: John Moore is a great skater. Andy Greene is a strong puck-mover and the addition of Ben Lovejoy brings another defenseman who can skate and move the puck. There are nice pieces, but this still isn’t a defense you can call Stanley Cup-caliber.
Total: 1 out of 5. Cory Schneider keeps the Devils in every single game, but it’s hard to project this team exceeding last year’s surprising finish.
Columbus Blue Jackets
1. Franchise centerman: The problem with trading Ryan Johansen is that it created a hole down the middle. If GM Jarmo Kekalainen and his staff are right about No. 3 overall draft pick Pierre-Luc Dubois, Columbus will be in great shape.
2. Big-minute franchise defenseman: We’re not ready to crown Seth Jones a franchise defenseman just yet, but he’s capable of getting there this season. Zach Werenski may end up getting to that level too. He’s going to be really good, and coach John Tortorella will give him every opportunity to show it this season.
3. Entry-level contributors: The success at the AHL level in Cleveland shows that there is young talent coming in Columbus, most notably Werenski. And Columbus ownership has already proved that it will spend to surround the young talent. Check.
4. Three skilled scoring lines: Alexander Wennberg has the ability to be a skilled center on a strong third line, and the organization has done a nice job building forward depth, but we’re not quite ready to give them a check mark here until some of the younger players prove it.
5. Mobile defense: Check. This defense will be the strength of the team. It’s built perfectly to compete in today’s NHL.
Total: Two out of five. The Blue Jackets' growth as a franchise will hinge on Jones becoming the defenseman everyone expects him to be and Dubois fulfilling the faith of management. If those two things happen, Columbus may finally break through.