Quote (Meatstick @ May 7 2018 01:55pm)
It will be an embarrassment to the rest of the league if they win it all imo
Management there has done an outstanding job and there were some sleepers that came out of nowhere that have been huge for them. Though having access to legit top players is definitely a huge boost that no other team in the past has had (Fleury, Neal, Marchessault, etc)
Really sets them up for success, league fixed it that way
To be fair the format had to change.
With how terrible Atlanta and Columbus started out there was no way they wanted a repeat of that.
I think a lot of things had to fall into place in a near perfect manner, which just so happened to be the case.
Florida firing gallant was absolutely moronic. It is evident he is a great coach. A team of mismatched (albeit not lacking talent) players have come together and found the chemistry and drive needed to win. That is not going to happen very often in these circumstances. I don't think we will see an expansion team this successful again first year.
Like you said the front office staff, coaching, scouting and so forth had to be solid for this to happen. That is why I don't want to dilute their success by saying it was handed to them by the layout of the draft.
If another expansion team is given the same conditions I highly doubt you see close to this level of success. I give them credit.
I predicted them to finish 9th - 10th at the start of the year. Many gave far worse outcomes as a prediction while very few expected them to make the playoffs. I think it is safe to say they have surprised just about everyone.
This post was edited by Killingyouall on May 7 2018 08:21pm