Here is an approximation of the monthly reaction from NHL observers about the Vegas Golden Knights:
October: Aw, that’s cute, Vegas has won some games.
November: Look at those little scamps go!
December: Still a small sample size, everyone.
January: Just wait until they get caved in for the whole second half.
February: WTF.
March: Seriously, WTF. ...


Vegas has just nine games left over which it will lock down the final numbers for the collection of records it will set for an NHL expansion franchise. It long ago broke all the previous marks, and with 99 points already and eight points up on San Jose, Vegas is a lock to shatter the 100-point mark and almost certainly will win the Pacific Division. All with a collection of players that the rest of the league collectively deemed expendable. ...

There is much evidence that the Knights are not a fluke, at least in terms of how we typically think of one. They have not won an absurd number of close games, their underlying fancy stats are decent, and they don’t have lights-out special teams that would swing an inordinate number of games.
They are second in goals scored and seventh in goals allowed, giving them a goal differential of +48, right in line with their place in the standings. And while they have an excellent home record, the suggestion that the team has benefitted particularly from visiting teams that stay out all night in casinos and, ahem, other establishments, is undercut by the fact that Vegas has won more road games than every team in the league other than Tampa and Nashville. ...

The NHL, for all the effort and time spent on roster assembly, coaching, and the actual playing of games, functions like a results generator that routinely spits out some outliers. The L.A. Kings won two Stanley Cups in three years and then missed the playoffs. Chicago finished first in the West with 109 points last year and is last in their division this year. Montreal’s last four seasons, from 2014-15 to now: good, bad, good, bad. ...


Consider William Karlsson, plucked from the roster of the Columbus Blue Jackets because McPhee agreed to take the anchor of David Clarkson’s contract (and two draft picks; it was a big anchor) if the Jackets would make Karlsson available. He has now scored 39 goals for Vegas. Columbus: Sorry, that’s our bad. Karlsson, though, played 162 games for Columbus over the previous two seasons and scored 15 goals, netting about seven per cent of his shots, which is about the league average. This season he is shooting 23.5 per cent, by far the best rate in the league. ...

The best evidence of whether McPhee is a genius or was blessed with good fortune this season will probably come from the GM himself this summer. Will he be aggressive in trying to win again, or cautious, in the expectation that his collection of non-stars will regress next season?
http://theprovince.com/sports/hockey...3-1aff018414bb