With the Phoenix Coyotes
and Nashville Predators finally missing the playoffs for the first time in
years (2008-2009 season to be exact), it might be time to look at how the two
teams with relatively low payrolls managed to have a decent amount of success.
Using Capgeek's archives we can see that Phoenix ranked 29th, 22nd and
22nd in spending from 2009-2010 to 2011-2012 season, while Nasville ranked
28th, 21nd and 23rd in the same time frame.
So how did those two
teams make the playoffs year after year despite never getting much attention
from various experts and the low payroll?
Roster
Both teams do not possess
much of high-end skill up front as that is the most expensive thing in the
market. Instead both teams focus on sound two-way players with the ability to
win puck-battles and play sound defensive hockey. They have sound, tough to
play against two-way centers like Hanzal, Fisher, Legwand who don't posses the
salary or skill of their more high end
counterparts, but still provide the element needed to carry out the type of
game Predators and Coyotes want to play. Both teams avoid sinking money into
high end wingers instead opting for either for cheaper
skill wingers like Ray Whitney (left as UFA), Sergei Kostitsyn, Radim Vrbata, or opt for
wingers who provide a different game like Hornqvist and of course the big name
in Phoenix – Shane Doan (more on this here),. Both teams however favor a strong and deep defense
group – Yandle, OEL, Weber, Suter (left as UFA) and a plethora of other serviceable
defensemen and high end prospects in both systems. Nashville also has an
all-star goalie in Pekka Rinne, while Phoenix had Bryzgalov and Smith later on.
Coaching
Dave Tippett and Barry
Trotz are two excellent coaches who have provided their teams with a structure
that lends itself to the type of players they have and can afford. Both teams
place emphasis on sound, defensively aware hockey with a strong emphasis on
winning puck battles which goes hand in hand with the roster both coaches have
at disposal. This makes both teams hard to play against, this type of hockey
tends to keep games close even when they're playing against teams that can
boast a higher talent level, it is very rare that you will see either team have
the kind of defensive meltdown that would put the game out of hand for them.
Drafting and development
Both teams, but
especially the Predators have kept their system going with new prospects being
brought in and developed. Both teams have had their defense flushed with
projectable prospects. Nashville especially has been a gold mine of young
defensemen over the past couple of years.
So how do the Predators and Coyotes do it?
The success of Phoenix
and Nashville despite the low payrolls is a result of a well oiled machine that
mixes sound roster decisions (the avodiance of high end skill and flash up
front in favor of cheaper all around ability and strong defense), coaching
(defensively sound teams focused on winning puck battles and outcompeting the
opposition) and drafting and development (a steady intake of useful cheap young
players to fill the holes) under one philosophy.
How close were/are they?
Both teams were likely a
true #1 high end center away from being legitimate contenders or an overall
deeper forward group. If you add more high end skill up front you arrive at the
two teams who are the logical extension of the Phoenix/Nashville model – the
Boston Bruins and the Los Angeles Kings who do a lot of the things the same way
but with more high end skill up front. To conclude, both Phoenix and Nashville
are two teams who clearly do things "the right way" but simply didn't have the
financial muscle to go further than they did. If they did it wouldn't be
unimaginable that you'd be looking at them the same way you look at the Boston
Bruins and the Los Angeles Kings which is pretty much the same model
Phoenix/Nashville uses brought to it's logical conclusion.
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