Going into the Golden Knights' expansion season, one could squint and see James Neal, David Perron, Jonathan Marchessault, and Reilly Smith in gray and gold, and make out the makings of a competitive group of forwards. Ditto for Marc-Andre Fleury and Calvin Pickard between the pipes.
However, nobody -- and I mean nobody -- looked at Deryk Engelland, Jason Garrison, Brad Hunt, Brayden McNabb, Jon Merrill, Colin Miller, Griffin Reinhart, Luca Sbisa, and Nate Schmidt at defense, and saw anything more than a disaster.
Going into the playoffs -- Garrison and Reinhart are with the Wolves, while Shea Theodore has stuck -- disaster is on the horizon once again, courtesy of the Kings, their first-round opponent.
This, despite the team's top-10 finishes in Goals Against (2.74, 8th), Score & Venue-Adjusted 5v5 Scoring Chances For % (52.23, 8th), and Scoring Chances Against (26.84, 7th). They're middle of the pack in 5v5 High-danger Corsi For % (49.46, 16th), according to Natural Stat Trick.
All in all, not bad for a no-name group of defenders.
Dave Prior has received a lot of well-deserved praise for his work with some unheralded goalies; it's time for Assistant Coach Ryan McGill, who works with the defense, to share some of that limelight.
I don't know how the Vegas D corps will handle Los Angeles -- I think they'll be okay -- but credit to McGill for turning a patchwork unit into at least league-average.
I spoke with Schmidt, Theodore, McNabb, Sbisa, and Gerard Gallant about McGill's handiwork. Schmidt and Theodore's interviews
were from January.
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HockeyBuzz: Can you talk about the impact that Ryan McGill has has had on the defense?
Gerard Gallant: He knows their strengths and weaknesses.
Brayden McNabb: He understands each defenseman, how they play, and how they need to play.
Luca Sbisa: He knows exactly which player can do what.
HB: Can you elaborate on McGill's ability to understand his defensemen on an individual level?
Nate Schmidt: We leave [the hitting] to Nabber, Sbisa. Let them bang around.
Guys like Theo and myself and Millsy and Huntsy, let those guys move up the ice and continue our momentum. Let our speed and skating dictate the way that we want to play.
(
HockeyBuzz note: At mid-season, Schmidt was averaging 1.64 5v5 Hits/60. This was well below his 3.48 last year. Schmidt credited McGill for this change, "It's a conscious decision because of how fast this league is."
On the other hand, neither McNabb nor Sbisa have changed their game, with Schmidt alluding to them as bangers. This shows an understanding on McGill's part of his personnel -- he's not asking Schmidt to be McNabb or McNabb to be Schmidt.)
HB: So what does McGill focus on with you?
Shea Theodore: Attacking the puck, rather than trying to go for the hit and the pin. A lot of times, that translates to offense because if you could knock that puck off loose a lot faster in the d-zone, you're quicker on the rush, and you're already in the offensive zone, as opposed to containing and playing d-zone.
Schmidt: One of our things is, if you have a good stick, good feet, don't worry about it. If you can poke it out, we're [attacking]. We're keeping our momentum.
Some times, hits can take away your speed.
Sbisa: He tells me be hard in the corner. Be a little heavier. They run a cycle, if you can pinch the guy against the wall, keep him there, because you stop the progression.
McNabb: He lets us be us. He's not too controlling. He knows your style. He makes sure that you stick with that.
HB: What's special about McGill, compared to other defensive coaches?
Sbisa: He listens to your needs more than the other [defensive coaches] I've had.
He does really good D-specific stuff.
Been on teams, you're injured, they want you to get your conditioning back, and all you do are lines. There are better ways and still get your conditioning back. Puck along the blueline, breakouts, stuff like that.
He has certain drills you've never seen, and you're like, "Huh. Didn't even know you could do that stuff."
Instead of always making a perfect pass [in practice], he wants you to throw a s*** pass into the skates. Because during the game, you don't always get good passes. So if it's just out of your sweet spot, you have to be able to handle it.
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Sbisa also added, about McGill's demeanor on the bench:
He's honest. On the bench, when you make good plays, bad plays, he tells you in a certain way that makes sense. There's no intimidation or mind games.
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The Golden Knights' first practice of the post-season saw the return of prolific playmaker David Perron...on a line with Ryan Reaves and Oscar Lindberg?
Considering Perron participated fully, this might be gamesmanship on Gerard Gallant's part. If Perron's healthy enough to practice without restrictions, he should be ready to go this Wednesday.
Sbisa also continued to work his way back into the line-up, as he practiced in full this morning too.
If everybody on Vegas is ready to go by Game One, Gallant will have a bevy of line-up questions.
Who will line up at fourth-line wing besides Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Tomas Nosek? Reaves, Lindberg, Ryan Carpenter, or William Carrier?
Who will Sbisa pair with? Schmidt, who has found success with McNabb in Sbisa's absences? Or Miller, who Sbisa has played just 20:19 with at 5v5 this year? I assume the Theodore-Engelland pairing will remain intact.
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