The New York Islanders had a much more difficult time reaching the third round than the newer guys like Vegas, in particular and Seattle, which just got the second-round hook.
When Dallas finally knocked off the Kraken last night to move into the Sun Belt Final Four For The Cup, I couldn't help but think of the Original New York Islanders from 1972-73 through 1974-75.
And while this may be stretching a point, my point is that the Isles had a much more difficult time reaching the third round than the newer guys like Vegas, in particular and Seattle, which just got the second round hook.
These "Non-Traditional Markets." are ones that once were degraded as "Non-NHL Ready" just as the Islanders were in 1972. The point in common with the Original Islanders was that the experts doubted that they'd survive.
With the Nassaumen, finances were wobbly from the get-go with owner Roy Boe playing fiscal ping pong between his hockey and basketball interests.
Ultimately, finances became so desperate that players had reason to wonder whether the team would survive.
"It got so bad," general manager Bill Torrey once revealed, "that when we had a road game, I had to pay the hotels with my own credit card."
Comparing the baby Vegas Golden Knights and the first year Isles, one could wonder how Torrey's team rarely could win a game while Nevada's sextet made it -- miraculously, I might add -- all the way to the Stanley Cup Final in 2018.
Having learned from past debacles -- including the Original Islanders -- the league arranged its 2017 Draft so that Vegas enjoyed a ready-made competitive team.
"To get to the Stanley Cup Final in Year One, was quite a feat" wrote Scott Kerr in The Hockey News Annual.
By contrast to the Knights first Draft, Torrey found himself in a canoe without a paddle.
Torrey: "In those days (1972) my fellow competitors were only going to give me broken down players or players who had a problem somewhere down the line. Or they wouldn't have given up on them in the first place.
"We knew what we were attempting to do, that it was going to be a long pull, The only serviceable players we got at the 1972 expansion draft were Boston right wing Ed Westfall, a young goalie named Billy Smith and defenseman Gerry Hart."
There were other players available but -- unlike Carolina, Florida, Vegas and Dallas -- there was unexpected competition. Torrey's chief scout Jim Devellano remembered it well.
"The year we came into the NHL," Jimmy D remembered, "also was the year that the World Hockey Association got underway. It didn't take long for the WHA to start raiding the NHL rosters."
Devellano: "Imagine; right off the bat the WHA took eight of our guys and we didn't have much -- except draft pick right wing Billy Harris -- to begin with. We suffered big-time and had no idea when we'd even make the playoffs."
Now Executive Vice President of the Detroit Red Wings, Jimmy D can only chuckle over -- and admire -- the Seattle Kraken for reaching Game Seven of the second round this spring compared to the Isles second campaign.
"We got better in our second year because we were able to pick Denis Potvin as the first overall selection but young Denis wasn't enough to make us a playoff team like Seattle became this year.
"That Vegas got to the Final in 2018 shows how well stocked the league made them -- and so fast. For us on the Islanders, the only players of note we got in our second draft were defensemen Dave Lewis and Bob Lorimer and a little forward named Andre St. Laurent."
It wasn't until the 1974 Draft that the Islanders began flexing their muscles. With the fourth pick they obtained future Hall of Fame left wing Clark Gillies and later center -- another future Hall of Famer -- Bryan Trottier (22) and defenseman Stefan Persson (214.)
"We beat Atlanta out for the playoff berth," chuckled Devellano, "and then nobody thought we could beat the Rangers in the first round; but we did. Then we beat Pittsburgh in the second round.
"That was the series where we were down three games to none and won the next four in a row. So we climbed all the way to the third round before Philly knocked us off in the seventh game."
The current Dallas sextet reminds me a bit of that 1974-75 Islanders team. While the Islanders came to depend on Denis Potvin as their defensive balance wheel, the Stars now lean for support on blue liner Miro Heiskanen.
"We drafted Miro third overall in 2017," said Dallas' veteran general manager, Jim Nill, "and he's turned into one the best D-men in the league. But that wasn't the only guy who's helped us.
"Boston University had a goalie we had our eyes on; so we drafted Jake Oettinger twenty-sixth overall. He's become our number one goalie and a good reason why we just beat Seattle."
By contrast, the Islanders road to the Cup was paved when Torrey obtained Glenn (Chico) Resch to alternate with Smith on a regular basis in 1974-75. That, not coincidentally, was the club's entree into the postseason.
As for Carolina -- considered by many as this year's Cup favorite -- the current Canes also benefited by drafting gifted right wing Martin Necas twelfth overall in 2017. Necas was a factor in the Canes six-game series win over the Islanders in the first round.
To wrap, although Carolina has brought in some skaters -- Brent Burns, amongst others -- the core was aided by the Draft, including netting Seth Jarvis, Andrei Svechnikov, Jack Drury, Sebastian Aho, Jaccob Slavin