1. After winning back-to-back Stanley Cups on the back of speedy, energetic depth players, the Pittsburgh Penguins have set the model that rebuilding teams will look to emulate for years to come. The ebbs and flows of the NHL have lead to different methods of “optimal” roster construction based on what had succeeded recently.
At beginning of the decade, Boston and Los Angeles won the Stanley Cup with rosters built around heavy forechecking, physical play, and a grinding mentality from their players. For the next three years, Chicago and Los Angeles traded the Cup back and forth, as teams altered between modeling themselves after the speed and skill of the Blackhawks, or the Kings’ tenacious cycling system.