It has been an electric Stanley Cup Final thus far between the Carolina Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights, with a tied series in which all but last night's game were one-goal affairs. It's safe to say that both teams have proven they were unequivocally the most worthy organizations to reach this point. The good news for the Devils is that there is always something to learn from the finalists -- it's a copycat league, after all.
One such lesson the Devils should take from the Stanley Cup finalists is in roster construction. Vegas, who had not made it past the second round since their Stanley Cup victory in 2023, added plenty of skill and speed throughout their lineup to get here once again. Carolina, who has seemingly been on the precipice of Cup contention for the last half-decade but has never been able to get over the hump until now, did the same exact thing. It would be wise for the Devils to follow suit, conceptually speaking.
Between their off-season and mid-season moves, the Vegas Golden Knights acquired Mitch Marner, Rasmus Andersson, Colton Sissons, Nic Dowd, Jeremy Lauzon, Cole Smith, and some depth pieces. Of course, said depth pieces and most of their low-level additions have been important but not paramount to their success. Sissons, who ranked in the 84th percentile for top speed in the regular season and above the 50th percentile in explosive skating, has centered their very dangerous third line and has scored 0.4 points per game in the postseason.
While Andersson has not been at his best this postseason, he has certainly had his moments. The bell of the ball is, and always has been, ex-Maple Leaf superstar Mitch Marner, whose "softness" made Toronto fans effectively shoo him out of the organization. Playing the exact same way, with the same deployment, Marner now has 29 points in 20 games and is far and away the favorite to take home the Conn Smythe Trophy.
The Devils can learn how to build a roster from the Hurricanes and Golden Knights
On the other side of the ice are the Hurricanes, who certainly prioritized getting faster and more skilled this past season. In the off-season, they acquired K'Andre Miller from the New York Rangers, a skilled but conventionally "soft" defenseman whose specialty is in opening up the rush. He has been, bar none, the best defenseman for the Hurricanes, and arguably the best defenseman in the playoffs, period.
In free agency, they signed Nikolaj Ehlers, another speedy and skilled but "soft" forward who relies on his skating to contribute to generating a ton of odd-man looks. In 16 games, Ehlers has seven goals and 14 total points, including five points in the first four games of the Finals. Adding his dynamism has made the Hurricanes a true dual-threat team, rather than the one-dimensional dump-and-chase, forecheck-heavy team they were prior.
It should also be noted that at the Logan Stankoven, the current Hurricanes goal leader, Taylor Hall, their points leader, and Mark Jankowski, a skilled fourth-line player who has five points in 17 playoff games, were all acquired mid-season in 2024-25.
The overarching point here is that both Vegas and Carolina made concerted efforts to improve their skill and speed entering this season. Yes, there were some peripheral pieces to go along with it -- no one is denying that Dowd or Lauzon have been important players for Vegas in shutdown minutes -- but the true impact players for both teams have been the "soft," skilled, speedy individuals.
The Devils can, and should, take this to heart. Enough with the methodical, slow, physical grinders who provide little to no speed or skill. From the top of the lineup to the bottom, in the forward corps and defense corps, the emphasis should be on getting better, not getting "harder to play against."
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