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Originally Posted by CaramonLS
It isn't quite as simple as you make it out to be.
You could almost argue that the Flames have done exactly as you've described for their top 9.
The biggest problem I have with your argument is that the league is now dominated by special teams - with those select top line players getting significant minutes and majority of PP goals. Depth can be nice, but it does not help your offensive special teams
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This is a fair point to argue... but really, your special teams are best served by drawing penalties. Once that's happened, you're probably somewhere between 16-22% of penalties drawn ending up in the back of the net more or less regardless of whether it's Stamkos and St. Louis on your PP unit or Oshie and Berglund. Note that the top half of the NHL in PP% is a mix of teams with and without big stars and the top team in the league is the Blues, tied with the Penguins, and the bottom of the league includes Vancouver, Carolina and the Rangers, with all their offensive star firepower.
So, basically, if your non-Stamkoses can out-hustle the other team's plugs and spend enough time carrying the puck as opposed to their opponents, they will draw more penalties than said opponents and at the end of the year you'll have more total PP goals... At least, that's my theory.
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Can you even name anyone on Pens 3rd and 4th lines aside from Brandon Sutter? They decided to stack very top heavy and plug some holes on the 3rd and 4th lines.
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Yes, I can, but it doesn't matter - the Penguins shouldn't be used as an example for anything, really. They are a unique case. As I said, if you have the two best offensive players in the world (probably, with an argument to be made for Stammer) you're going to be pretty good - and that's not giving credit to Letang, who for me is top 5 d-men in the league.
Most teams do not have the luxury of acquiring Crosby. They may be able to sign non-generational but still superstar level guys like Getz, Perry, Staal, Nash, Richards etc. to big money deals. That's what we're talking about here; whether those guys are worth it given what they cost as a % of cap in the current CBA world.
Honestly I think if I was going to sign one of those elite-level players it'd be a defenseman. If I'm going to spend a bunch of my cap on one of those guys I want him on the ice for 27 minutes a night.