Quote:
Originally Posted by PugnaciousIntern
I'll agree that their success isn't only talent alone...however I'd argue that a lot of their motivation is internal (personal desires to play for the city after the way the season opened, wanting to prove their doubters wrong who left them unprotected, wanting to establish themselves as a star on a new team, or simply the excitement surrounding the whole expansion team thing). Their coach no doubt plays a part in providing additional external motivation, but I'm not sure you can say that their whole success is just good systems play, coach pressing the right buttons, and motivational speeches.
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Your argument suggests that the team would at least be moderately successful if it had picked different players and/or a different coach, because it is inherent to the situation. Yet, only one expansion team in the NHL has had a >0.500 win% in their first season, and that was in 1925.
So maybe Vegas had a good read on which players, who were deemed unworthy of protection by their former teams, would respond to that situation. That's possible, but I think the most likely theory is that they have an exceptional coach for the group of players they've assembled. Occam's razor.