Cup without legends – Newspaper Kommersant No. 65 (7510) dated 04/14/2023

The next regular season of the NHL cut short a long series of participation in the playoffs of both the main Russian hockey players of this century – Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin. Both Ovechkin and Malkin had a good season, but their clubs, still relying on veterans who debuted in the league in the middle of the decade before last, could not break into the Stanley Cup.

In the regular season of NHL which comes to an end on Friday, the last, 16th participant of play-off was defined. They became the New York Islanders, who beat the Montreal Canadiens 4:2. And this result added another extremely interesting result to the next season, in addition to those already recorded, such as the performance of Connor McDavid from the Edmonton Oilers, overcome a fantastic 150-point mark in today’s times, or the outstanding performance of the Boston Bruins who won the regular season with an overwhelming advantage, having already broken previous league records in both championship victories and points scored.

A club’s level of stability can be measured by looking at how often they make the playoffs. So, before the start of the season, the Pittsburgh Penguins had the longest series of participation in the cup stage – 16 – and the Washington Capitals with the Nashville Predators – eight each. “Washington” has long lost the chance to break into the playoffs, settling in the back of the table, Nashville lost them a few days ago, and the New York Islanders unhooked Pittsburgh from the Stanley Cup with their win.

The Washington and Pittsburgh misfires are almost significant events. In the sense that in many ways it was with these two clubs that the NHL was associated for a very long period of time.

In the middle of the decade before last, they almost simultaneously replenished with three hockey players, in whom, even when they were teenagers, they saw unconditional hockey geniuses. Washington in the 2004 draft went to Alexander Ovechkin. Pittsburgh chose Evgeni Malkin at number two on it, and the following summer they added Canadian Sidney Crosby to the Russian. Exceptionally gifted juniors quickly turned into leaders, earning the most valuable individual prizes, and their teams into constant Stanley Cup hunters. Washington, however, being highly quoted almost all the time, got it only once, in 2018, but Pittsburgh, having lost in the final in 2008, then took the trophy three times, in 2009, 2016 and 2017. By the standards of the modern NHL, with its unsteady and mobile, like jelly, hierarchy, with the eternal favorite leapfrog, this is an amazing stability.

Over the years, everyone who follows the NHL has already become accustomed to the fact that the playoffs without Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby are unthinkable. But for the first time in a decade and a half, none of them will be in it.

And the reason for the collapse of their clubs, of course, is not that the veteran titans (Crosby is already 35 years old, Malkin is 36, and Ovechkin is 37) finally surrendered sharply. On the contrary, you can’t say that any of them had a mediocre season. Sidney Crosby was one of the top 20 scorers in the regular season with 91 points. Evgeni Malkin was eight points behind him. Alexander Ovechkin, having missed several matches, scored 42 goals, more – only eight people.

The legends are still good. And the problem is that, accustomed to relying on them, to ride on their talent, neither Washington nor Pittsburgh have arranged at least a more or less radical restructuring of the lineups in order to refresh them, increase depth, and create a margin of safety. The Crosby and Malkin Club is perhaps the most illustrative example in this sense. The team’s six leading forwards (i.e. Canadian and Russian superstars plus Jake Genzel, Rickard Rackelle, Jason Zucker and Brian Rast) scored a total of 170 goals in the regular season, all the rest combined – 89, a third of the total. The return on defense in attack is ephemeral, with the experienced Mikael Granlund acquired before the deadline for exchanges from Nashville in 20 games for Pittsburgh, scraped together a miserable five points – a sad illustration of the quality and luck of his personnel policy.

However, the absence of Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin in the playoffs did not greatly reduce Russia’s “share” in the Stanley Cup. Domestic hockey players playing important roles are in most clubs who will fight for him. In the Tampa Bay Lightning – Nikita Kucherov, Andrey Vasilevsky and Mikhail Sergachev, in the New York Rangers – Artemy Panarin, Igor Shesterkin and Vladimir Tarasenko, in the Colorado Avalanche – Valery Nichushkin and Alexander Georgiev, in the Minnesota Wild “- Kirill Kaprizov, in the Boston Bruins – Dmitry Orlov, in the Vegas Golden Knights – Ivan Barbashev and Pavel Dorofeev, in the Los Angeles Kings – Vladislav Gavrikov, in the Toronto Maple Leafs – Ilya Samsonov, in” Florida Panthers – Sergey Bobrovsky, Dallas Stars – Evgeny Dadonov, Winnipeg Jets – Evgeny Namestnikov, New York Islanders – Ilya Sorokin, Edmonton Oilers – Klim Kostin.

Alexey Dospekhov