Average age of this team is 25.5 years old. Youth is the new movement in the NHL. They have some of the best young talent in all of hockey and seem to be hitting their stride coming out of the gate and are having a fantastic start to the season.
With a young nucleus of Anze Kopitar (23), captain Dustin Brown (26), Wayne Simmonds (22), Drew Doughty (21), Jack Johnson (24), and Jonathan Quick (25) between the pipes, this team should be able to thrive for the next few years adding pieces to make a Cup run. They also have a great veteran presence in 16-year man Ryan Smyth, Michal Handzus, and Justin Williams, who is leading the team in goals and points.
They remind me of the Chicago Blackhawks in 2008, and we all know where they are now.
In 2008 the Blackhawks average age was a tad under 25.5 years old, with young superstars in Patrick Kane (20), Jonathan Toews (20), Duncan Keith (25), and plenty of others that have blossomed quite well: Hjalmarsson (21), Versteeg (22), Bolland (22), Ladd (23), Byfuglien (23), and Seabrook (23). They also had that veteran presence with Havlat (27), Sharp (27), Campbell (29), Sopel (32), and Stanley Cup winning goalie Khabibulin (36). They were knocked out of the Playoffs that year by the Detroit Red Wings in the Conference Finals, but the experience they were able to obtain propelled them to 2009-2010 Stanley Cup Champions.
As we’ve seen, the Blackhawks have had to make some tough decisions this offseason with player contracts and who they want to keep as a nucleus. They’ve given big contracts to Keith, Hossa, and five-year deals t...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Kings
