Marchy and Tuch were my favourites in the Knights' first year. Their speed, skill, and just overall effort was above anything i'd seen in a long time. Amazing underrated players.
One of the best talent undrafted was Martin St-Louis with the Lightning. He never wins the Conn Smyth, but man he impressed me in 2004 when he wins the Stanley Cup. Great career with big stats!
As a Sharks fan, I always saw a lot of parallels between him and Pavelski. Both came into the league with low expectations you could say, earned their careers, high compete, and the heart and soul of their teams. Always respected him when he arrived in Vegas.
I hope he stays with us until the end. He carved in his name into history!!! I just got my Stanley Cup Marchy jersey because he is one of my favorites to ever grace the ice. Marchy, Mark Stone, and Wild Bill are the heart of this team. Hill and Eichel were the perfect additions. I hope we can keep this nucleus together for awhile.
As a knight fan since day one I lost it and cried when Marshy won the Conn Smythe… he deserved it more than anyone and he is a testament to future nhl prospects that your strength of heart is what matters. What an absolute beast #81forever
Marchessault remjnds me of the Kraken’s Yanni Gourde. Another short guy who was overlooked because of his size. Like Marchessault, he has a high hockey IQ. He’s also very physical and in the playoffs his line was matched up against the opposing teams’ top lines because of their defensive play.
Something I learned after Marchessault's day with the Stanley Cup is that he and Gourde are really close friends. I assume this started when they were both bouncing between the Lightning and the Crunch during the 2013-14/14-15/15-16 seasons; it makes sense that they would have bonded over being in the same situation, as undrafted, undersized forwards still waiting to get a fair chance in the show.
I was instantly enamored by his play style and his competitive nature when he was drafted by VGK. I wore the Marchy jersey I bought in that inaugural season to game 5 and it felt good to see him recognized.
I can’t tell you how many times in these playoffs I found myself asking, “Who was that? What a great heads up play!” only to discover the answer was Marchessault. I might start following the Golden Knights just because of him. He’s quite entertaining to watch.
Marchy is so competitive, that's the intangible he has that makes him so good. He just wants to win. The dude literally celebrates beating his own goalie during warmups.
Can't wait for someone to do an analyst video on William Karllson, who up until this season, has pretty much been a pacifist and staying away from fighting. This season though, he finally snapped and so far he's been seen borderline putting his opponents to sleep. The best example is at the end of Game 4 when both the Panthers, and their embarrassment of a fanbase, decided to go after Bennett. Karllson delivered 3-4 hard punches to Bennett's jaw, and then he decided to put Bennett into the Guillotine Choke to take him down. Then Karllson got side control and put a Darce Choke on him. Was crazy enough to make my friend think Karllson delivered a hammer fist prior to going side control. Karllson was part of 2 more skirmishes along the boards earlier this year.
I like how whenever this team, whether it was Karly, Hague, Barby even Eichel. When they were forced to go goon it was all business, nothing personal, more often than not sending the proper message without taking dumb penalties. The results speak for themselves
@@L.vegmadekid.V- Especially the Max Domi "fight" when he was outright pointing and laughing which made Domi go nuts. Hilarious watching the toddler trying to fight the giant!
@@L.vegmadekid.V Hague trolled Tkachuk so much by just tanking the light punches then laughing right in his face. This was followed by Barbashev almost beheading Gudas.
That's why I laugh when people say Vegas was gifted a team. Many of the players in the expansion draft were selected in side deals with teams for future draft picks or additional players. Marchessault and Smith were cap dumps. Theodore was given to us in an agreement to select Clayton Stoner. Not to mention how badly Vegas fleeced Ottawa with a trade for Stone (Erik Brannstrom, Oscar Lindberg and a 2020 2nd round pick). If you didn't want an expansion team to win a cup in 6 years don't have shitty GMs and ass pro scouts.
I think the point you're missing with a lot of people's anger isn't necessarily with Vegas but with the league changing the expansion format and rules to begin with. Before them, lots of teams had a hard time starting out because they had to draft most of their players as oppose to handpicking a player from each teams list.
@@gablebrandon yep. They followed the Vegas format when creating Seattle, and they were in the playoffs in their second year. I don't think there's anything wrong with having good players to ensure an expansion team has at least a competitive opportunity during the regular season. What happens after that is up to their GM and FO. If they can't do the right thing after that, then that's their problem. There were some real hiccups about midpoint of Vegas, and as a result of that we did poorly in the playoffs. Didn't even make it to the playoffs last year. But "something happened"!
Still gotta be in the right spot to receive those passes and then actually be able to score. Look at last year with Eichel. Perfect premiere passes but no one was good enough to finish them.
you still need to know how to finish its like saying that ovi is not a good player cuz he score mostly on one timers same for draisaitl scoring on one timers mostly still makes him a good player
Yep. Numbers got him the Conn Smythe which is fine but he wasn't their most important player. Hill, Eichel, Stone, Theodore, Pietrangelo and Stephenson were all more valuable.
I think Vegas might have the best scouting group in the nhl. Example the misfit line. I like how you pointed out Marchessault's timing around the net. He was relentless.
I still dont get it ... When you see guys like Marchy ... Marchand (pretty sure he isnt 6feet either) When you have the HEART to play BIG that what matther ... and I am Happy for this story! ... Marchy Deserve it !
Peter Forsberg said that in his comeback try in 2011 Skaters were MUCH faster than when he decided to leave hockey only a few years earlier. So 2011 was FAST by old standard. He said every player on the team could skate very fast in 2011. So by 2011 speed was preferred over size and strength of the dead puck era. Go and look up average size of players per year by yourself. Ever since the lockout the game has moved to SPEED every year. And is the fastest ever right now.
This is a lesson the Bruins will never learn. Case in point, Sitting Matt Gryzlic for Forbert simply for his size. Yeah , just toss out the fact that Matt G had the best plus/minus on the team.
Agree that he is better but dont ever use plus/minus as a stat to support your case. Plus/minus is the worst stat in hocey and says absolutely nothing about you
@@theold4734 Oh nonsense. The +/- absolutely gives you an idea how well a player is playing the 200ft game, and what I'm really saying is...offensive players. Everybody knows who the best 2-way players are just by the eye test, and it's not coincidental they consistently have a very high +/-. Maybe not the perfect stat, but perfectly legitimate.
I think Marchessault deserves every bit of praise he’s getting. It’s human nature to overlook the smaller than average athletes in contact sports, otherwise it wouldn’t be so common. Vegas had the magic sauce this year. Looking forward to the next.
Watching the Oilers lose to this team made me want to hate Marchessault, but seeing how hard he worked to earn every point he scored made it impossible to hate him.
He is just a natural goal scorer. Finds a space, gets into high amount of quality chances and combined with great finishing he ends up with great amount of goals. You dont need size for that, i would even argue that him being shorter benefits him a bit in this type of play
Honestly the only position where it GENUINELY stops someone from being great is goalie size. If you aren’t at least 6’ as a goalie, you aren’t going anywhere.
I was upset when Tampa let him walk. I mean yeah, they had so many other guys to sign and Marchey was the 13th forward... but man... All us Bolts fans knew what slipped through our fingers 😭
Dino Ciccarelli and Pat Verbeek, two smallish-yet-tenacious players who scored tons of goals and played in the greasy spots. Dino was undrafted and is in the HoF, and The Little Ball of Hate has a decent case to be in the Hall.
When I went to the first VGK pre-season game on Sept 27, 2017 I noticed Marchessault. He was definitely the hardest-working player the Knights had. Each game his feet continued to move, and I could see that he wanted to be there, and deserved to be there. He was also my size which reminded me of watching Theo Fleury back in the day. I got his jersey for Christmas that year and was proud to be wearing that sweater outside T-Mobile when he was named MVP! #marchessgoat
Reminded of the Story of Martin St.Louis he got Drafted by Calgary they gave up on him because of size and playing him on the 4th line traded him to Tampa and the rest is history fast forward to 2004 and he was a Stanley Cup Champion
St-Louis wasnt 'drafted' in 98 the senators gave him a tryout but released him ... than he proceed to sign with a team where he put off quite the number and than calgary gave him a tryout in the AHL and was a big factor of this team making it to the Calder final. Than they tried him up and down 1st line to 4th line to sent back ... They left him unprotected during the 2000's expansion draft . wasnt picked so they bought him out that when Tampa came and after that it was history .... and Went to win his cup vs Calgary XD
@@cestor oh okay but my error aside both Marshasult and ST.Louis had the almost the same situation when the teams they were on thought they were to small and end up bing key players for thier respective teams winning Stanley Cups
Great analysis as always. I liked Marchy's play through the whole playoffs, but the Knights had so many players that could have gotten the nod for the Conn Smythe. Your video makes it clear why he was one of the frontrunners.
The first Knights game I attended was in October of the inaugural season. I said to my girlfriend and her mom, "Watch that 81 guy. He's gonna be the heart of this team." I had never heard of him before that day. Now he's one of my favorite players.
Size absolutely still matters, but not everybody on the roster needs to be big. If Vegas had a whole team of little skilled guys, they would get bullied in the playoffs, but having one highly skilled small guy amongst the trees is not a bad thing.
@MrNatesTunes funny you should say that....I forget what year it was but the Philadelphia Flyers, just like other east coast teams like Boston, who always have massive players, ended up getting destroyed in the Stanley Cup Finals by the smallest team in the league, the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Marchessault is going to have his sweater hung up in the rafters one day for the Golden Knights. So happy for him to have won the Conn Smythe. Well-deserved!
True, but if they thought his size was an issue as far as making him a high draft pick, ok...but why not at least draft him in a low/last round pick. I think we give GM's too much credit along with teams pro scouts.
Forgetting 20/20 hindsight, as a Panthers fan and season ticket holder I hated to see us let him go to Vegas. No, I never knew he would be this good but he was at least good enough in my mind to be a 2nd line winger on our team. Why not keep him as a piece? Yes, both former Panthers came back to bite us this Cup Finals.
Connathan Marchesmythe just finds ways to get it done. I believe his will be the first player number the Knights retire (58 and 99 already being retired for symbolic reasons) And yes, I know that opinion will anger the Fluery stans. MAF was great in Vegas, and yes VGK did him Dirty, but Marchy's impact at this point is far greater.
I'd say the reason marshy is doing so well on the Knight's is BECAUSE of all the big dudes on his team. Just their presence and gritty play creates a lot of room for a skilled guy. The Knights are a REALLY big team, and they won the cup. I like it so MORE big, scary guys get sent into the league. You can bet other teams are looking at how rough these playoffs were and what the winning recipe was..
Nobody ever said that zero small players can succeed in the NHL. That's just a straw man. But yes, guys like Marchessault are the exception, not the rule. So only the best, sturdiest small players get the job done.
And it helps immensely when they are on a team full of BIG dudes like the knights. It opens up space for marchy. He's awesome. But the big ,heavy, aggressive teams win..
The kid ended up on the right team , with the right coach and the right team mates . Eichel drew the D and set him up , Stone took the middle pressure and the D kept the puck in the zone . Team effort
I remember being at a game along time ago and seeing Brian Gionta lining up at a face off beside a 6'4" apponant. That player would've killed him with a check if he had to hit him. So there is a fine line between speed and size. Everyone wants to win, but at what cost.
I love it….good on him and I hope he continues his success….IMO the best I drafted player of all time has to be Pavel Datsyuk….with martin St. Louis a close second.
Golden Misfits forever. That dream line of Smith, Karlsson and Marchessault was magnificent -- and all three players still doing well today. I believe the trade from FL made Marchessault. First, it made him mad. He had something to prove. A mission. Second, it was all brand new to the team. A fresh start with fresh players and management. A chance to raise your game. And Third: Luck. The matching of all 3 at that exact time was lucky, along with the play of Marc Andre-Fleury in Net giving them a chance.
There should be no such thing as too small. If you get hurt, you get hurt. If you’re small, you shy away from contact as best as possible which means, less chance of injury. I mean, Tkachuk is fairly big and he got hurt. A bigger player probably has more of a chance of being injured than a smaller one because they DONT avoid contact. They actually go to it.
Marchessault is the only Vegas player under 6 ft. Their defense is huge. If it were possible, what would an entire team of Gretzkys look like? It's crazy that Marchessault went undrafted but let's not abandon reason. There are plenty of experts we can rely on for that nowadays. Have you received your 6th booster yet? If not, why not? Science proves it's safe and effective.
He is this generations Martin St Louis. The stories are almost identical. St Louis was my favorite player when I was younger living in Tampa and now that I live in Vegas it's Matchessault.
He reminds me of Martin St. Louis. Small guy, but very effective. Used his size to his advantage, and had a high hockey IQ. I really liked Marchy when he was on the Lightning. I was hoping they would have kept him, but with the salary cap, and Brayden Point on the rise, someone had to go. Plus we had Colton and Gourde at the time as well. Marchessault was one of those former Bolts I wish we could have kept all the way back then.
Well, his brother is Mike "The Mouth" Matusow. One of the most annoying poker players in the game. I remember playing poker against that guy in the early 2000's and he gets really mouthy where you just want to knock his ass out.
@@Mr.Quinlan888 Whatever happened to the guy who was the pain in the ass always "What do you have? What do you have?" they always had to call the clock on him. Real annoying. I like the new rules where the clock is automatic.
As a a panthers fan…it’s worse we protected Alex Petrovic (not Bjustad) and exposed marshy… ugh. Dale Tallon still haunts this franchise… still paying Yandle too. ☠️
I agree with the statements in this video as the undisputed truth. As someone who lived 7 years in Ste-Foy, a city adjacent to his hometown on Cap-Rouge, his success makes me smile. As for size, I have heard it argued many times...but here is MY take on size: • Eric Lindros was asked if he was EVER not the best player at any level. His answer was "yes", when he was 16. He said "the other kids were Italian and they had physically matured sooner... • In 1981 Dale Hawerchuk was the consensus number 1 prospected and drafted 1st overall by the Winnipeg Jets 1.0. He was said to be 5'11" tall. The Hartford Whalers drafted a 5'11" Ron Francis. They both had great rookie seasons but Ron Francis suffered a sophomore jinx and didn't recover for 2-3 years. At age 21 Ron Francis was 6'1". • When in schoo from grades 4 to 10, you slowly saw changes in the kids' bodies. Those who developed early stopped growing earlier while the ones who developped later grew bigger and "grew into their bodies". The tall lanky klutzes at 15 became star athletes by 18. My concern wit a short junior prospect would be that he is as good as he'll ever be. Eric Lindros grew into a star better than those 16-year old teammates. When Dale Hawerchuk retired he finished 10th all-time in scoring; a few years later Ron Francis finished 10th overall in scoring that year at the age of 37 (or maybe he was "only" 35). He eventually surpassed Dale Hawerchuk overall. Clearly, Marchesseault was good because he was good but if I was looking at size in the junior ranks, I would be concerned that the short guy had peaked at 18 while the big guy might peak at 26. Of course I AM ASSUMING that the differences in skill on draft day to be miniscule. My argument for size isn't so much about size per se rather growth potential in skill and coordination.
I know he wasn't the best player around but as a kid I so fondly recall Nathan Gerbe at 5'4" taking out giants 🤣 so no size isn't the end all be all when it comes to being physical, but it sure does help.
To add a little more context on him being passed over for the draft. The 2011 wasn't his first year of eligibility, he was already on his 4th year and 20 years old when he posted 40G & 95PTS. Adding to the fact he was smaller, its actually pretty common for 20 year olds who have good stats to be passed over. There's a huge difference in scouts opinions of a 18 vs 20 year old. Philip-Michael Devos was the same age in 2011 led the league in scoring /w 47G and 114 pts. He also was never drafted and never played in the NHL. It's Marchessault perseverance and not give up that got him where he is now.
I always knew he would be drafted late but I always knew second season he was in he would be raising a Stanley Cup and winning the Conn Smythe and he did
He was fucking lights out it’s crazy that he scored 12+ in the playoffs. the way u break it down shows that he was just a menace to those 4 teams he faced in the playoffs. Really hope he can stay in Vegas for a few more years to come. LETS GO VEGAS 2023 SC Champs. Man That sounds so good to say.
Why was 2011 his draft year? He was 21 years old then. After this season he signed an AHL contract for 1 year. And then an NHL contract the year after. The question should be why no one drafted him during his 2009 season with 53 points and .5pts per game in the playoffs
Their is something to be said about a persons heart,drive, Will to succeed/exceed in whatever career path they choose. Marchy clearly has all of those attributes and in my opinion undeniably has contributed to his success.
I think it's eerie how similar they are and the Lightning let him go. Especially with MSL only having a few more seasons in him. They could use a MSL type player now...
What I find ironic is people ignored Marchessault yet completely forget that Pat LaFontaine, whom is one of the best American-born players in NHL history and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, was 5'10". One inch taller than Marchessault. And he played during the 1980s and 1990s. Never underestimate the smaller players.
I don't think Arber Xhekaj was ever drafted, he made the team this year with the Habs for lack of depth on the D line. I think he finished 9th overall for rookie Defensemen in the NHL and first in PIM in the same category. I'm not saying he will win a Conn Smythe, but he will get more accolades once he perfects his games and is better surrounded. I hope he pairs up with Lane Hutson some day.
Ya its nice with the Habs being a smaller team having a guy like him on your team means guys will think twice about taking liberties on our star players.
I was thinking the same thing. Protection. IDK if Habs are capable of making those kinds of smart decisions though. If the guy shows an imperfection of ANY KIND... well, we'll see. He's a guy to watch in my book.
As a panthers fan there was absolutly no reason in my opinion why we needed another big strong center when we already had barkov lost marchy and smith tsk
Marchy and Tuch were my favourites in the Knights' first year. Their speed, skill, and just overall effort was above anything i'd seen in a long time. Amazing underrated players.
I miss Tuch :(
Never knew I liked hockey until VGK came to town
@@myrenos6589 He's doing pretty well in Buffalo now (he might be captain soon) and that trade has worked out well for both teams.
@neeltheother2342 the trade was a very good win/win for each team. Tuch has grown phenomenally but I still miss him
One of the best talent undrafted was Martin St-Louis with the Lightning. He never wins the Conn Smyth, but man he impressed me in 2004 when he wins the Stanley Cup. Great career with big stats!
I remember someone asking Marchessault who was his inspiration growing up and he said Marty St. Louis.
@@Mr.Quinlan888Well said!
As a Sharks fan, I always saw a lot of parallels between him and Pavelski. Both came into the league with low expectations you could say, earned their careers, high compete, and the heart and soul of their teams. Always respected him when he arrived in Vegas.
Pavelski is such a gem too. I was hoping to see him hoist the Cup this year. Much respect to Vegas for a hell of a run though.
Johnathan Marchessault >>>>>>> Joe Pavelski
@@st0rmchildPavelski will never lift the cup
@@rileykazama3145as a Vegas fan, stfu
One of the original misfits of the VGK. He was a big part of our teams' start and glad he got his flowers as MVP this year.
I hope he stays with us until the end. He carved in his name into history!!! I just got my Stanley Cup Marchy jersey because he is one of my favorites to ever grace the ice. Marchy, Mark Stone, and Wild Bill are the heart of this team. Hill and Eichel were the perfect additions. I hope we can keep this nucleus together for awhile.
As a knight fan since day one I lost it and cried when Marshy won the Conn Smythe… he deserved it more than anyone and he is a testament to future nhl prospects that your strength of heart is what matters. What an absolute beast #81forever
Yessir he is my favorite player
He checked so well in the playoffs and then his scoring came to life and from there jack just kept feeding him. Well earned
I’m so happy for marchessault to be recognized like this. He’s been my favorite since the start and he will always be
Marchessault remjnds me of the Kraken’s Yanni Gourde. Another short guy who was overlooked because of his size. Like Marchessault, he has a high hockey IQ. He’s also very physical and in the playoffs his line was matched up against the opposing teams’ top lines because of their defensive play.
Point also played BIG time .... Even if hes quite hate ...Brad marchand isnt a Tall guys either ... And he play quite a hard game.
Marchy-quickest gun in the West.
Something I learned after Marchessault's day with the Stanley Cup is that he and Gourde are really close friends. I assume this started when they were both bouncing between the Lightning and the Crunch during the 2013-14/14-15/15-16 seasons; it makes sense that they would have bonded over being in the same situation, as undrafted, undersized forwards still waiting to get a fair chance in the show.
I was instantly enamored by his play style and his competitive nature when he was drafted by VGK. I wore the Marchy jersey I bought in that inaugural season to game 5 and it felt good to see him recognized.
I can’t tell you how many times in these playoffs I found myself asking, “Who was that? What a great heads up play!” only to discover the answer was Marchessault. I might start following the Golden Knights just because of him. He’s quite entertaining to watch.
Marchy is so competitive, that's the intangible he has that makes him so good. He just wants to win. The dude literally celebrates beating his own goalie during warmups.
Can't wait for someone to do an analyst video on William Karllson, who up until this season, has pretty much been a pacifist and staying away from fighting. This season though, he finally snapped and so far he's been seen borderline putting his opponents to sleep. The best example is at the end of Game 4 when both the Panthers, and their embarrassment of a fanbase, decided to go after Bennett. Karllson delivered 3-4 hard punches to Bennett's jaw, and then he decided to put Bennett into the Guillotine Choke to take him down. Then Karllson got side control and put a Darce Choke on him. Was crazy enough to make my friend think Karllson delivered a hammer fist prior to going side control.
Karllson was part of 2 more skirmishes along the boards earlier this year.
I like how whenever this team, whether it was Karly, Hague, Barby even Eichel. When they were forced to go goon it was all business, nothing personal, more often than not sending the proper message without taking dumb penalties. The results speak for themselves
@liljoe31 Hague's passive aggressiveness with him smiling everytime was priceless 😂
@@L.vegmadekid.V- Especially the Max Domi "fight" when he was outright pointing and laughing which made Domi go nuts. Hilarious watching the toddler trying to fight the giant!
@@L.vegmadekid.V Hague trolled Tkachuk so much by just tanking the light punches then laughing right in his face. This was followed by Barbashev almost beheading Gudas.
Marchy, like much of the Knights, is a 100 per.cent team first player. That's why they are successful. This isnt hard to figure out
That's why I laugh when people say Vegas was gifted a team. Many of the players in the expansion draft were selected in side deals with teams for future draft picks or additional players. Marchessault and Smith were cap dumps. Theodore was given to us in an agreement to select Clayton Stoner.
Not to mention how badly Vegas fleeced Ottawa with a trade for Stone (Erik Brannstrom, Oscar Lindberg and a 2020 2nd round pick).
If you didn't want an expansion team to win a cup in 6 years don't have shitty GMs and ass pro scouts.
I think the point you're missing with a lot of people's anger isn't necessarily with Vegas but with the league changing the expansion format and rules to begin with. Before them, lots of teams had a hard time starting out because they had to draft most of their players as oppose to handpicking a player from each teams list.
@@gablebrandon yep. They followed the Vegas format when creating Seattle, and they were in the playoffs in their second year. I don't think there's anything wrong with having good players to ensure an expansion team has at least a competitive opportunity during the regular season. What happens after that is up to their GM and FO. If they can't do the right thing after that, then that's their problem. There were some real hiccups about midpoint of Vegas, and as a result of that we did poorly in the playoffs. Didn't even make it to the playoffs last year. But "something happened"!
Perfect passes from Eichel gave Marchessault the scoring opportunities.
Still gotta be in the right spot to receive those passes and then actually be able to score. Look at last year with Eichel. Perfect premiere passes but no one was good enough to finish them.
you still need to know how to finish its like saying that ovi is not a good player cuz he score mostly on one timers same for draisaitl scoring on one timers mostly still makes him a good player
Yep. Numbers got him the Conn Smythe which is fine but he wasn't their most important player. Hill, Eichel, Stone, Theodore, Pietrangelo and Stephenson were all more valuable.
@@RandomPlaceHolderName petriangelo was just farming penalty minutes
Good goals from Marchessault gave Eichel all those assists
I was surprised that Tampa let him gp to the Panthers, then i was surprised the Panthers let him go to Vegas.
I think Vegas might have the best scouting group in the nhl. Example the misfit line. I like how you pointed out Marchessault's timing around the net. He was relentless.
I still dont get it ... When you see guys like Marchy ... Marchand (pretty sure he isnt 6feet either) When you have the HEART to play BIG that what matther ... and I am Happy for this story! ... Marchy Deserve it !
Marchand, Gaudreau, and Marchy are all about 5'9", I believe.
Peter Forsberg said that in his comeback try in 2011 Skaters were MUCH faster than when he decided to leave hockey only a few years earlier.
So 2011 was FAST by old standard. He said every player on the team could skate very fast in 2011. So by 2011 speed was preferred over size and strength of the dead puck era. Go and look up average size of players per year by yourself.
Ever since the lockout the game has moved to SPEED every year. And is the fastest ever right now.
This is a lesson the Bruins will never learn. Case in point, Sitting Matt Gryzlic for Forbert simply for his size. Yeah , just toss out the fact that Matt G had the best plus/minus on the team.
agree
Agree that he is better but dont ever use plus/minus as a stat to support your case. Plus/minus is the worst stat in hocey and says absolutely nothing about you
@@theold4734 ahem
@@MechanicEnergyInManifestation it’s true man. It’s the stupidest stat ever and don’t show you how good a player is or how bad he is
@@theold4734 Oh nonsense. The +/- absolutely gives you an idea how well a player is playing the 200ft game, and what I'm really saying is...offensive players. Everybody knows who the best 2-way players are just by the eye test, and it's not coincidental they consistently have a very high +/-. Maybe not the perfect stat, but perfectly legitimate.
I think Marchessault deserves every bit of praise he’s getting. It’s human nature to overlook the smaller than average athletes in contact sports, otherwise it wouldn’t be so common. Vegas had the magic sauce this year. Looking forward to the next.
Watching the Oilers lose to this team made me want to hate Marchessault, but seeing how hard he worked to earn every point he scored made it impossible to hate him.
He is just a natural goal scorer. Finds a space, gets into high amount of quality chances and combined with great finishing he ends up with great amount of goals. You dont need size for that, i would even argue that him being shorter benefits him a bit in this type of play
Honestly the only position where it GENUINELY stops someone from being great is goalie size. If you aren’t at least 6’ as a goalie, you aren’t going anywhere.
Laughs in Jusse Saros
I was upset when Tampa let him walk. I mean yeah, they had so many other guys to sign and Marchey was the 13th forward... but man... All us Bolts fans knew what slipped through our fingers 😭
*cries in Panthers fan*
Thank both of u sincerely knights fan
Marchie is simply the best, so deserving of these great honors he earned with such tenacity. #Cupin6
Dino Ciccarelli and Pat Verbeek, two smallish-yet-tenacious players who scored tons of goals and played in the greasy spots. Dino was undrafted and is in the HoF, and The Little Ball of Hate has a decent case to be in the Hall.
As an old-time Blues fan, we used to have a saying in the Norris Division. Jesus may save, but Ciccarelli scores on the rebound!
I hated that guy.
When I went to the first VGK pre-season game on Sept 27, 2017 I noticed Marchessault. He was definitely the hardest-working player the Knights had. Each game his feet continued to move, and I could see that he wanted to be there, and deserved to be there. He was also my size which reminded me of watching Theo Fleury back in the day. I got his jersey for Christmas that year and was proud to be wearing that sweater outside T-Mobile when he was named MVP! #marchessgoat
Johnathan Marchessault played like crazy in the cup final
Reminded of the Story of Martin St.Louis he got Drafted by Calgary they gave up on him because of size and playing him on the 4th line traded him to Tampa and the rest is history fast forward to 2004 and he was a Stanley Cup Champion
St-Louis wasnt 'drafted' in 98 the senators gave him a tryout but released him ... than he proceed to sign with a team where he put off quite the number and than calgary gave him a tryout in the AHL and was a big factor of this team making it to the Calder final.
Than they tried him up and down 1st line to 4th line to sent back ... They left him unprotected during the 2000's expansion draft . wasnt picked so they bought him out that when Tampa came and after that it was history .... and Went to win his cup vs Calgary XD
Nope, St-Louis was never drafted either.
@@cestor oh okay but my error aside both Marshasult and ST.Louis had the almost the same situation when the teams they were on thought they were to small and end up bing key players for thier respective teams winning Stanley Cups
Martin St. Louis is the best undrafted player. Another guy who was “too small” but actually was a huge impact player
As a French Canadian I’m so proud of this guy!
I never even noticed his height as he plays so big. Love these stories - like Martin St. Louis. You are coming up with great videos. Thanks!
One of my favorite examples of disproving the size argument is Brad Marchand
Yep! He is the player you love to hate but would definitely not kick him off of your own team!
Great analysis as always. I liked Marchy's play through the whole playoffs, but the Knights had so many players that could have gotten the nod for the Conn Smythe. Your video makes it clear why he was one of the frontrunners.
The first Knights game I attended was in October of the inaugural season. I said to my girlfriend and her mom, "Watch that 81 guy. He's gonna be the heart of this team." I had never heard of him before that day. Now he's one of my favorite players.
Size absolutely still matters, but not everybody on the roster needs to be big. If Vegas had a whole team of little skilled guys, they would get bullied in the playoffs, but having one highly skilled small guy amongst the trees is not a bad thing.
I agree, one of the main reasons their defense was so good was because they had really big and skilled blueliners
@MrNatesTunes funny you should say that....I forget what year it was but the Philadelphia Flyers, just like other east coast teams like Boston, who always have massive players, ended up getting destroyed in the Stanley Cup Finals by the smallest team in the league, the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Marchessault is going to have his sweater hung up in the rafters one day for the Golden Knights. So happy for him to have won the Conn Smythe. Well-deserved!
Oilers fan here. Marchessault was an assassin against us all series. Constantly sticking daggers at any chance of a momentum shift. It was brutal.
Its crazy that teams passed on a 95 point scorer because he is under the average nhl player height
True, but if they thought his size was an issue as far as making him a high draft pick, ok...but why not at least draft him in a low/last round pick. I think we give GM's too much credit along with teams pro scouts.
@@Bouncer-id1rh true
He's my Favorite player on the Knights
Forgetting 20/20 hindsight, as a Panthers fan and season ticket holder I hated to see us let him go to Vegas. No, I never knew he would be this good but he was at least good enough in my mind to be a 2nd line winger on our team. Why not keep him as a piece? Yes, both former Panthers came back to bite us this Cup Finals.
Connathan Marchesmythe just finds ways to get it done. I believe his will be the first player number the Knights retire (58 and 99 already being retired for symbolic reasons)
And yes, I know that opinion will anger the Fluery stans. MAF was great in Vegas, and yes VGK did him Dirty, but Marchy's impact at this point is far greater.
I'd say the reason marshy is doing so well on the Knight's is BECAUSE of all the big dudes on his team. Just their presence and gritty play creates a lot of room for a skilled guy. The Knights are a REALLY big team, and they won the cup. I like it so MORE big, scary guys get sent into the league. You can bet other teams are looking at how rough these playoffs were and what the winning recipe was..
Love it. Always root for an underdog with guts!
Remember, Florida touched the Prince of Wales trophy
Numerous teams have touched their respective Conference trophies and still gone on to win the Stanley Cup.
Nobody ever said that zero small players can succeed in the NHL. That's just a straw man. But yes, guys like Marchessault are the exception, not the rule. So only the best, sturdiest small players get the job done.
And it helps immensely when they are on a team full of BIG dudes like the knights. It opens up space for marchy. He's awesome. But the big ,heavy, aggressive teams win..
Great video. Others talk like they know but you show that you know
Expect Marchie to retire not as a lightning, and definitely not a panther, but as a Golden Knight.
HScottMattusow's comment did not age well.
Blue checks are overrated
The kid ended up on the right team , with the right coach and the right team mates . Eichel drew the D and set him up , Stone took the middle pressure and the D kept the puck in the zone . Team effort
I remember being at a game along time ago and seeing Brian Gionta lining up at a face off beside a 6'4" apponant. That player would've killed him with a check if he had to hit him. So there is a fine line between speed and size. Everyone wants to win, but at what cost.
I love it….good on him and I hope he continues his success….IMO the best I drafted player of all time has to be Pavel Datsyuk….with martin St. Louis a close second.
I’d put St. Louis slightly ahead. 2 times scoring champion
Golden Misfits forever. That dream line of Smith, Karlsson and Marchessault was magnificent -- and all three players still doing well today. I believe the trade from FL made Marchessault. First, it made him mad. He had something to prove. A mission. Second, it was all brand new to the team. A fresh start with fresh players and management. A chance to raise your game. And Third: Luck. The matching of all 3 at that exact time was lucky, along with the play of Marc Andre-Fleury in Net giving them a chance.
There should be no such thing as too small. If you get hurt, you get hurt. If you’re small, you shy away from contact as best as possible which means, less chance of injury. I mean, Tkachuk is fairly big and he got hurt. A bigger player probably has more of a chance of being injured than a smaller one because they DONT avoid contact. They actually go to it.
Marchessault is the only Vegas player under 6 ft. Their defense is huge. If it were possible, what would an entire team of Gretzkys look like? It's crazy that Marchessault went undrafted but let's not abandon reason. There are plenty of experts we can rely on for that nowadays. Have you received your 6th booster yet? If not, why not? Science proves it's safe and effective.
@@bunsw2070 I don’t know what you’re rambling on about.
But when you shy away you get called selfish and a pussy with no heart
Also marchy has got a mouth on him 🤣🤣I'm sure he wasn't making the greatest impression
Revisiting after the Preds signed him. Can’t wait to see what he can do!
He is this generations Martin St Louis. The stories are almost identical. St Louis was my favorite player when I was younger living in Tampa and now that I live in Vegas it's Matchessault.
Imagine Marty St.Louis in today's nhl. Dude was putting up mad numbers as a small fella playing against giants.
He goes to areas where people don't think to go which makes him a unique skilled bass player that can play with anybody in the league
H Scott Matusow... man that guy's a genius he really knows his stuff....
He reminds me of Martin St. Louis. Small guy, but very effective. Used his size to his advantage, and had a high hockey IQ. I really liked Marchy when he was on the Lightning. I was hoping they would have kept him, but with the salary cap, and Brayden Point on the rise, someone had to go. Plus we had Colton and Gourde at the time as well. Marchessault was one of those former Bolts I wish we could have kept all the way back then.
That Scott Matusow tweet aged terribly
Well, his brother is Mike "The Mouth" Matusow. One of the most annoying poker players in the game. I remember playing poker against that guy in the early 2000's and he gets really mouthy where you just want to knock his ass out.
@@Mr.Quinlan888 Whatever happened to the guy who was the pain in the ass always "What do you have? What do you have?" they always had to call the clock on him. Real annoying. I like the new rules where the clock is automatic.
As a a panthers fan…it’s worse we protected Alex Petrovic (not Bjustad) and exposed marshy… ugh. Dale Tallon still haunts this franchise… still paying Yandle too. ☠️
Oh that tweet saying they'll never win a cup with him is just perfect.
I agree with the statements in this video as the undisputed truth.
As someone who lived 7 years in Ste-Foy, a city adjacent to his hometown on Cap-Rouge, his success makes me smile.
As for size, I have heard it argued many times...but here is MY take on size:
• Eric Lindros was asked if he was EVER not the best player at any level. His answer was "yes", when he was 16. He said "the other kids were Italian and they had physically matured sooner...
• In 1981 Dale Hawerchuk was the consensus number 1 prospected and drafted 1st overall by the Winnipeg Jets 1.0. He was said to be 5'11" tall. The Hartford Whalers drafted a 5'11" Ron Francis. They both had great rookie seasons but Ron Francis suffered a sophomore jinx and didn't recover for 2-3 years. At age 21 Ron Francis was 6'1".
• When in schoo from grades 4 to 10, you slowly saw changes in the kids' bodies. Those who developed early stopped growing earlier while the ones who developped later grew bigger and "grew into their bodies". The tall lanky klutzes at 15 became star athletes by 18.
My concern wit a short junior prospect would be that he is as good as he'll ever be.
Eric Lindros grew into a star better than those 16-year old teammates. When Dale Hawerchuk retired he finished 10th all-time in scoring; a few years later Ron Francis finished 10th overall in scoring that year at the age of 37 (or maybe he was "only" 35). He eventually surpassed Dale Hawerchuk overall.
Clearly, Marchesseault was good because he was good but if I was looking at size in the junior ranks, I would be concerned that the short guy had peaked at 18 while the big guy might peak at 26. Of course I AM ASSUMING that the differences in skill on draft day to be miniscule. My argument for size isn't so much about size per se rather growth potential in skill and coordination.
Marchy is really important to Vegas and always has been! Not surprised in the least that he got the MVP
I know he wasn't the best player around but as a kid I so fondly recall Nathan Gerbe at 5'4" taking out giants 🤣 so no size isn't the end all be all when it comes to being physical, but it sure does help.
I say it all the time to my own kids and my players. Additude and effort!
One of my fav players , so happy to see him succeeding ! And winning the hardware 🎉🔥,
Awesome videos boss
Always has been and always will be my favorite golden knight
To add a little more context on him being passed over for the draft. The 2011 wasn't his first year of eligibility, he was already on his 4th year and 20 years old when he posted 40G & 95PTS. Adding to the fact he was smaller, its actually pretty common for 20 year olds who have good stats to be passed over. There's a huge difference in scouts opinions of a 18 vs 20 year old. Philip-Michael Devos was the same age in 2011 led the league in scoring /w 47G and 114 pts. He also was never drafted and never played in the NHL. It's Marchessault perseverance and not give up that got him where he is now.
Crosby is 5'11.....i dont hear this narrative until after the players win. Then we take what a few said to make a story.
I always knew he would be drafted late but I always knew second season he was in he would be raising a Stanley Cup and winning the Conn Smythe and he did
He was fucking lights out it’s crazy that he scored 12+ in the playoffs. the way u break it down shows that he was just a menace to those 4 teams he faced in the playoffs. Really hope he can stay in Vegas for a few more years to come. LETS GO VEGAS 2023 SC Champs. Man That sounds so good to say.
Great accomplishments, great player
All 5',9" of Ted Lindsay endured over 300+ stitches to his body and a HHOF career.
He wasn't even drafted in the juniors. Sick career for the guy.
Knew Marchessault was the real deal when he with the Tampa Bay Lightning, was a little surprised they let him walk.
As far as size goes, Butch Goring was essentially Marchy's size too, and he won the Smythe.
Why was 2011 his draft year? He was 21 years old then. After this season he signed an AHL contract for 1 year. And then an NHL contract the year after.
The question should be why no one drafted him during his 2009 season with 53 points and .5pts per game in the playoffs
wow he had as many goals as Draisaitl and it only took him twice the games. how impressive.
Their is something to be said about a persons heart,drive, Will to succeed/exceed in whatever career path they choose. Marchy clearly has all of those attributes and in my opinion undeniably has contributed to his success.
St Louis, Belfour, Oates, Dino, Mullen, Stastny, Salming all in HHOF
I love Gio❤ #5 for the Flames, and #55 for the Leafs!
Martin St. Louis. Hands down is the best undrafted player of all time.
I think it's eerie how similar they are and the Lightning let him go. Especially with MSL only having a few more seasons in him. They could use a MSL type player now...
Great run by Marchessault this season. IMO best undrafted player is Dino Ciccarelli.
Super talent; really fun to watch! 😃
What I find ironic is people ignored Marchessault yet completely forget that Pat LaFontaine, whom is one of the best American-born players in NHL history and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, was 5'10". One inch taller than Marchessault. And he played during the 1980s and 1990s. Never underestimate the smaller players.
I don't think Arber Xhekaj was ever drafted, he made the team this year with the Habs for lack of depth on the D line. I think he finished 9th overall for rookie Defensemen in the NHL and first in PIM in the same category. I'm not saying he will win a Conn Smythe, but he will get more accolades once he perfects his games and is better surrounded. I hope he pairs up with Lane Hutson some day.
Ya its nice with the Habs being a smaller team having a guy like him on your team means guys will think twice about taking liberties on our star players.
I was thinking the same thing. Protection. IDK if Habs are capable of making those kinds of smart decisions though. If the guy shows an imperfection of ANY KIND... well, we'll see. He's a guy to watch in my book.
As a panthers fan there was absolutly no reason in my opinion why we needed another big strong center when we already had barkov lost marchy and smith tsk
Johnathan Marchessault is the Unanimous winner of the Conn Smythe trophy for 2023, he plays just like Martin St. Louis.
As the song goes in "Damn Yankees"...
🎶"You gotta have heart!"🎶
Scott Matusow getting justifyingly roasted.
Wayne was 5'11", he wasn't huge but he was bigger than 5'9"
He’s really the only TRUE undrafted player to win the Conn Smythe .Gretzky had a deal like the others
Obviously Martin St-Louis
Oilers fan here, I hate him for destroying my team in R2
Marty St. Louis has to be the best undrafted player