The Stanley Cup Final is officially set, and the Vegas Golden Knights will take on the Carolina Hurricanes following their victory over the Montreal Canadiens in Game 5 on Friday evening. The series will feature two teams that easily took care of their opponents on their way to the final round, and it should be an interesting matchup. We don't know how exactly things will pan out, but there is one thing guaranteed which is that a former New York Ranger will hoist the Cup yet again!
Carolina Hurricanes
K'Andre Miller is the lone former Ranger part of the Hurricanes, and he joined the team this offseason in a deal that sent Scott Morrow and a first round pick back to New York. Miller has had a sensational playoffs for the Hurricanes, and is currently fifth on the team in scoring with eight assists in 13 games. Miller averaged 22:24 a game during the regular season, and posted a line of 8-29-37 in 72 games played.
Vegas Golden Knights
The Golden Knights are led by John Tortorella, and he joined the organization with just eight games remaining in the regular season. Tortorella's first job as an NHL head coach was a four-game trial at the end of the 1999-00 season, and the summer he joined the Tampa Bay Lightning where he'd go on to win a Stanley Cup in 2003-04.
Tortorella rejoined the Blueshirts organization in 2008-09, finished that season, and then spent three full seasons and a lockout shortened season behind the Blueshirts bench. All in all, the Rangers went 171-118-1 in the regular season with Torts, and 19-25 in the postseason.
Brett Howden has a chance to win his second Cup with the Vegas Golden Knights this season. He made his NHL debut with the Rangers during the 2018-19 season after being acquired from Tampa Bay, and spent 178 games across three seasons with the Rangers. He only tallied 16 goals, 33 assists, and 49 points in that span, and has since become a much more productive player in Vegas. He currently is fifth in playoff scoring on the team with 10 goals and 12 points in 16 games.
Then there's Reilly Smith, a player who was an Original Misfit that won the Cup, and joined the Rangers via trade from the Pittsburgh Penguins. Smith spent just 58 games with the Blueshirts, and he scored 10 goals while adding 19 assists for 29 points during that span. He was then traded back to Vegas, and this playoff run has seen him tally just two assists in six games.
This isn't a new trend
Former Blueshirts winning the Cup isn't exactly a new phenomenon, but the newly finalized matchup officially guarantees that this wild trend will extend to an unbelievable eleven seasons out of the last twelve.
The recent history alone is dizzying. Niko Mikkola just finished securing back-to-back rings with the Florida Panthers, serving as a massive shutdown piece alongside Vladimir Tarasenko on that dominant 2024 squad. Before the parade went to Sunrise, Brett Howden hoisted the trophy with Vegas in 2023, following Jack Johnson’s feel-good championship run with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022.
You also can’t forget the Tampa Bay mini-dynasty, which saw Ryan McDonagh win back-to-back titles in 2020 and 2021, sharing the ice with Kevin Shattenkirk for that first bubble run. Going back even further, Michael Del Zotto got his name engraved on the Cup with the St. Louis Blues in 2019.
While the streak technically paused for a single year in 2018 when the Washington Capitals won it all, the deeper history remains entirely unbreakable. Carl Hagelin was the definitive speedster part of the HBK line for the back-to-back Pittsburgh Penguins teams in 2016 and 2017, Brad Richards brought a veteran steadying hand to the Chicago Blackhawks in 2015, and Marian GaborÃk completely tore up the postseason to help the Los Angeles Kings win it all in 2014 against the Rangers.
I guess the moral of the story is pretty clear. If you are an NHL player desperately chasing a Stanley Cup ring, your absolute best bet is to pack your bags for Broadway for a little bit... and then immediately leave.
Add us as a preferred source on Google