What can the Bruins learn from the Golden Knights’ Stanley Cup run?

The 2022-23 Bruins had some similarities with the newly crowned Vegas Golden Knights. Both featured depth, up front and on the back end — a necessity during the battle of attrition that is playoff hockey. And both have familiarity with Bruce Cassidy as their coach.

But beyond that, what other lessons can the Bruins glean from Vegas’s run to a championship?

If there has been one overarching theme that recent Cup contenders have adhered to, it’s heft on the blue line.

Consider the last three Stanley Cup winners. The top six defensemen on the Golden Knights averaged 6 feet 3 inches, 213 pounds. The 2021-22 Avalanche defense averaged 6-1½, 207 pounds. The 2020-21 Lightning averaged 6-3, 223 pounds.

The Golden Knights trudged their way through the 2023 playoff bracket thanks to a suffocating defensive system.

Some teams rely heavily on a red-hot goalie to carry them, but the task becomes much easier when there is a pair of big bodies in front who are capable of blocking shots and keeping skaters to the outside.

During the Stanley Cup Final, the Golden Knights blocked 123 shots over five games with Florida, 71 by defensemen.

Some of the Bruins’ best playoff runs over the past decade have come to a grinding halt because an opposing defense (2019 Blues, 2020 Lightning) has doled out punishment and defended interior ice.

Of course, some context is needed when it comes to how Cup-winning clubs are retooling their D corps. If the Bruins want an overhaul, that doesn’t mean they have to go out and just add big bruisers.

Crisp transition play and a bevy of shots from the blue line are often foundational pieces as well.

The Vegas defensemen might be hefty, but they are also skilled at the other end. The Bruins were generally cut from the same cloth when it came to puck play and offensive talent, until their breakout completely unraveled against Florida’s forechecking pressure.

The 2022 Avalanche were similar, and that’s looking beyond the on-ice cheat code that is Makar.

To thrive in today’s NHL, you also need a D corps capable of jump-starting the offense by way of shots from high in the offensive zone.

The best offense is usually the most versatile one. A team can’t rely on the cycle game or chances off the rush to consistently win in the spring. Having blue liners capable of jumping into the play and peppering shots off low-to-high plays needs to be part of the equation.

While many Cup contenders are beefing up their blue lines, the opposite is happening up front.

Fleet-footed power forwards such as Tom Wilson are still coveted, but gone are the days when teams are loading up with 200-pound bruisers.

In the modern NHL, speed kills. And the Golden Knights are the latest team that made life miserable for opponents by wreaking havoc in transition and on the forecheck.

Even though the Bruins had an explosive offense, they didn’t necessarily have burners up front beyond Jake DeBrusk and Taylor Hall.

Contrast that with the Golden Knights, who had straight-line speedsters such as William Carrier, Keegan Kolesar, and William Karlsson in the bottom-six grouping and 5-foot-9-inch Jonathan Marchessault doing damage on the top line.

The Panthers also had gifted skaters such as Anthony Duclair and Sam Bennett doing damage on the rush and on the forecheck. The Hurricanes’ frantic forecheck doomed the Bruins last season, and has been a hallmark of Rod Brind’Amour’s system for years.

But more than just turning the game into a track meet (a rather unsustainable offensive strategy), speed creates both opportunity and versatility for your offense.

On the rush, having players capable of putting opponents on their heels can lead to Grade A looks in transition or prompt panic from a defender. But having a number of gifted skaters also allows you to augment your offensive approach on the fly.

The Golden Knights, much like the Bruins, did most of their damage during the regular season on the rush. Those chances tend to dry up in the playoffs when interior ice is locked down and teams ratchet up pressure against your breakout.

The Golden Knights had the speed in place to ramp up their own forecheck, using straight-line acceleration to force turnovers and create havoc in their opponent’s end.

The Bruins simply didn’t have the horsepower to follow a similar formula.

Whether it be incorporating youngsters with closing speed like Jakub Lauko and Johnny Beecher into the bottom six or adding skill via trades, the Bruins need to inject more pace into their forward grouping in 2023-24.

With goaltending, if the Bruins continue to roll out Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman, they’ll still have arguably the best 1-2 punch in the league.

It’ll likely cost them $8 million-$9 million for Swayman, given that he is due a nice raise as a restricted free agent.

And while the cap hit would be below what netminders such as Sergei Bobrovsky ($10 million) and Vasilevskiy ($9.5 million) cost, Vegas’s run with its goalie tandem offers validity to the belief that such a hefty investment isn’t needed.

After a proven star in Vasilevskiy anchored titles for the Lightning in 2020 and 2021, the last two Cup-winning goalies have been Colorado’s Darcy Kuemper and Vegas’s Adin Hill.

Hill, who started the season as Vegas’s third-string goalie and entered the postseason as Laurent Brossoit’s backup, posted two shutouts and a .932 save percentage in 16 games during the playoff run.

Kuemper finished his 2022 playoff run in Colorado with a .902 save percentage over 16 games. Even Jordan Binnington has fallen off after his improbable run with the Blues in 2019.

If the Bruins do need to trade one of Ullmark/Swayman this offseason in search of cap relief/assets, they might find solace in the fact that the best goalie on paper (at least in October) has rarely been the one leading his team to a title in June.

Conor Ryan can be reached at conor.ryan@globe.com.