Modern Minds: 3 revolutionary thinkers in the NHL

Knowledge is power, especially in today's NHL.

The game is about more than strength and skill, and players and management alike are using that to their advantage off the ice.

It's all about being one step ahead of your opposition, separating yourself from traditionalists, and thinking outside the box, and these three men are doing all three.

Connor McDavid

There isn't a player in the league with a mind for the game as sharp as Connor McDavid's.

His hands are out of this world, and even more fascinating is that they're able to keep up with his legs, but what puts him above the rest is his ability to think two steps ahead.

At no point was this more clear than when McDavid scored arguably the goal of the year last season, gathering speed before splitting nearly the entire Columbus Blue Jackets team and beating Joonas Korpisalo.

Factor in that he was named the youngest captain in NHL history, and it's pretty obvious that he's as strong between the ears as he is on the puck.

Stan Bowman

No general manager has mastered the salary cap since its inception quite like Stan Bowman.

The Chicago Blackhawks GM has treated the cap as a bomb that he continually defuses, keeping his key players intact without ever being forced to blow the roster up.

He has been able to sign those players to massive contracts, while somehow dealing seemingly significant players, only to acquire cap-friendly replacements to lead them to further success. It's amazing to consider the Blackhawks' track record given they've dealt away Dustin Byfuglien, Andrew Ladd, Brandon Saad, and Patrick Sharp, among others, to deal with cap restraints.

In his seven seasons as general manager, Bowman has captured three Stanley Cups and reached the playoffs in each year, hitting the 100-point plateau in five of those seasons (he hit 97 in 2011, and was limited to just 48 games during the lockout in 2013).

The Blackhawks have become the model organization in the NHL, and Bowman is a large reason for that.

John Chayka

It was revolutionary thinking that got John Chayka his job last May.

Chayka was hired as the Arizona Coyotes' general manager as a 26-year-old, becoming the youngest GM in major-league sports history, largely due to his knowledge of advanced stats and unconventional thinking.

Early in his tenure with the team, he has proven he's not afraid to make big moves and pull the trigger to make his club better. The clearest example was when he flipped the 20th overall pick for the 16th to select Jakob Chychrun in the draft at the price of taking on Pavel Datsyuk's contract from Detroit.

Chychrun could pan out to be a solid defender down the line, while the club also needed to add money to hit the cap floor, which Datsyuk's $7.5-million contract helped with.

He has since made other smaller but crafty moves, and while his club sits among the worst in the league, they're built for future success.