Out of the six players 30 years or older, three of them were acquired this off season (Lee Sempniak, Bryan Bickell, and Viktor Stalberg). This was not by mistake, GM Ron Francis knows that a key part to success is having guys that have been around the league and who have been to the playoffs before.
The other three players Cam Ward, Ron Hainsey, and Jay McClement have acted as the veteran leadership for the young team. Hainsey and McClement were among the teams top penalty killing players on the team, an area where young players tend to struggle.