The Vegas Golden Knights franchise has seen tremendous success throughout its eight years in existence.
A Stanley Cup berth in Year 1.
A Stanley Cup championship in Year 6.
Seven postseason appearances.
Four Pacific Division championships.
Four trips to the Western Conference Final.
The list goes on and on. And on.
But for a franchise with impeccable standards, the only season the Golden Knights label as a true success is the 2022-23 campaign, which resulted in a ring.
Just like each of the last eight years, the Golden Knights enter this season with the goal of raising a banner to the rafters of T-Mobile Arena.
Just like each of the last eight years, Vegas has done everything in its power this summer to make it happen.
Once again, the Golden Knights went out and landed the top target on the market, and it is that acquisition that seems to have supercharged the already-electric hype surrounding Las Vegas’ beloved franchise going into the 2025-26 season.
Key storylines
Expectations are, perhaps, higher than ever, and the Golden Knights are eager to bounce back from a disappointing end to the 2024-25 campaign, which came in the form of a five-game, second-round series loss to Edmonton.
In addition to a surprising lack of urgency (particularly in Game 4), one of the culprits in Vegas’ demise was a lack of production. The Golden Knights were held without a goal in the final two games of the series. A lack of depth on the wings, particularly following the offseason departure of Original Misfit and Conn Smythe winner Jonathan Marchessault, was seen as the team’s greatest weakness coming out of Year 8.
In response, in typical Golden Knights fashion, Vegas simply went out and landed not only the best player available, but a truly elite winger coming off a 102-point season, his fourth consecutive with a points-per-game average above 1.23.
Marner mania
The addition of superstar winger Mitch Marner, who was acquired in a blockbuster sign-and-trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs this summer, makes Vegas a top contender for the ultimate prize in 2025-26.
Marner is locked up through 2032-33 after putting pen to paper on an eight-year, $96 million extension.
The 28-year-old has undeniable skill, with creative playmaking ability and solid two-way play. He has 221 goals and 741 points in 657 career games with Toronto and is coming off a career-best 102-point season, with 27 goals and a career-high 75 helpers.
He and the Maple Leafs were never able to advance past the second round, winning just two total playoff series in his nine-year tenure (by contrast, Vegas was held to one series win in just two of its seven trips to the postseason, with 12 total series wins in eight seasons in the NHL).
Additionally, Marner’s playoff compete level on both sides of the puck has been scrutinized over the years. However, the Golden Knights are betting that the change of scenery and the winning culture in Vegas will maximize his potential and help push Vegas over the edge in its quest to hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup.
The injection of talent into an offense that grew stale in the 2025 postseason could be just what the doctor ordered for the Golden Knights.
Marner is expected to skate with stud pivot Jack Eichel, who is also coming off a career year.
But Marner’s presence makes Vegas’ entire lineup stronger, as it allows Mark Stone to slide down to the second line and puts Vegas’ two leading scorers from 2024-25 (Pavel Dorofeyev and Tomas Hertl) on the “third” line.
Marner has the potential to break the franchise record for most points in a single season, which is currently held by Eichel after he set a personal best last season with 94 points.
The Hart of the matter
But the Golden Knights may not be finished.
Rumors indicate there’s a strong likelihood that the club will sign goaltender Carter Hart next week.
Hart was recently acquitted of a sexual assault charge related to an alleged incident in a hotel room involving a female (known only as “E.M.” due to a publication ban) and multiple members of the 2018 Hockey Canada junior team, which was out celebrating its gold medal at the time.
Hart was one of five players to plead not guilty after being charged in the high-profile case, though he was the only one of the five to testify. (Notably, Vegas forward Brett Howden, who was also part of the 2018 team, delivered emotional testimony during the trial).
All five players — Hart, Michael McLeod, Dillon Dubé, Alex Formenton and Cal Foote — were acquitted on July 24, with the judge delivering a lengthy explanation of her decision, stating that she did not find the evidence of the complainant “credible or reliable.”
Following the acquittal, the NHL further reviewed the situation and ultimately decided that the players would be eligible to sign as free agents beginning Oct. 15 and would be eligible to return to action on Dec. 1 after serving the rest of the league’s suspension.
Hart’s career numbers don’t jump off the page, as he sits just above a .500 record (96-93-29) with a 2.94 goals-against average, .906 save percentage and six shutouts in 227 games, all with Philadelphia. However, the much-needed context missing from those numbers is the fact that Hart played behind a leaky defense that was, at times, abysmal. He was far from perfect, but he’s never played behind a championship-caliber team.
He hasn’t seen NHL action since Jan. 20, 2024, so rust is a definite concern, as is potential blowback from fans, many of whom do not want the organization to sign him (in fact, there’s currently a petition with more than 1,500 signatures calling on the Golden Knights to pass on Hart).
Needless to say, this would be a controversial move. However, all signs point towards Hart becoming a Golden Knight on what is projected to be a two-year deal with an AAV of $2 million.
Vegas recently cleared more than enough cap space to accommodate the move.
The loss of Petro
Unfortunately for the Golden Knights, however, that cap space comes from the loss of Alex Pietrangelo, who has been officially ruled out for the 2025-26 season.
The Golden Knights placed the veteran blueliner on season-ending long-term injured reserve on Tuesday, freeing up $8.8 million of cap space.
It’s a tough blow for Pietrangelo, and it could be Vegas’ biggest test this season, particularly from a leadership perspective. Pietrangelo was a trusted voice in the locker room and is one of several former captains. He played an integral role in the 2023 Cup run, which was his second championship after winning in 2019 with St. Louis.
Pietrangelo’s play dipped last season, though it was clear throughout the year (even before he and the team confirmed it) that he was battling an injury. It’s the reason he bowed out of the 4-Nations Face-Off, and though he gutted it out, his game was affected. He still managed to play 71 games in the regular season and 10 more in the playoffs, but he wasn’t the same all-around pro.
Pietrangelo admitted in June that “the likelihood is low that my body will recover to the standard required to play.” Though he explained during training camp that he elected not to have surgery for his hip and will continue to “take it day-by-day and see where it goes,” it’s a long shot that he’ll hit the ice again.
The addition of Noah Hanifin at the 2024 trade deadline helps mitigate the loss, but there’s no doubt Pietrangelo will be greatly missed, both on and off the ice.
The 17-year veteran has two years remaining on his contract.
Offseason movement
The Golden Knights also moved on from the services of former second-round draft pick Nicolas Hague, who was traded to Nashville in exchange for defenseman Jeremy Lauzon and forward Colton Sissons, both of whom are expected to be in the lineup in the season opener.
Hague, who would have become a restricted free agent, went on to sign a four-year, $22 million contract with the Predators.
Lauzon has one year remaining on a deal carrying a much more affordable AAV of $2 million. The defensive defenseman is a physical menace who led the league in hits in 2023-24 and averaged 4.54 per game in an injury-shortened campaign last season.
With Nicolas Roy headed the other way in the Marner deal, Sissons will serve as the club’s fourth-line center this season. Nashville retained 50 percent of his contract, leaving him with a very team-friendly cap hit of $1.429 million for one more year.
Sissons scored seven goals and 21 points in 72 games last season and won 54.8 percent of his faceoffs. He will contribute to Vegas’ efforts to reconstruct a strong fourth-line identity, something that was pivotal in the team’s championship run but was not the same last year after widespread offseason departures.
Kaedan Korczak will take on a permanent NHL role to round out the back end for Vegas, with Ben Hutton serving as the seventh defenseman.
The defense remains a strength for the Golden Knights, though there are some question marks surrounding the third pairing of Lauzon and Korczak.
Eichel’s contract
One piece of business that is not expected to be taken care of during the season is Eichel’s new contract. The pending unrestricted free agent is in the final year of an eight-year deal carrying an AAV of $10 million. Recent deals, such as Kirill Kaprizov’s record-setting $136 million contract with a whopping $17 million AAV, may make this a more difficult process by giving Eichel more leverage in negotiations.
With the salary cap expected to go up considerably in the next few years, players across the league are turning down lucrative offers. For example, Utah center Logan Cooley rejected an eight-year extension with an AAV of $9.6 million on Monday.
One partial exception to the recent trend is Connor McDavid, who recently agreed to terms on a two-year, $25 million contract, which matches his current AAV of $12.5 million. The two-year term is the key, however, as it leaves room for McDavid to seek a much larger payout in a few seasons, at which point the cap will have gone up.
Given the fact that Eichel is indispensable and irreplaceable, he will be able to dictate terms, though that is not a concern Vegas needs to worry about quite yet. It is, however, something to keep in mind this season, especially since Eichel could have a career year playing alongside Marner.
Preseason recap
The Golden Knights delivered a mixed bag in the preseason, going 3-4-0.
However, they largely succeeded in the most important department, escaping the seven-game stretch without any major injuries.
“Did you stay healthy? That’s always important in preseason,” head coach Bruce Cassidy said. “So we accomplished that.”
Dorofeyev was out of commission for the last two weeks of camp but is projected to be in the lineup Wednesday against Los Angeles. Lauzon also appeared in just one game, playing 13:46 in a 4-1 loss to the Sharks to wrap up the preseason. But he, too, is expected to be in the lineup in the opener.
The team’s defensive game throughout the preseason was solid, as was the penalty kill. One thing that stood out was the new shutdown line of William Karlsson, Reilly Smith and Mark Stone. It’s not surprising that adding a Selke nominee in Stone to the Karlsson-Smith chemistry would yield positive results, but the trio was particularly effective, outshooting opponents 25-13 and holding a 23-7 edge in scoring chances in 32:47, according to Natural Stat Trick.
The offense, meanwhile, remains a work in progress.
Vegas didn’t ice its full lineup until the preseason finale, and Cassidy is still tinkering with line combinations. “We need to see how they perform against NHL lineups,” he said.
Goals were few and far between throughout the preseason, with only four players in the projected opening-night roster lighting the lamp: Eichel, Shea Theodore, Howden and Karlsson. The other goals came from Viliam Kmec, Cole Schwindt, Lucas Cormier, Tanner Laczynski, Joe Fleming and Alexander Holtz, who inked a two-year deal with Vegas yesterday.
Vegas was held to two or fewer goals in six out of seven games; the lone exception was a 3-2 overtime win against Utah, with Theodore converting 3:04 into extra time.
That was one of two games in which Eichel and Marner were both in the lineup; the two combined for four points, with Marner assisting on Eichel’s first of the game. Ivan Barbashev and Theodore both recorded two points in the effort.
“I think we’re going to have to find different ways to score,” Cassidy said. “I was a little surprised we didn’t score more. We probably need to be more direct in our approach when it comes to offense.”
Keys to the season
It may take the new-look Golden Knights some time to settle in, but there’s plenty to like up and down the lineup. The Golden Knights will look to get off on the right foot for the fourth straight season, something Cassidy has made a habit of since taking over bench duties back in 2022.
Under his guidance, the Golden Knights have opened the season with records of 11-0-1, 13-2-0 and 8-3-1.
As always, remaining healthy will be critical for the Golden Knights. It’s an automatic “key to the season.”
The club has improved depth and tremendous skill up front, which should create countless possibilities for line combinations. But the Golden Knights need to avoid the cascade of injuries that has plagued them in prior seasons. This will be particularly true given the NHL’s return to the Olympics. Theodore missed considerable time last year after suffering an injury in the 4-Nations Face-Off, and the Golden Knights can’t afford another bad break this year.
Going into the 2025-26 campaign, the Golden Knights have the tools in place; they just need to execute.
Once more, with feeling
Like last year, the power play will be a critical factor in deciding Vegas’ fate this season.
It’s a game-changer from a momentum perspective, and it helped fuel countless Vegas victories last season.
Vegas’ performance on the man-advantage in 2024-25 blew most expectations out of the water, and the Golden Knights have since added another 228 career power-play points with the addition of Marner.
The top unit likely will feature Marner, Eichel, Stone, Hertl and Theodore. It could be lethal, but it must remain deliberate instead of passive; hesitancy and over-passing will neutralize most of that skill.
The Golden Knights’ power play last year improved by leaps and bounds thanks in large part to a full season with Hertl in the mix, as he was able to revitalize what had become a stale and stagnant man-advantage. In the end, Vegas boasted the second-best power play in the NHL, operating at 28.3 percent.
The Golden Knights need more of the same this year.
2015 NHL Entry Draft
The Golden Knights’ 2025-26 roster will feature three of the top five selections from the 2015 NHL Entry Draft: Eichel (No. 2 overall), Marner (No. 4) and Hanifin (No.5).
Vegas will need all three this year, especially if the Golden Knights want different playoff results against the player who was taken first overall that same year (McDavid).
The Marner-Eichel combination will be thrilling to watch, but it must translate on the score sheet. The addition of Marner adds a lot of elite skill to the Vegas lineup. However, the top line of Marner, Eichel and Barbashev won’t produce if both Marner and Eichel play with a pass-first mentality.
That’s something Eichel knew would have to change coming into this season, and his ability to continually fire pucks at the net will go a long way towards sustaining Vegas’ offense.
Marner also will need to deviate from his past playoff experience. The Golden Knights’ offense ran out of runway last season, and Vegas brought Marner in to address that.
Lastly, Hanifin will be called upon in all situations and likely will lead all Golden Knights defensemen in ice time on a nightly basis. He struggled with consistency last year but settled in down the stretch, particularly following his appearance in the 4 Nations Face-Off. He will need to elevate his game to make up for the massive loss of Pietrangelo.
Crease consistency
Lastly, the Golden Knights will need a more consistent season from Adin Hill.
Hill was particularly shaky in the playoffs. According to Money Puck, he finished the postseason with -3.7 goals saved above expected, which was the second-worst in the playoffs among goalies with at least five starts, trailing only Connor Hellebuyck (-4.3). Hill also gave up three goals in seven of 11 appearances and finished the playoffs with an .887 save percentage and 2.93 goals-against average.
That being said, when facing elimination in Game 5, he shut out the Oilers for 67-plus minutes before Kasperi Kapanen scored the series-clinching goal to eliminate Vegas.
At the end of the day, Hill was not the reason Vegas lost that series. Plus, he played a career-high 50 games during the regular season.
However, he’ll need to be dependable this year, particularly without Pietrangelo and with Akira Schmid as the backup (for now, at least), who was awful in the AHL (9-18-3, 3.58 GAA, .886 SV%) and who has just 48 games of NHL experience.
But whether it’s Schmid or Hart serving as the backup, Hill remains “the guy.” He needs to play like it.
Season Opener
Golden Knights vs. Kings preview
The Los Angeles Kings will be in the second half of a back-to-back tonight after falling 4-1 to Colorado last night. They will look to avoid falling into an 0-2-0 hole in what will be the final season of 20-year veteran Anze Kopitar’s career. The Slovenian center announced he will retire at the conclusion of the 2025-26 campaign, which should be a motivating factor for Los Angeles this season.
The Kings are coming off their fourth straight first-round elimination at the hands of the Oilers. The Kings (48-25-9) finished second in the Pacific Division last season and seemed poised to break the cycle, but the Oilers had other plans, knocking out the Kings in six games en route to their second straight Stanley Cup appearance.
After going 31-11-7 with a 2.02 GAA, .915 SV% and five shutouts in 2024-25, goaltender Darcy Kuemper will be heavily relied on once again this year. However, he is unlikely to man the crease tonight after playing against the Avalanche.
Instead, Anton Forsberg is expected to get the nod in what will be his Kings debut. He went 11-12-3 with a 2.72 GAA, .901 SV% and three shutouts last year with Ottawa and is 1-2-0 with a 3.87 GAA and .889 SV% all-time against the Golden Knights.
Los Angeles’ key offseason departures include defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov, forward Tanner Jeannot and goaltender David Rittich.
With Ken Holland taking over as general manager, the Kings added forwards Joel Armia and Corey Perry (who is expected to miss the first month of the season) as well as defensemen Brian Dumoulin and Cody Ceci in the offseason.
Additionally, having a healthy Drew Doughty will go a long way for Los Angeles, as the blueliner played just 30 games last season.
The Golden Knights had a lot of trouble with the Kings last year, going 1-3-0 in the season series. Vegas is 18-15-3 all-time against its Pacific Division rival.
Projected lineups
Golden Knights
Ivan Barbashev — Jack Eichel — Mitch Marner
Reilly Smith — William Karlsson — Mark Stone
Brandon Saad — Tomas Hertl — Pavel Dorofeyev
Brett Howden — Colton Sissons — Keegan Kolesar
Brayden McNabb — Shea Theodore
Noah Hanifin — Zach Whitecloud
Jeremy Lauzon — Kaedan Korczak
Adin Hill
Akira Schmid
Kings
Andrei Kuzmenko — Anze Kopitar — Adrian Kempe
Kevin Fiala — Quinton Byfield — Alex Laferriere
Warren Foegele — Phillip Danault — Trevor Moore
Jeff Malott — Alex Turcotte — Joel Armia
Mikey Anderson — Drew Doughty
Joel Edmundson — Brandt Clarke
Brian Dumoulin — Cody Ceci
Anton Forsberg
Darcy Kuemper
How to Watch
Game 1 of 82: Kings at Golden Knights
When: 7:00 p.m. PT
Where: T-Mobile Arena — Las Vegas, NV
TV: TNT, HBO Max
Radio: Fox Sports 98.9 FM