A lot can happen in nine years.
The Vegas Golden Knights have achieved unparalleled success as an expansion team in the modern era since the 2017-18 season, and tonight marks the beginning of Year 10.
That success started early, with the magical and historical inaugural campaign that led to the club’s first Stanley Cup appearance. But the Golden Knights were not satisfied. Since then, Vegas has made two additional trips to the Final, winning it all in 2023.
In addition, the Golden Knights have won the Pacific Division title five times, and they’ve made the postseason in eight out of nine campaigns.
Needless to say, the bar was set high early, and failing to meet expectations is not an option in Sin City.
The mentality starts at the top, and it trickles down throughout the entire organization.
The Golden Knights consider last year’s six-game Stanley Cup defeat at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes to be a failure. For a team with this level of success, reaching the Cup is not good enough. Not at all.
Those standards — in addition to Vegas’ extremely aggressive approach — have resulted in plenty of casualties over the years.
Ryan Craig, who will make his official debut as Vegas bench boss tonight as the fifth head coach in franchise history, is proof of that concept. Bruce Cassidy was fired with seven games remaining in the regular season last year, and John Tortorella was relieved of his duties after playing a hand in falling two wins shy of hoisting the second Cup in franchise history.
The cutthroat nature of winning culture takes its toll.
This year, the most notable example on the roster is the departure of sniper Pavel Dorofeyev, who led the Golden Knights in goals in each of the last two seasons. But the man they called “Scorofeyev” had to be shipped to the Big Apple for cap purposes. Dorofeyev and his scoring prowess will be missed, but the Golden Knights are ready to turn the page and start anew.
The 2026-27 run begins tonight at home with the visiting Chicago Blackhawks as the first test.
Fortunately for the Golden Knights, the preseason doesn’t count. Though Vegas went 3-1-0, a 4-2 loss to San Jose in the preseason finale wasn’t an inspiring way to wrap things up, and yielding eight goals in the final two games left plenty of room for concern with regards to the team’s goaltending.
The crease will be manned by the tandem of Carter Hart and Adin Hill, but inconsistency leaves much to be desired. Of course, Connor Hellebuyck’s availability is intriguing, but there’s no guarantee Vegas wants to or even can make that happen.
Both Hart and Hill have shown tremendous promise in their careers, but questions remain.
Hart went 11-3-3 with a 2.71 goals-against average and .891 save percentage last season, including a win over Chicago in which he surrendered three goals on 30 shots (.900 SV%). He played well in the playoffs, though things unraveled in the Final. When all was said and done, he finished the postseason 14-8 with a 2.56 GAA, .909 SV% and 2.0 goals saved above expected.
Hill, who was between the pipes when Vegas won in 2023, had an especially tough ride last year, going 10-9-6 with a 3.04 GAA and .871 SV% and failing to get a single start in the postseason. He shut out Chicago last season with a 21-save effort but finished the year with -14.2 goals saved above expected, which was the sixth-worst value among 98 goalies last year.
The retooled blue line will see Rasmus Andersson and Noah Hanifin split up, with Hanifin skating on the right side on the third pair with Jeremy Lauzon and Andersson anchoring the second pair with Parker Wotherspoon, who was acquired from Pittsburgh in exchange for Kaedan Korczak. Dylan Coghlan will serve as the extra rearguard.
The main surprise out of training camp was Trevor Connelly earning a role on the third line. The former first-round pick was impressive. Though he didn’t produce, he demonstrated confidence with the puck, was an effective play-driver and brings some much-needed skill to the bottom six.
Victor Olofsson — in his second stint with Vegas — will slot in on the other wing, with Tomas Hertl anchoring the unit. The fourth line will feature Nic Dowd between Braeden Bowman and Marc Gatcomb, whose physicality will help fill the gap left by Keegan Kolesar, who was traded to Detroit.
There are no surprises in the top six, with Ivan Barbashev, Jack Eichel and Mark Stone reunited on the top line and the highly effective trio of Mitch Marner, William Karlsson and Brett Howden sticking together as well.
Olofsson was expected to fill Dorofeyev’s role on the top power play, though (for now) it appears as though Shea Theodore will be the fifth man on the unit. It’s anyone’s guess as to how long that will last, especially given how much success Vegas had with the Stone-to-Dorofeyef one-timer last year. Theodore is, perhaps, a safer bet, but all that matters is converting.
As far as Vegas’ first opponent, the Blackhawks will be without superstar Connor Bedard, who remains out with an injury. Chicago brought back Hawks legend Patrick Kane on a two-year deal and also added experience and grit by signing former Golden Knights forward Cole Smith as well as defenseman Ian Cole and forward Jordan Greenway.
The most significant move for Chicago was the steep price paid to land Sabres defenseman Bowen Byram, who was promptly signed to a massive six-year extension with a cap hit of $12.5 million.
The Blackhawks have been basement dwellers over the last several years but are expected to see an improvement in the standings in Kyle Davidson’s fifth season as general manager.
The resulting draft capital from those struggles will be fully reflected in the lineup, however, with Frank Nazar, Roman Kantserov, Oliver Moore, Anton Frondell, Nick Lardis, Artyom Levshunov and Sam Rinzel all suiting up for opening night.
But most eyes will be on Kane and Byram to start.
Between the pipes will be Spencer Knight in his second full season with Chicago. He went 19-25-11 in 55 starts last year, posting a 2.83 GAA and .903 SV% with three shutouts. Knight went 0-1-1 with a 3.36 GAA and .893 SV% in two games against Vegas.
Vegas went 2-0-1 against Chicago last year and is 17-3-4 in the all-time matchup.
Statistics courtesy of NHL.com, Hockey-Reference and MoneyPuck.
Projected lineups
Golden Knights
Ivan Barbashev — Jack Eichel — Mark Stone
Brett Howden — William Karlsson — Mitch Marner
Trevor Connelly — Tomas Hertl — Victor Olofsson
Marc Gatcomb — Nic Dowd — Braeden Bowman
Brayden McNabb — Shea Theodore
Parker Wotherspoon — Rasmus Andersson
Jeremy Lauzon — Noah Hanifin
Carter Hart
Adin Hill
Blackhawks
Oliver Moore — Roman Kantserov — Patrick Kane
Tyler Bertuzzi — Anton Frondell — Andrew Mangiapane
Ryan Donato — Frank Nazar — Nick Lardis
Cole Smith — Ryan Greene — Jordan Greenway
Alex Vlasic — Bowen Byram
Wyatt Kaiser — Artyom Levshunov
Ian Cole — Sam Rinzel
Spencer Knight
Arvid Soderblom
How to watch
Game 1 of 84: Golden Knights vs. Blackhawks
Where: T-Mobile Arena — Las Vegas, NV
When: 7:30 p.m. PT
TV: ESPN
Radi: X 107.9 (KVGS FM)
Featured photo via the Golden Knights