Vegas Golden Knights

The next team up in our team overviews are the Vegas Golden Knights. Vegas had a very disappointing year last season. The Golden Knights had one of the best rosters in the league, but were plagued by injuries and at the end of the year, their last ditch effort to squeak into the playoffs came up short. They shipped out Max Pacioretty for cap space reasons who was one of their top wingers for the past few seasons, but made moves to lessen the blow. The Golden Knights still have elite forwards, and a very strong top 9. Their best player Jack Eichel came over via trade from the Buffalo Sabres and has been a top 10 player in the league since his rookie year. He is coming off of a neck injury that required a surgery never performed before on an NHLer. Eichel has the ability to take over a game and has a new line mate with Phil Kessel signing with Vegas in the offseason. The Golden Knights also have an outstanding 2 way forward in their captain, Mark Stone. Stone plays so well on both ends of the ice and generates chances on offense from his superb defensive play. They also have the "misfit" group of Jonathan Marchessault, William Karlsson, and Reilly Smith. Those 3 have been in Vegas since their inaugural season and have played at such a high level each year when they are healthy. The last forward to highlight is Chandler Stephenson. Stephenson came over in a trade in the offseason of 2018 and has played his best hockey since coming to Vegas. He is another one of those good 2 way forwards that can play at any time of the game. The Golden Knights defense is also stellar. They have two studs with Alex Pietrangelo and Shea Theodore. Both of these guys are capable of being number 1 defensemen on any team in the league and just so happen to be on the same team. Theodore and Pietrangelo are both 2 way defensemen that are shutdown in the d zone and can translate that into offense. Their transition games are incredible, being able to be 1 man breakouts. They also have Alec Martinez who is a more offensive defenseman who has also been with Vegas since the expansion draft. Nick Hague and Brayden McNabb are two defensive defensemen that are able to hold down the fort when the going gets tough. Their goaltending situation is an interesting one. They have technical rookie Logan Thompson, who played well last year when called upon, at the helm. Thompson has a tall task in front of him being the backstop of this Vegas team that has such high hopes. The Golden Knights are going to have that bounce back year this season. They are too talented and with their new coach, Bruce Cassidy, they will enjoy some success this year and get back to the playoffs.

Record Prediction- 46-32-4

Playoffs- Yes