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Comparing Vegas Golden Knights’ championship to other successful expansion teams in sports history

On Tuesday night, the Vegas Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup, achieving the feat at the end of their sixth season. Statistically, they became the second-fastest-expansion team in NHL history to win a title, missing out on the record held by the Edmonton Oilers in 1984. 

Considering the Oilers were already an established franchise, debuting in 1972 in the World Hockey Association, there is an argument that the Golden Knights are the first true expansion team to hold the record. Historically, the Philadelphia Flyers became the first franchise from the 1967 expansion to set the record, winning at the end of their seventh season in 1974. 

Although hundreds of individual stories are associated with this historic win, realistically, there are only seven other stories about finding success shortly after establishment. Let’s look at the Golden Knights’ place in history regarding teams winning a championship within six years. 

Golden Knights almost won Stanley Cup in their first season

NHL: Toronto Maple Leafs at Vegas Golden Knights

In 2016, the NHL Board of Governors approved the expansion bid placed by Bill Foley and the Maloof Family to bring a hockey team to Las Vegas. Eventually, the Golden Knights would take the ice in 2017-18, won the Pacific Division, and appeared in the Stanley Cup Final nine months after debuting. Unfortunately, the team only won one contest before losing to Washington Capitals in five games. 

Interestingly, the team stayed competitive in the following seasons, winning three additional division titles and returning to the Western Conference Final in 2020. Ultimately, the team has not faced an abundance of adversity in six years, missing the playoffs only once (by three points) in 2021-22.

Related: Vegas Golden Knights win Stanley Cup: 4 takeaways from Game 5 win over Florida Panthers

Heading into Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final in 2023, the Vegas lineup featured five players from their expansion draft (2017), 11 players acquired through trades, two free agent signings, a waiver wire pick-up, and one entry draft player. Moreover, in one of the classiest moves, head coach Bruce Cassidy started the original five “misfits” William Carrier, William Karlsson, Reilly Smith, Shea Theodore, and Conn Smythe Trophy Winner Jonathan Marchessault in the Cup-clinching game. 

Considering that the Golden Knights have only played in a salary cap era, it is surprising that a few expansion-year players remain after six years. However, the roster turnover and the fact that the team has stayed so competitive speaks to general manager George McPhee’s fantastic job constructing a winner. 

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Golden Knights’ championship put them in exclusive company

When flipping through the record books of the NHL, NBA, MLB, and NFL, the Golden Knights are now part of a small fraternity of teams who found success almost immediately after becoming an established franchise. Although Vegas did not win the Stanley Cup in their inaugural season, they were chasing a record held by MLB’s Arizona Diamondbacks and NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks, who won a league championship in just their third season. 

After being established in 1995, the Diamondbacks began playing in 1998, finishing as a fifth-place team. Immediately following that year, the franchise restructured its roster into a contender. Eventually, Arizona would dethrone the three-time defending World Series champions, the New York Yankees, for their first title in 2001 in a thrilling seven-game series

LeagueTeamEst.TitleYears
MLBArizona Diamondbacks199820013
NBAMilwaukee Bucks196819713
MLBMiami Marlins199319974
NFLBaltimore Ravens199620004
NHLEdmonton Oilers197919845
NHLVegas Golden Knights201720236
NFLMiami Dolphins196619726

Meanwhile, the Bucks came into existence in 1968 and earned a fifth-place finish in their first season. By the end of the following year, they would own the second-best record in their conference before falling in the second round of the playoffs. Eventually, after rounding out their roster, the club would win a then-NBA record 20 straight games en route to an impressive 12-2 run in the playoffs to become NBA champions in 1971. 

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Putting Golden Knights’ championship win into perspective

Surprisingly, to this day, no one has come close to securing a championship within three seasons of debuting as an expansion club, except for when the Golden Knights marched to the Stanley Cup Final in 2017-18. Although the NHL recently expanded in 2021 with the Seattle Kraken, the other three North American leagues have yet to add new franchises in nearly 20 years. 

Realistically, the teams that own their respective league records, like MLB’s Diamondbacks (three seasons), NBA’s Bucks (three seasons), NFL’s Baltimore Ravens (four years), and the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers (five seasons), can rest easy knowing their place in the record books is pretty safe for the foreseeable future. 

Unless the Kraken can win the Stanley Cup within the next three seasons, the Golden Knights’ historic 2023 championship season will go down as one of the most successful starts an expansion franchise has experienced in the top four professional leagues. 

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