Hannah Kirkell
Over the past few days, the Vegas Golden Knights have been the subject of a fair bit of discourse. Is their Cup window closing? If so, should they ‘blow it up’?
Questions after a postseason exit are to be expected, but this is an overreaction. Most teams would see winning a round as a successful season. However, because the Golden Knights have developed such a culture for winning, anything short of a Stanley Cup is viewed as a failure.
But let’s get one thing straight: the Golden Knights should not, under any circumstances, ‘blow it up.’
The Golden Knights have the cornerstones needed to win another Stanley Cup. They have a number one center and a number one defenseman in their prime. And they have a proven winning goaltender in net.
Jack Eichel has been an exceptional two-way forward for quite some time now, but during the regular season, he really hit his stride offensively. Eichel ended the season with 94 points in 77 games. An injury kept him out of a few games at the end of the year; otherwise, he would have pushed for 100 points.
Shea Theodore has played at the level of a number-one defenseman for years. He gained national attention this season when he was named to Canada’s 4 Nations Face-Off team. An injury in the first game slightly derailed his season, but despite missing 15 games, he hit a career-high in points and assists.
Despite struggling this postseason, Adin Hill has proven that he can lead the Golden Knights to a Stanley Cup. He’s big, he’s smart, and he’s hard to rattle. He set new career highs this season in starts, wins, and shutouts. He’s won in the playoffs before, and he can do it again.
Yes, the Golden Knights fizzled out in the second round this year. But it’s clear why: when it came down to it, they couldn’t score.
No, it’s not time to ‘blow it up.’ What the Golden Knights need to do is add. They need to add speedy scoring wingers– gee, I wonder how Jonathan Marchessault is doing! But I digress.
Now, the Golden Knights have wingers under contract who can score.
There’s Mark Stone, who exited Game 3 early after an injury. He played through it in Game 4, but the injury was severe enough to prevent him from playing Game 5. Before his injury, Stone was a point-per-game player this postseason, with four goals and four assists in eight games. Had he been able to play, it’s hard to imagine the captain not stepping up with the season on the line.
There’s Pavel Dorofeyev, who missed three games this postseason due to injury. Even when he played, he didn’t look fully healthy. After scoring 35 goals during the regular season, Dorofeyev managed just one during the playoffs.
There’s Ivan Barbashev, who had a postseason to forget with just one goal and one assist in 11 games. Was this playoff stretch an outlier, or was his 2023 postseason a fluke? Only time will tell, but when Barbashev won the Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues in 2019, he had just three goals and three assists in 25 games.
Who else on this Golden Knights roster should be considered a scoring winger? Reilly Smith, Victor Olofsson, and Brandon Saad fit the bill, but all three are on expiring contracts. Brett Howden had a good regular season, but in the playoffs, he reverted back to being a checking forward. Keegan Kolesar, too, had a good regular season but hasn’t scored since February 27th– 35 games ago.
During the Stanley Cup Playoffs, injuries happen. If possible, players gut it out and play this time of year, but they’re not always at 100%. The more players that can score, the better. And the Golden Knights need more of those.
Here’s the reality of the situation– there is no one in the pipeline who can help in the near future. Trevor Connelly is a great prospect, but when I scouted the Henderson Silver Knights last month, he didn’t appear close to being NHL-ready. So, scoring help will have to come from the outside.
Because their prospect pool is shallow, the Golden Knights don’t have many tradable assets. So that leaves Free Agency.
Let’s get one thing out of the way: the Golden Knights don’t have Mitch Marner money. They have $9.615 million of salary cap space next season. That’s a fair bit to work with, but it’s nowhere near what Marner will command.
As the Golden Knights likely won’t be able to afford the top Free Agents, general manager Kelly McCrimmon will have to get creative. After the postseason he had, Nikolaj Ehlers probably played himself out of Vegas’ price range, and Brock Boeser will have his fair share of suitors who have more to offer than the Golden Knights do.
This team isn’t one player away from winning the 2026 Stanley Cup; the Golden Knights aren’t that close. But they’re not too far away.
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