On Tuesday night, the Golden Knights recorded 37 shots on goal in their 5-2 opening night victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. It was the most SOG for Vegas in a season debut since 2022, and the 2nd most in an opener ever. Shockingly, Vegas landed 51 shots on opening night in the 2022-23 campaign. Mr. Jack “please shoot more” Eichel registered an astounding seven shots on goal that evening. This season, Eichel has started off with two shots and a 50% shooting percentage.
However, it wasn’t only Vegas’ forwards creating shooting chances on Tuesday night; VGK’s defensemen also got in on the action against the Blackhawks. The Golden Knights received 11 shots from the blueline, including five from Rasmus Andersson and Noah Hanifin. Only Trevor Connelly, Tomas Hertl and Mitch Marner exceeded 3 SOG in Game 1 of 84. Heck, even Jeremy Lauzon took three shots on Chicago’s net. If coach Ryan Craig drew up a game plan that called for more blueline shots, he got it from his group of six.
Over his career, Tomas Hertl has averaged 26 goals per season. As a Golden Knight, he’s averaging 29.5 tallies per season, more than Mitch Marner and Mark Stone, and just a touch below Jack Eichel. Last year, the 2024 deadline acquisition performed under expectations. He led the Golden Knights with a -17 plus/minus, was middle of the pack in shooting percentage, and scored 8 fewer goals than he did the previous season. Without piling on, Hert’s season was a letdown, and it got even worse early in the postseason. The middle-six center’s goals per game dropped to 0.22, and his average minutes of ice time was cut by almost four minutes.
I remember when I lost (in the Stanley Cup Final), I was obviously sad, but I thought I’d probably be back in two or three years. Over the years, you figure out how hard it is to get there. – Tomas Hertl
Hert scored just five goals in 22 playoff games, but two of them were game winners. However, six other Golden Knights scored more along their Stanley Cup Final run. Even defenseman Shea Theodore had one more postseason goal and three more shots on net. In previous years with the San Jose Sharks, Hertl landed 50+ shots on goal multiple times in the playoffs, so there’s no doubt he can take more chances. This has to be the season the 32-year-old gets back to the basics and returns to that 30+ goal scorer the NHL is used to.
If Vegas can rely on #48 this season on a much more consistent basis, then new coach Ryan Craig can presumably sleep better at night. Craig knows how difficult it is to replace a 40-goal scorer, but if Hertl can raise his total, he can almost act as VGK’s big offensive offseason splash. The Golden Knights front office traded for him in 2024 to be a difference maker. This could be the season when the trade really pays off.
It’s not a new season without being called crazy. However, after this year’s submissions, I’m starting to believe I might be clinically insane. Here’s why. Since we began making our unlikely predictions, sadly I’ve jinxed one original Golden Knight year after year. I’m bound to curse one player on this list; let’s hope it’s not him again.
So, let’s kick it off with my first crazy 2026-27 predictions:
Call me crazy, but Tomas Hertl will be VGK’s only 30-goal scorer this season.
It’s not crazy to expect 30 goals from Hertl. He’s reached that mark three times in his career and averages 26 goals per season. The 2025-26 campaign was not Hertl’s best. Let’s be honest, last season was somewhat of a disaster for the 32-year-old Czech. It shouldn’t need saying, but I expect the club and the player to have higher expectations going into 2026-27.
11 5-on-5 goals just won’t cut it from Hertl. I still forecast 10-12 power play goals from him, possibly more with the current power play plan. However, his even-strength goals must increase. Call me crazy but Hertl will lead the Golden Knights this season with 20 EV goals and 34 tallies overall. No one else will reach 30.
Okay, so today isn’t exactly opening night, but for local hockey fans it certainly feels like it. At 10:30 AM, Vegas veterans will be taking the ice for a scrimmage to wet the beak of Golden Knights loyalists. Captain Mark Stone and his top line mates Jack Eichel and Ivan Barbashev will be participating, as well as most of VGK’s other stars. This will lead up to Vegas’ first preseason game against the Los Angeles Kings. While both are inconsequential, it’s the first chance to see the 2026-27 roster in action.
Maybe today’s “two-game” slate won’t draw everyone. However, there will be many passionate fans watching intently.
These three months without hockey have felt like three years. Today feels like Christmas Eve without the festive sweaters. While the rest of the country is binging college football, I’ll be glued to both the scrimmage and the game. Hockey always comes first. – Danny Cendejaz, VGK fan
The NHL will always have its diehard fans. You know, the ones that spend their entire summer complaining about the pace of baseball, while counting the days until training camp. Well, today is a day for those dedicated fanatics.
Tonight, the Golden Knights will dress a mix of veterans, young players, and others who have something to prove. Many players will be preparing themselves for the regular season by getting back into game form. Others will have their chance to show their true value to the Golden Knights’ front office, or even another NHL team. It’s the unproven players that local fans are excited to see.
I’m excited to see Connelly. Really, I’m excited to see how our young guys look. We haven’t had many over the years, and it would be nice for one of them to break out this season. Hoping it’s Connelly. -Brady Withey, VGK fan
While we’re unsure of who will be on the bench tonight in Ontario, it won’t matter for many fans. Today’s action is only for recreation. It’s the next three preseason games that should present more substance. Assuming, most of the opening day roster suits up for next Saturday’s preseason finale. At 6 PM tonight, it’s only about watching the boys in gold compete against a divisional rival.
There is plenty of time to stress out about the goalie rotation, or where Braeden Bowman lands in the lineup, or Noah Hanifin accepting a third-pair role. Save that for the loudmouths on the SinBin.vegas podcast.
Over the weekend, Golden Knights fans got the news they had been waiting for all summer. For the next three seasons, captain Mark Stone is guaranteed to be a Golden Knight.
The Golden Knights have re-signed captain Mark Stone to a 2-year $9 million AAV extension. He is now under contract for each of the next 3 seasons.
We discussed Stone’s expiring contract all offseason and believed a deal before camp was likely. However, the term was a bit of a shock. Stone took a small pay cut, and was only extended for two more seasons. VGK’s captain will be 37 when his new deal expires. It’s a possible sign Stone has a retirement plan in motion. Or it’ll simply be the time in his career to begin negotiating team-friendly year-by-year extensions. Allowing the front office to offer more cash and term to younger free agents.
We’re a team everyone loves to hate. That fuels our fire and it’s going to fuel our fire moving forward. – Mark Stone, June 15th, 2026
There’s no evidence that a lack of an extension for Stone would have created a distraction in the Golden Knights locker room. However, it was a minor concern going into training camp. We watched it play out in the 2023-24 season with 2023 Conn Smythe winner Jonathan Marchessault. From day one in camp, Marchessault was asked about a possible extension. He was later asked in October, November, December, and into the new year. By February, Marchessault was more than frustrated and began realizing that a reasonable extension was unlikely to be offered. Quietly, it became a distraction. Thankfully, we’ll never find out if the lack of a Stone extension would’ve caused some uneasiness.
Now for some wild speculation.
In three years, Stone’s $9M per season contract will expire. At that point, the veteran captain will likely sign for less, move on, or retire. Nevertheless, a good chunk of VGK’s salary cap will open up for a high-end free agent like, oh, I don’t know… Connor McDavid?
Edmonton’s captain is under contract for the next two seasons. I’m certain there’s a McDavid Master Plan locked away in a Golden Knights front office file cabinet.
As of today, Vegas can spend up to $20M on July 1st, 2028, potentially the opening bid for McDavid. It jumps to $40M in open cap space in 2029. It’s enough room to draw in McDavid and sign Stone for another season or two. Now, if Vegas acquires Olympic gold medalist goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, all master plans and scrap-written speculation will be promptly shredded.
There just isn’t enough space in Vegas for two Connors. Not when there’s a Jack, Mitch, Noah, Rasmus, Shea, and Tomas.
Yesterday was a sad day for hockey fans across the United States. Former NHL head coach and colorful ESPN/NHL Network analyst Barry Melrose passed away at the age of 70. For many, including myself, Melrose was one of the preeminent faces of the NHL. The former flashy LA Kings coach transitioned wonderfully into the beloved hockey commentator who had the definition of hockey hair. Decades back, Melrose was hockey in America. The sport had been bouncing around from network to network, but the sharp-looking, smooth-talking analyst was there nightly for hockey fans on ESPN’s NHL 2Night. The show made it possible for fans to catch up on out-of-town matchups, but it wasn’t the highlights that made us return each night. It was Melrose’s commentary, flair, hair, and passion for the sport we all love.
Barry was my best friend at ESPN. A big brother figure of rock solid values. I am shook to my core. Barry gave his life to hockey and some of his ESPN family, like me, learned of his shocking death today while at a hockey rink in Las Vegas preparing for the upcoming season.… pic.twitter.com/x1zV1b4z87
Starting with the iconic NHL 2Night theme song to the amusing banter, there was no better way to take in a daily dose of hockey news. For decades, he was the NHL’s best ambassador. Hockey fans were lucky when he stepped into the booth and called a live game. It went from being a normal match to being the game of the net. Even the Great One, Wayne Gretzky, called Melrose bigger than any team.
ESPN hockey voice Steve Levy on the passing of his longtime friend & co-worker Barry Melrose pic.twitter.com/QJ953Q81BC
The legendary hockey figure praised SinBin.vegas for our coverage during the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs. In a cramped, long media bathroom line in San Jose, Melrose and I struck up a conversation. Donning a flashy three-piece suit and his patented Wall Street slicked-back hair, I introduced myself. We began discussing the Golden Knights and Sharks series and chatting about other series going on around the league. While it may have been a formality, Melrose kindly noted our work and pointed to the logo, saying he’d read our stuff on Twitter. It probably meant nothing to Barry, but it meant the world to Ken and me. I rushed back to my seat in the auxiliary press box at SAP Center and told Ken, “Melrose recognized the logo on my shirt!” We celebrated like we had just scored an overtime goal because it was a true realization that SinBin held a seat at the table. I had a chance to catch up with him again during Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena, and it’s a conversation I’ll never forget.
It’s impossible to overstate the impact of Barry Melrose on hockey in 🇺🇸. He was ‘the’ voice, the guy, the man who brought it to the mainstream.
To somehow be in his orbit and around his aura of cool? Surreal. The hockey world lost an incredible human being, gone way too soon. pic.twitter.com/hoImQMY0A7
Expect NHL teams to honor Melrose over the upcoming 2026-27 season, including the Golden Knights. Although Melrose’s popularity exploded pre-VGK, the beloved analyst began gracing the T-Mobile Arena corridors during the 2017-18 season with ESPN and NHL Network. In June 2018, Melrose told LVSportsBiz founder Alan Snell that winning was the best way to market a new franchise.
The memories and stories have flooded social media and a number of sports networks over the past 24 hours. Melrose is widely remembered as an analyst, coach, and a great friend. Most notably, he’ll always be celebrated for having the most iconic head of hair in sports.
This offseason, the Tampa Bay Lighting are dealing with a similar situation that’s unfolding in Las Vegas. While Golden Knights captain Mark Stone enters training camp on an expiring contract, the Lightning have the same problem with their star wing Nikita Kucherov. Both clubs are trying to hold on to their highly productive forwards beyond next season, but both are in their mid-30’s and have fought through numerous injuries. So, Tampa and Vegas are trying to perform a balancing act of rewarding their franchise favorites but also keeping the future in mind.
Kucherov is now eligible to ink a contract extension with only one year remaining on his current deal at $9.5 million for the upcoming campaign. He’s almost certainly headed for a massive raise, but the question is, how big will it be? The NHL’s financial landscape is vastly different from what it was just a couple of months ago… something from which Kucherov is going to benefit greatly. It’s not as simple as the Lightning backing up the Brink’s truck for Kucherov. There are many factors Tampa has to consider when securing Kucherov to a long-term extension, which could complicate things for both parties. –Michael Amato on Sportsnet.ca
To be fair, we’re not comparing Kucherov and Stone’s production. Tampa’s star has recorded four straight 100+ point seasons and led the NHL in 2023-24 with 144 points. Stone has 140 in the last two seasons combined. When all is said and done, Kucherov will go down as one of the league’s best point producers in league history. Whereas Stone will go down as VGK’s most beloved captain. Either way, both will be wildly celebrated when they hang up their skates.
