As the Golden Knights enter their 10th season in the NHL, the league has entered a new era as well. For the first time since 1994, teams will play 84 games in the regular season. That means Vegas will play meaningful games in the month of September for the first time ever with the home opener scheduled for 9/29 vs Chicago.
This year’s Golden Knights will face the most grueling travel schedule, by distance, they’ve ever faced. This is the first time VGK will eclipse 50,000 miles with their total, as reported by Sports 1440’s Jason Gregor, at 50,668. Last year the Golden Knights came in just short of 47,000 and the previous year was about 1,000 fewer than that.
It’s not all bad news, though, on the schedule front. One of the reasons the Golden Knights will put in so many miles is because they do not face a single road trip longer than four games. It’s the first time over the course of a full season that VGK will not face a five-or-more-game span away from T-Mobile Arena. In fact, in four of the first nine seasons have seen the Golden Knights hit the road for at least six games and the results were not pretty including a 1-4-1 trip in 2017.
Another added bonus is that the Golden Knights face the fewest back-to-backs of any team in the league. Tied with Calgary, Vegas will only play on consecutive nights eight times all season. The league leader this season is Pittsburgh with 15, while more than half of the NHL will face at least 12.
In addition, VGK catch 10 teams that are playing their second of a back-to-back. This is double the number that Toronto and Winnipeg face but well short of division rival Anaheim, who get a whopping 18 (21% of their schedule).
Another weird quirk, involving Anaheim, is that the Golden Knights open their season on the 29th of September with the next game on October 2nd vs Anaheim. That is Anaheim’s first game of the season. So, Vegas’ season is actually three days longer than the Ducks’ as both teams conclude on April 10th.
Without an Olympic or 4 Nations break the schedule is much more spread out than it has been over the last two seasons. Even though the schedule is a bit different than it’s ever been before, it should feel pretty similar for VGK fans.
larry
KEN, personally I am waiting on your season-long prediction recap of the selections you made, and to see the spot ons as well as the far-fetched.
Ken Boehlke
Oh, good call. I do need to do it. Just a quick look through, I had some good ones. I also had some bad misses.
https://sinbin.vegas/50-predictions-for-the-2025-26-season/