Last month, TSN did a series on who the face of each NHL franchise is. Many are simple; Connor McDavid in Edmonton, Sidney Crosby in Pittsburgh, and Alex Ovechkin in Washington are just a few obvious faces. However some are difficult to label one definitive face of the franchise, including the Golden Knights.
Many Vegas fans might disagree with whom TSN landed on, but it wasn’t really close. Altogether, four current or former Golden Knights received votes.
TSN’s Face Of VGK’s Franchise Nominees
Jack Eichel
Marc-Andre Fleury
Jonathan Marchessault
Mark Stone
In my opinion, those four players are the correct choices to choose from over the first 676 games in team history. Some fans may have a problem with two of the nominated players no longer being with the team. Heck, one has even retired from the league. Nevertheless, both Fleury and Marchessault have made strong cases of their own. One is a future first-ballot Hall of Famer, and the other owns one of the most important awards in all sports.
Thankfully, there’s no controversy among TSN voters, as neither former Golden Knight won the tag of being the face of the franchise.
The Golden Knights have now been shut out seven times in their playoff history. As we are all painfully aware, in the final two games of the Second Round against the Edmonton Oilers. That’s 28% of their entire postseason droughts in one short series. Obviously, Vegas struggled to score in the final two contests but looking back at their offseason and deadline decisions, should fans be surprised?
I wouldn’t overreact to the fact that we didn’t score enough goals. It wasn’t a chronic issue that you would have expected to be our demise in the postseason.” -McCrimmon
This season the Golden Knights scored 11 more goals than they did last season and allowed 39 fewer. It should be considered a major success. Based on the final standings and seasonal statistics, Vegas looked to be in a better position to make a deeper run than they were a year ago. Unfortunately, neither of the last two rosters qualified for the final four. When only two years prior, the Golden Knights were the last club standing.
Unfortunately, we lost too many close games. That was the difference. We didn’t score the last two games. That’s the difference. – William Karlsson
In 2023, Vegas had a true blend of balance on defense, goaltending, and offense. This postseason, there was a significant imbalance. Especially against the Oilers in the Second Round. Against Edmonton, Vegas’ inefficiencies on offense were a glaring problem. Of course, the Golden Knights blue liners had problems of their own, but they didn’t lose in five due to poor defense. It was VGK’s 12 forwards that earned the lion’s share of the blame. In key moments, the goals didn’t come.
On top of the constant shots missing wide from the Golden Knights, they were also hampered by the Oilers’ willingness to block shots. Edmonton recorded 104 blocked shots in five games against Vegas. That combined with VGK’s elevated missed shot total, and it’s no surprise they went scoreless for the final six periods of the series.
It’s been 32 years since a Canadian team hoisted the Stanley Cup trophy. That is 32 years of excuses and failure from the so-called epicenter of the sport. Now, our once friendly neighbors are proving themselves to be poor sports on the international stage.
This despicable trend began in Canada roughly two weeks ago when Ottawa Senators and Vancouver Canucks fans jeered The Star-Spangled Banner, breaking a fairly obvious unwritten rule. The 4 Nations Face-Off was supposed to be a celebration of the widely global sport we all love. However, the Canadians have turned the first two games of the tournament into pathetic political protests. It’s not just Canadian hockey fans. Last week classless Toronto Raptors fans booed the U.S. national anthem prior to an NBA game.
From massive trades and expensive free agents coming in to fan-favorites and Stanley Cup champions walking away, the Golden Knights have not been shy to make the big move over their first seven and half seasons.
A huge part of that is their owner’s unrelenting desire to be the best. The Creator recently sat down with Vegas PBS’s Amber Dixon for an extended interview on Nevada Week. Many topics were discussed including his $300 million plan to upgrade T-Mobile Arena, his ambition to purchase an NBA team, his succession plan, and so much more in a 30-minute interview well worth a listen for every Golden Knights fan. (The entire video is embedded below.)
In it, he maintained that despite buying up a collection of soccer teams in England, France, Scotland, and New Zealand, no team is more important to him than the Vegas Golden Knights. And, there are no plans to do anything but win.
Along the lines of rebuilding, he spoke in-depth about the past offseason in which many prominent players left the organization.
We lost some good players and we knew we’d lose some good players, it’s just inevitable. You have players you really like and you want them around but hockey players are a little bit fungible. They get older and they get slower and they stop playing good defense. And these guys like Marchessault, Stephenson, Carrier, and a few of the other guys had contracts coming. This was kind of their last contract so they were looking for a payday and I can’t blame them. But we made fair deals with all of them, offered them a fair transaction. But in the meantime, we knew some of them were going to leave so we took action at the trade deadline. –The Creator on Vegas PBS’ Nevada Week
The Creator is quite pleased with the current makeup of the team mentioning on multiple occasions that they could make another run to the Stanley Cup Final. (Though, he was pressed and wouldn’t quite make another “Cup In Six” like prediction.)
However, he still looks back at a few moves with regret, most notably, choosing Robin Lehner over Marc-Andre Fleury.
Vegas’ attempt to become the first NHL team to go 82-0 was squashed last night in Washington and by the glove of a former Golden Knight. The Capitals exploded for three goals in the 2nd period and former friend Logan Thompson held on to win 4-2 against his old teammates. It was a classic revenge win for Thompson, the first of what Vegas hope is not many this year.
LT had a heck of a game against his former club. He kept us in there when we gave up a couple of good opportunities against. We’re really happy for him. That game meant a lot to him. He played a heck of a game. We had a couple of breakdowns that are going to happen and was able to hold the fort down for us and keep us in it. -Jacob Chychrun, WAS defenseman
In reality, Vegas’ loss last night wasn’t a true revenge game. Nevertheless, Washington certainly treated it that way. There was obvious resentment from Thompson in how things played out in Vegas and his new club responded. Occasionally, extra motivating matchups can be one-sided and will usually come from a scorned player, which Thompson was (even if he wants to keep saying he’s not).
It’s quite similar to the way the entire 2017-18 Golden Knights roster felt. Every night was an ‘I’ll show you’ type game, including, against then coach Gerard Gallant’s former employer.
Jonathan Marchessault is no longer a Golden Knight. Why? Well, that’s in the eye of the beholder, and the two parties involved sure have differing opinions.
Since the moment it became official that Marchessault’s time in Vegas was through, he and general manager Kelly McCrimmon have been asked to explain their views of the negotiations. Every time one speaks though, he contradicts the other.
It started minutes after the Nashville Predators announced the 5-year $25 million contract with the former Conn Smythe winner.
There wasn’t really a decent offer on the table. I don’t think they tried their best to keep me. –Marchessault to TSN on July 1st
McCrimmon countered that during his post free agency press conference later the same day.
I felt that both parties were on the way to completing a deal. The next day, prior to the Draft, things really changed. –McCrimmon in July 1st press conference
With less than a month before opening night, the players are returning to Las Vegas to prepare for training camp. Certain Golden Knights are entering the 2024-25 season unsure if they’ll be back in Southern Nevada next season.
2025 VGK Unrestricted Free Agents
Shea Theodore – 2024/25 AAV: $5.2M
Adin Hill – 2024/25 AAV: $4.9M
Brayden McNabb – 2024/25 AAV: $2.85M
Brett Howden – 2024/25 AAV: $1.9M
Ilya Samsonov – 2024/25 AAV: $1.8M
Keegan Kolesar – 2024/25 AAV: $1.4M
Victor Olofoson – 2024/25 AAV: $1.07M
Robin Lehner* – 2024/25 AAV: $5M (LTIR)
Next summer, five Golden Knights from the 2023 Stanley Cup champion team are up for contract renewals. Two, Brayden McNabb and Shea Theodore were acquired all the way back at the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft. Since then, both became impact defensemen for the 31st franchise. After their 2018 Stanley Cup defeat, McNabb agreed to $10M contract over four seasons. Before their championship season, McNabb quietly signed another three-year extension. He’ll be 35 years old in 2025-26 and would likely desire to return. The bottom line is, if the organization wants him back, don’t be surprised when McNabb signs a two-year, $4M extension.
Extending Theodore won’t be as easy.
If Theodore wants to stay and the Knights want him to stay, I always assume this is a place people are going to stay. Now, could there be a whopper of a contract out there that maybe he’s thinking about? We’ll find out. –Elliotte Friedman on 32 Thoughts Podcast
Fans will remember back in 2018, Theodore held out for better terms which he was eventually rewarded with. The player believed in his value and accepted a late September seven-year contract extension. Why should fans believe Theodore will accept any of VGK’s early offers?
