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.
It’s prediction season again! We’re back with our favorite and boldest style of predictions: Call Me Crazy, But.
These are our wildest, most unlikely predictions that we truly believe will come true. This year, I’ll go first, followed by Jason, and then we’ll share a bunch of yours from the comments, social media, and Discord.
Call me crazy, but for the first time in franchise history, the Golden Knights will overcome a four-goal deficit to win a game.
Over the last few seasons, the Golden Knights have been one of the league’s better comeback teams. Last year, they went on to win 21 different games in which they trailed at some point. That number would have been much higher if they had won a few more games in OT or shootout too. I don’t expect as much falling behind this year, but the mentality they bring to dig out of the holes when they find themselves in them isn’t going to change.
In nine years, they’ve never overcome a four-goal deficit, even to earn a point. That will change this season as they’ll not only come back to tie the game, but they’ll win it in overtime. Have a feeling it’ll be on the road, but it would be a lot more fun if it happened in Vegas.
On-ice Training Camp begins today with the 66-man roster broken down into three sessions, skating at 9 AM, 11:30 AM, and 2 PM.
Thanks to a little tidbit from a recent article by Nick Cotsonika on NHL.com, the expectation is that Shea Theodore, Rasmus Andersson, and Noah Hanifin will each be in separate groups, and therefore slotted in each on separate pairs to open the season.
On defense, the Golden Knights likely will deploy puck-movers Shea Theodore, Rasmus Andersson and Noah Hanifin on different pairs, complemented by the more defensive-minded Brayden McNabb, Parker Wotherspoon and Jeremy Lauzon. McCrimmon said the defense likely will be more involved in the offense. –Nick Cotsonika on NHL.com
This is an ambitious move for new head coach Ryan Craig to put into action, as it will lead to some tricky decisions early in the season.
Splitting up the three puck-moving defensemen sounds great on paper, until it comes time to actually deploy them in games. The decade-long trusted pair of Theodore and McNabb will certainly remain VGK’s top pair. Behind them, Craig, along with assistant coach John Stevens, must decide whether Andersson or Hanifin will serve as the second pair, likely alongside Wotherspoon. That then leads to a $7+ million defenseman playing on the third pair.
Because the power play roles are all still expected to be filled by forwards, one of the Golden Knights’ highest-paid players is destined to play somewhere between 14-18 minutes a night rather than the closer to 22 they are all used to getting. Also, deployment is never equal, which means there will be a preferred offensive zone pair and a defensive zone one. More than likely, the player who falls to the third pair will also draw the short straw as the defensive-minded one.
Last season, Jeremy Lauzon and Kaedan Korczak who served as Vegas 3rd pair for much of the season, averaged 17:11 and 15:58, respectively. When he filled in, Ben Hutton’s ATOI was just 14:35.
Hanifin has averaged at least 20 minutes a night in each of the last seven seasons. Andersson has been over 23 minutes a game in each of the last 5 seasons and Theodore hasn’t been below 20 minutes in any of his nine seasons in Vegas.
The math doesn’t add up if all three of them are on separate pairs and none of them are on the top power play unit. It seems like a massive underutilization of at least one defenseman and maybe even two.
The appeal is obvious. Vegas could have a legitimate puck-moving presence on the ice for every five-on-five shift. But unless the Golden Knights are planning on leaning much more heavily on a third pair than ever before, someone is going to be asked to play far less than his resume and contract suggest he should.
The 2025-26 season will go down as one of the weirdest years in Golden Knights history. For the first six months, in the regular season, they were barely an average team, battling through massive winning and losing swings and ultimately finishing with more losses than wins. Then, the playoffs began, and they turned into the team many believed they’d be all season, going on somewhat of a Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Final, only to fall a few wins short.
It’s clear they are still a strong team, but the dichotomy of last year allows for a wide range of opinions on Season 10. Plus, a new coach, a couple of significant players leaving via trade, and another year on the legs of many of the veterans opens the door for even more speculation.
To me, the season will be determined based on the answers to these… burning questions.
Can the offensive-leaning blue line hold up defensively to insulate goaltending?
This question is listed first because if it is answered with a resounding no, not much else is going to matter. That seems unlikely, though, especially after the playoff run in which they held a few of the league’s best offenses down and made it look easy. Shea Theodore, Rasmus Andersson, and Noah Hanifin are all big-name defensemen who are known for their offensive contributions, but they all have plenty of ability to defend at a high level. The goalies took a lot of the wrath last season and rightfully so in many cases, but they are both clearly good enough that if the defending is good in front of them, they can not only hold up but thrive. VGK’s defending doesn’t have to be elite all season long for them to put up enough points to reach the playoffs. It will have to be for two months to win those extra two games this postseason.
The free agency dinner bell is set to ring in two days, and the Golden Knights have plenty of business to take care of. Understandably, most of the focus has been on VGK sniffing around some of the biggest names available, but they also have a lot of work to do with their own players set to hit free agency. Here’s a quick look at each player set to hit the market’s situation, projected contract value, and a prediction of his future in Vegas.
From the moment the Golden Knights acquired Andersson from the Flames, it was pretty clear they were going to re-sign him. Andersson’s play was a bit sporadic during his time in Vegas, especially in the Stanley Cup Final, but he has shown more than enough upside to prove to be worth an extension. We’ve reported, as have others, that the Golden Knights and Andersson agreed to a contract outline months ago and still believe that deal will come through in the extremely near future.
Coghlan returned to the Vegas organization last summer looking for an opportunity to break back through at the NHL level despite a pretty deep defense corps. It took him a long time to finally do it, but once he did, he made quite the impact at quite the time. He played just three games in the regular season before appearing in 13 during the playoffs and five of the six Stanley Cup Final games. He proved to be up to the task, which actually could make life a bit more difficult on VGK. Other teams will be lurking on a player who has never signed a deal worth more than six figures annually. That may change this summer.
Prediction: $1,000,000 one-way contract for 2 years with VGK
The Golden Knights paid a lot to get Rasmus Andersson from the Calgary Flames. In sending a 1st, 2nd, a prospect, and Zach Whitecloud while having 50% of Andersson’s salary retained in Calgary, Vegas expected a dominant game-changing defenseman to add to their already star-studded defense corps.
Andersson showed that at times, and he was clearly a major factor in the Golden Knights’ turnaround from a 39-win team to a Western Conference Championship. However, in some moments, including one massive one in the Final, he fell short, and the Golden Knights paid for it.
Game 2, I lose the puck behind the net and they end up scoring. I think about that quite a bit, what I could have done better personally. It’s one of those things. It sucks, but at the same time, you’ve got to look yourself in the mirror and know what you can do better next time. -Rasmus Andersson
It was a tumultuous year for the 27-year-old Swede. He made it clear last summer that his time in Calgary was coming to a close soon. So, from the moment the season began, he knew he’d probably be playing for another team in the near future.
That day came on January 18th, and began a rollercoaster ride he wouldn’t step off of until mid-June.
After an improbable run to the Final, one of the weirdest years in Vegas Golden Knights history has come to a close. The team with the most losses in franchise history came two wins away from lifting the Stanley Cup for the second time in three seasons.
There was a change behind the bench, a change in goal, a blockbuster add on the blue line, a forfeited draft pick, and a whole bunch more in a winding, grinding road that felt hopeless at times and invincible at others.
But now, it’s over, and it’s time to start looking towards what’s next. There are plenty of questions for the Golden Knights. The answers will reveal themselves over the next few weeks, but for now, here’s a look at what Vegas faces this offseason and what they may do heading into 2026-27.
Head Coach
The Golden Knights have announced John Tortorella will not continue on with the organization into next season. They made it clear from the moment they hired him that it was a temporary plan. Winning 14 playoff games could have been enough to keep him around but apparently the Golden Knights were set on heading a different direction.
The most likely next direction is promoting AHL head coach Ryan Craig. He’s been with the organization since Year 1, working as an assistant with three different coaching staffs. However, the Golden Knights typically like to make splashy moves and he’s not that. Could they shock the world and go big again?
