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.
