VGK: Time to turn the page and look ahead

“Let the past die. Kill it, if you have to. That’s the only way to become what you were meant to be.”

Okay, I’m nerding out a little bit quoting directly from Star Wars (The Last Jedi to be precise, sorry, not sorry), but it’s a line that seems pretty relevant to the Vegas Golden Knights right now.

The dust has now settled on the bonkers events of Tuesday night where the Knights saw their postseason come to a premature end.

We don’t have to dive into the hard cold facts about the way the year blew up in the faces of head coach Gerard Gallant and company.

No, Owners, General Managers, coaches, players and fans of the Vegas Golden Knights will have to stomach hearing tales about that now already famous Game 7 for years to come.

That’s what happens when you are involved in a true sporting spectacle which saw a seemingly down-and-out San Jose Sharks team come back from the dead to eradicate both a 3-1 series lead and a 3-0 deficit with four unanswered power play goals in five minutes, before delivering the final knockout blow in overtime.

Unfortunately, the memories of Tuesday night will live with this group for a long time to come, whether they like it or not.

However, it is important we now move on from 2018-19 and begin to look forward to the coming weeks and months.

We certainly won’t forget but, as a certain Kylo Ren (yes, this is going to be another Star Wars reference) so elegantly put it, you have to let the past die in order to become what you were meant to be.

And this Vegas Golden Knights roster is destined for a Stanley Cup, maybe multiple championships if all the chips fall their way.

I firmly believe that and so does General Manager George McPhee, who made it clear during the team’s locker room clear-out day that it is time for the franchise to stop feeling sorry for themselves and instead crack on as if it were business as usual.

And there are plenty of things to contend with on the to-do-list.

First and foremost is the small matter of sitting down and negotiating with four unrestricted free agents and five restricted free agents, with star center William Karlsson headlining the latter category.

It won’t be long before the 2019 NHL Entry Draft is upon us, Friday, 21 June to be precise, where the Golden Knights will look to bolster their farm system through a boatload of picks.

And perhaps top of McPhee’s list right now is the fact that Vegas currently finds itself right up against the salary cap having added some big contracts over the last few months, most notably that of Mark Stone.

Although that has proved to be worth every penny so far.

There are some big decisions to be made and we at Vegas Hockey Knight are moving on as well, where starting this week we will assess the futures of the franchise’s impending restricted and unrestricted free agents, in addition to exploring potential free agent targets as well as starting to look ahead to the draft.

So it is vitally important that the Vegas Golden Knights don’t wallow in their own self pity, forget the events of yesterday and focus on coming back stronger and better than before.

They have shown that they can respond to adversity before having overcome a slow start to their sophomore season following last year’s painful defeat to the Washington Capitals in the Stanley Cup Finals.

And they will have to do it again in 2019-20 with the dream of becoming the fastest NHL expansion team to win a Stanley Cup still very much alive and well.