Training camp is within touching distance now and expectations are once again sky-high for the Vegas Golden Knights heading into 2019-20.
After making a stunning run to the Stanley Cup Final in their magical inaugural year, the Vegas Golden Knights were expected to be a serious contender once again last season but they suffered a hugely disappointing exit to the San Jose Sharks in the First Round of the Playoffs.
However, that painful loss will need to be consigned to the record books and the slate wiped clean due to the fact that this team is in win-now mode and they can ill-afford to dwell on the past heading into this year where they are once again expected to win.
Many experts have the Golden Knights emerging as one of the top dogs in the Pacific Division and they are right to, given the abundance of riches the franchise has accumulated over the last two years. They have enough firepower to sink a small fleet of battleships in the top six alone, they have a couple of studs on the blueline and they boast a future Hall of Fame goalie in Marc-Andre Fleury.
They are a loaded team and they have a slew of high-end talent ready to make the leap to the NHL, headlined by two-way center Cody Glass and defenseman Nic Hague, with both players projected to morph into elite performers in the majors.
Plus, this franchise hasn’t hidden from the fact that they are determined to win at least one Stanley Cup sooner rather than later, making a string of aggressive moves after signing the likes of Mark Stone, Paul Stastny and Max Pacioretty to long-term deals to significantly strengthen what was already a strong core.
However, there are question marks hovering over this team and there are some obvious flaws which will need to be addressed if they are to taste ultimate glory this year.
NHL.com have been doing a ’31 IN 31′ series, breaking down and analysing each team ahead of 2019-20. It was the Golden Knights’ turn on Thursday and, if you are a Vegas fan, it is essential reading given that the experts over at NHL.com delve into a number of topics, including a Fantasy Preview, a Season Preview, Top Prospects and 3 questions facing the team.
We at Vegas Hockey Knight have decided to dissect the three burning questions that we think will face the franchise straight in the face throughout 2019-20, starting with an obvious one…