Hockey is officially back with the 2019-20 regular season set to get underway on Wednesday and the Vegas Golden Knights will play a starring role on opening night.
The Vegas Golden Knights will play host to bitter rivals the San Jose Sharks at T-Mobile Arena tomorrow (7:30 p.m. PT) as part of what is a four game slate on the first night of the new season, with the Ottawa Senators at the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Edmonton Oilers at home to the Vancouver Canucks and reigning Stanley Cup Champions the St. Louis Blues taking on the Washington Capitals.
After a long off-season and what seemed an even longer preseason, it is both a relief and an absolute joy to have bread and butter hockey back in our lives and, starting tomorrow, we can look forward to what will be an absolute rollercoaster of a year.
And, with any luck, it will end up being a hugely successful one in Sin City as the Vegas Golden Knights once again enter the year as one of the hottest Stanley Cup contenders and they have all the tools at their disposal needed to embark on a deep postseason run.
Starting the off-season by locking down franchise center William Karlsson to an eight-year, $47,200,000 contract, ensuring that the core of this team as it is currently constituted is cemented in stone for the foreseeable future.
That was arguably the biggest nugget of what was a quiet summer in terms of roster transactions. Goalie Garret Sparks and depth forward Nicolas Roy were acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes respectively, while defenseman Colin Miller was traded to the Buffalo Sabres, forward Erik Haula was acquired in a trade by the Canes and Russian wildcard Nikita Gusev was traded to the New Jersey Devils.
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And, while a large portion of the Vegas fanbase were left unhappy by the deal that sent Gusev away from the team, the Golden Knights front office made a commitment to ensuring that the heartbeat of this team were kept intact, not wanting to shed valuable and proven depth players just to make room for a player who hasn’t skated a single minute in the NHL.
They should be applauded for that.
After being aggressive in the trade and free agency market throughout the course of the last two years, there was little need for the Golden Knights to go out and make a big splash this summer, especially when you look at their star-studded roster.
Boasting a formidable and potent top six, highlighted by Selke Trophy finalist Mark Stone who is primed for a gigantic year in Vegas, the Knights possess the firepower to blast their way through the Pacific Division coupled with the Western Conference, and they also have strength in depth throughout the lineup.
Young phenom Cody Glass took the preseason by storm and he now looks set to make the opening night roster, which will add another intriguing and high-end dimension to this already exciting and multi-talented roster.
The blueline is solid and is led by two absolute horses in Nate Schmidt and Shea Theodore, with the latter having enjoyed a breakout year in 2018-19 with 12 goals and 25 assists for 37 points in 79 games, in addition to 91 blocked shots, 27 hits and 82 takeaways.
Then you have a slew of exciting, high-end defensive talent oozing out of the farm system and some of that youthful exuberance will make its way onto the opening night roster either in the form of Nic Hague and Jimmy Schuldt, who have battled admirably all summer long with three other rookie blueliners for one roster spot.
And, let’s face it, you are always going to have a chance to win night in, night out when you boast a future Hall of Fame goalie in Marc-Andre Fleury, who is still very much capable of playing at an elite level and he’ll be crucial for the Knights in 2019-20.
Having Mark Stone for a whole year will also make a massive difference given what he achieved with this franchise in a small sample size down the stretch last year, and all championship-winning teams need that elite game-changer to push them over the finishing line.
Stone is that talismanic star for the Vegas Golden Knights.
All of the above are just some of the reasons why you should be pumped ahead of opening night on Wednesday. This Vegas Golden Knights team is built to win multiple Stanley Cups and the first of those could come in 2019-20.
Hockey is finally back in our lives and that is something to rejoice.
Bring on puck drop and let the fun and games begin!