Vegas Golden Knights: Three New Year’s Resolutions
It is a new year and also the start of a new Decade as the Vegas Golden Knights look to conclude their third year as an NHL franchise with a championship.
This is the start of a first full Decade for the Vegas Golden Knights who enjoyed a magical ending to the 2010s.
Entering the NHL in 2017, the Knights made a stunning run to the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural year before making the postseason again during their sophomore season.
They are once again considered a contender in 2019-20 and they will hope to go all the way and become the fastest expansion team in any of the major sports to win a championship.
And, in order to achieve that goal, we have come up with three New Year resolutions for the Vegas Golden Knights…
1. Trade for a puck-moving defenseman
This is hardly a new concept given that we’ve banged on about it for months now, but the Vegas Golden Knights need to apply a makeover to their blueline.
A radical one at that.
Although the defense has been better since the switch in systems, the Knights still lack a real game-changer and a horse on that blueline.
Granted, they may well wait until the summer when St. Louis Blues Captain Alex Pietrangelo could be available on the open market.
But there will be other cheaper stopgap options available prior to the Trade Deadline, including New York Rangers defenseman Tony DeAngelo.
DeAngelo, as we’ve mentioned before, ticks a lot of boxes for the Golden Knights including the fact that he can move the puck, he would help the transition game, he’s an elite skater and he can provide offense.
Look at his year for the Rangers so far. Through 39 games, he’s fourth on the team in points with 29 (eight goals, 21 assists), with nine of those points coming on the power play.
DeAngelo is also a right shot which is an added bonus given that Deryk Engelland is currently the only right shot on the active roster.
In order to embark on a deep postseason run the Vegas Golden Knights really need a high-end playmaker on the blueline, and that should be their biggest New Year’s resolution.
2. Address secondary scoring
Another subject we’ve gone on and on about it.
An area of real concern all year, the Golden Knights need to do something about their lack of secondary scoring and quick.
Through 43 games, 194 of the total 298 points tallied by Vegas so far this season belong to the potent top six forward unit, including Paul Stastny even though he’s currently being used as a third line center.
And when you consider that 70 of those points have come from the blueline, then you get a good idea of just how much the rest of the lineup has struggled to produce offense this year.
The bottom six has been plagued by injuries and a constant revolving door with the likes of Brandon Pirri and Valentin Zykov failing to make a mark, while Cody Eakin has been a shadow of his former self.
Alex Tuch has really struggled to get going after suffering two upper-body injuries earlier on in the year, while Cody Glass has been streaky as you would expect from a rookie.
However, the Golden Knights will need their entire lineup to produce come the postseason or otherwise it will be a long summer.
As a result, the front office may have to get creative in order to create some cap room to bring in some much-needed help prior to the Trade Deadline.
3. Win
It sounds simple because it is.
The Vegas Golden Knights have been a legit contender since day one and now is the time to push on and go all out for glory.
After all, they boast the roster, they have all the resources needed and they are on track to win the Pacific Division and give themselves a (slightly) easier route to the Stanley Cup Final.
Following their magical run to the Stanley Cup Final during their inaugural year, the Knights followed that up with a disappointing loss to the San Jose Sharks in the First Round in heartbreaking fashion last season.
As a result, this group should have added motivation to right some wrongs and cause some serious damage in the playoffs.
While they do have their flaws, this team still boasts more than enough talent to be able to win it all and what better time to do it than at the start of a new Decade.
Next. Five must-watch games in January. dark
This should be the Vegas Golden Knights’ biggest resolution for 2020 and they have all the tools required to make it a reality.
Unlike yours truly with his diet plans…