It is hoped that there is still life in the 2019-20 NHL Regular Season for the Vegas Golden Knights, but that won’t stop us from looking ahead to 2020-21.
While anything could still happen this year if hockey does indeed return, there are already clear signs out there that point to the fact the 2020-21 season could be better for the Vegas Golden Knights.
Of course, we are all keeping everything crossed that this beloved sport of ours can stage a dramatic comeback this summer and that the NHL can still crown a Stanley Cup Champion in 2019-20.
But, in the meantime, we thought it would be worthwhile to satisfy your Golden Knights cravings by pointing out the bevy of reasons why 2020-21 could be a Golden year (excuse the pun).
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For starters, this roster as it is currently constituted is built to win right now and with the core in place, the window to win will remain wide open in 2020-21 for the Golden Knights.
With the Salary Cap likely to be frozen at $81.5 million in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Knights will likely return more or less the same roster in 2020-21.
That is no bad thing, however.
With the core having now been in place for the best part of two years, this team is forged together by unbreakable chemistry on and off the ice.
The players know each other inside and out and that locker room is united in its unrelenting goal to win the greatest prize in all of sports.
Furthermore, the Golden Knights are actually projected to be better from a roster construction point of view in 2020-21 than they were in 2019-20.
For instance, having shed key role players in the ilk of Erik Haula, Colin Miller and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, coupled with wildcard option Nikita Gusev last off-season, Vegas spent a chunk of 2019-20 trying to fit square pegs into round holes.
However, this time around it should be different given that the Golden Knights have found a real unpolished gem in Nicolas Roy who looks set to be the team’s anointed fourth-line center in 2020-21, while both Nick Cousins and Chandler Stephenson proved valuable additions last year, particularly the latter.
Granted, both Cousins and Stephenson are pending RFA’s this off-season but, given their impact on the team and the relatively low cap hit they will both command, it shouldn’t be too hard for the Knights to get both players signed to new deals.
Human battering ram Ryan Reaves is also on the cusp of committing his future to the franchise according to reports, while the Golden Knights also have a bevy of high-end prospects emerging from the franchise’s farm system.
From stud center Cody Glass to potential phenom forward Peyton Krebs and highly-rated defenseman Kaedan Korczak, not to mention the Russian dynamic duo of Pavel Dorofeyev and Ivan Morozov, the Knights have an influx of fresh, exciting and young talent on the way.
Not to mention that, currently holding the No. 24 overall pick, the Golden Knights could also take an NHL ready stud in the First Round of the NHL 2020 Entry Draft.
Plus, the players have seemingly bought into the gospel that is being preached by Head Coach Peter DeBoer, including his ‘non-negotiables,’ and now that General Manager Kelly McCrimmon has his man for a full season, it should mean stability throughout the organization which can only be a good thing.
Things To Improve On
The only two caveats at play when it comes to how 2020-21 can be better for the Golden Knights comes down to injuries and goaltending.
Now, of course, every team will have to deal with injury and there’s not exactly a lot you can do about certain players going down.
However, during their short existence as an NHL franchise the Golden Knights have developed a worrying trend of key players picking up injuries late in the preseason, thus missing the start of the regular season as a direct result.
It happened to Nate Schmidt prior to the start of 2019-20 while Alex Tuch has gone down in each of the last three preseasons.
If the Golden Knights can perhaps wrap certain players up in bubblewrap during exhibition games, then maybe that will ensure they have a fully healthy roster on Opening Night in 2020-21.
Then there is the goaltending.
While the Knights are blessed to have a future Hall of Famer in Marc-Andre Fleury as their starter, they have been hindered by subpar goaltending from a bevy of different backup goalies throughout their short history.
That looked to have changed when the Golden Knights made an aggressive move to acquire Robin Lehner at the Trade Deadline from the Chicago Blackhawks but, due to cap constraints, the 28-year-old’s stay in Sin City looks set to be a short one.
As a result, the front office spearheaded by General Manager Kelly McCrimmon will need to delve into the trade market or dip his toe into free agency in order to find a more than adequate backup.
After all, Fleury is now in the twilight of his career and it is unrealistic to expect him to carry the load, so the Golden Knights need a backup that can handle splitting the workload, especially down the stretch in order to keep Fleury fresh for the postseason.
If the Golden Knights can address those two issues then there is no doubt that 2020-21 has the potential to be better than 2019-20.
They already have a rich core built to win right now in place with a vastly experienced Head Coach behind the bench, not to mention a farm system that has some nice pieces in place and could be ready to make the leap to the NHL sooner rather than later.
So, overall, there is every reason to believe that the 2020-21 NHL season could be better and ‘Golden’ for the Vegas Golden Knights.
Let’s hope so anyway.