Okay, so there's a small chance that Bruce Cassidy keeps a stable Vegas Golden Knights lineup for the rest of 2025-26. He'll mix and match every player until the group is just right. Even then, he'll mix the lineups if he feels like someone farted incorrectly.
Regardless, we're still going to go through with it. At Vegas Hockey Knight, we're the living embodiment of a Shia LaBouef meme. We don't let our dreams be dreams around here. We. Just. Do. It.
With this exercise, we're including the big guns, Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner. Tomas Hertl and Mark Stone will also make an appearance in some capacity, although you won't know which order they'll pop up in. That's the beauty of it all. It's such a mystery that it keeps you sticking around.
So, let's look at which three lines should stick around for the Golden Knights. These lines have performed well during the 2025-26 season, paying massive dividends for Vegas. Therefore, it's time to vouch for these groups to stick around for the long term... if Cassidy allows it, that is.
1.) Mitch Marner-Tomas Hertl-Pavel Dorofeyev
Entering Saturday, the trio had the second-highest xGoals%, according to MoneyPuck (minimum of 150 minutes). The line gives Marner all sorts of options to work with, whether it's Hertl in the slot or Dorofeyev on the weak side. However, there's an added benefit to the trio being together.
They're allowing the second-fewest xGoals Against this season with 4.7. That's 0.1 off from the top spot of Shane Pinto, Claude Giroux, and Michael Amadio of the Ottawa Senators. The Golden Knights thrive when the three are playing together and the line should happen again once the team's close to healthy again.
2.) Brayden McNabb-Kaedan Korczak
I know that the Shea Theodore—Brayden McNabb pair has worked wonders for the Golden Knights this season. The two Misfits have done tremendous work on the back end and have even provided an offensive spark.
But let's say that Theodore gets hurt in a freak accident again. Why not do the crazy thing and pair him with Kaedan Korczak? The pair was tied for sixth in xGoals% last season at 61.6% (minimum 255 minutes), making them one of the most efficient blue liners in the NHL.
3.) Ivan Barbashev-Jack Eichel-Mark Stone
People will automatically say that nobody on this line will shoot the puck. However, they don't realize that Eichel leads the Golden Knights in shots this season (117), adding 12 goals in the process.
While everyone would love to see Barbashev and Stone shoot the puck more, the main purpose of this line is to feed Eichel. The Golden Knights run on the superstar center's offensive prowess. Fans saw that in the early parts of last season, when the trio were flying up and down the ice on rushes.