You might not think too much about the Vegas Golden Knights being average during the 2025-26 regular season. You might have the shocking Stanley Cup Final run etched in your head after what John Tortorella did to the team. But there's reason to believe that everything wasn't alright.
The Golden Knights tied their franchise-low for the fewest wins in a single season (39, which was also achieved in a shortened 2019-20 season) and also had their first season where they had fewer wins than losses. Sure, they won the Pacific Division and the Western Conference. But things nearly unraveled for Vegas on so many levels.
The good news? There's nowhere to go but up for the Golden Knights. They still field a competitive team with star players like Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner, making them one of the proverbial Stanley Cup favorites.
But this upcoming season should also provide other reasons for hope. What do you mean, you ask? Well, these three reasons should inspire fans to believe that things should be better from a regular season standpoint. But a Stanley Cup standpoint? Well, that remains to be seen.
1.) A new head coach and less drama
Last season, the Golden Knights essentially tuned out Bruce Cassidy for the remainder of his tenure. The combination of hearing an angry head coach and a wave of injuries led to Vegas nearly missing the playoffs for a second time. Then, John Tortorella came in and saved them.
While Tortorella's run was nice, he didn't leave without controversy. The media fiasco that cost Vegas a second-round pick was enough for McCrimmon to go with the younger Ryan Craig. Expect less hostility from the tenured Golden Knights coach, who's spent his years with the Henderson Silver Knights and as a Golden Knights assistant.
2.) More defensive oomph
Golden Knights fans were less than inspired by Kaedan Korczak's play in 2025-26. While he was solid on defense (3.6 defensive point shares last season), Korczak only mustered three goals and 13 assists in 78 games. That resulted in... 0.3 offensive point shares.
Compare that to Parker Wotherspoon, who had 27 assists last season with the Pittsburgh Penguins (12 were primary). He also had 5.6 point shares (1.2 offensive point shares and 4.4 defensive point shares) in 2025-26, making him the obvious upgrade.
3.) The Pacific Division hasn't really done much in the offseason
Sure, you might look at the San Jose Sharks getting players like Darnell Nurse and Jacob Trouba. But that was perhaps the best effort made by any Pacific Division team this summer. You can already tell by the tanking jobs that the Seattle Kraken, the Vancouver Canucks, and the Calgary Flames have done. That's nearly half of the division!
But what about the Los Angeles Kings, who acquired older pieces like Erik Haula and Corey Perry? What about the Edmonton Oilers, whose biggest move was getting Frederik Andersen (who was replaced by Brandon Bussi in the Stanley Cup Final)? All these moves will mean that the Golden Knights have nowhere to go but up, even if they lose depth in the lower lines.
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