The Vegas Golden Knights went on a magical playoff run, losing in the Stanley Cup Final. After a relatively quiet summer, the team’s core remains intact and hungry for another shot at a ring. Noticeably, the team lost former two-time 35-goal scorer Pavel Dorofeyev, but extended defenseman Rasmus Andersson and will have Carter Hart for an entire campaign.
The reigning Pacific Division champions will also be looking to claim that crown for the third year in a row, which would be a franchise first. However, Matt Larkin at Daily Faceoff actually thinks the Golden Knights are weaker going into 2026-27. Are they right?
Golden Knights have a new coach and will play a new system
Last year, Vegas had Stanley Cup-winning coaches behind the bench: Bruce Cassidy and John Tortorella. Now both are gone, and in their place is Ryan Craig, who is about to lead his first NHL team into battle. Previously, as an assistant coach, he worked with Jack Eichel and Mark Stone but now gets to draw up plays for Mitch Marner.
His first and only real task is to get them to buy into a successful system that showcases their talents and produces wins. Even though some writers believe that the Golden Knights are not as strong on paper, fans got to see what Marner is capable of with an outstanding playoff run, and so many more are waiting for Eichel to break through that glass ceiling and score 100 points.
Despite losing a key player from the offensive attack, Vegas has some of the league’s best game breakers hopping over the boards, with many striking fear in opponents’ goalies when skating up ice. Of course, their bottom-six isn’t the same as it was just a few months ago, but new faces are there, and it’s now their time to shine in a new role on a new club. Until the bottom falls out with this core, these Golden Knights are still one of the NHL’s top teams, and everyone should expect an amped up group to get back to business on opening night.
Vegas doesn’t have any goaltending concerns
In his column, author Matt Larkin pointed out that the Golden Knights could pull off another blockbuster and acquire someone like Dylan Larkin or even Connor Hellebuyck. As great as those two ideas are, Vegas doesn’t need to be in the goalie market anymore with Carter Hart between the pipes. In just a brief period of time, with an 11-3-3 regular season record and a 14-8 run in the playoffs, the former second-round pick proves he can be an elite netminder.
Meanwhile, he’s got a partner in Adin Hill, who previously led Vegas to the Stanley Cup in 2023, achieving something future Hall of Famer Marc-Andre Fleury couldn’t do. Together, when healthy, this duo could help the club win 40-50 games and be in contention for the Presidents’ Trophy.
While adding someone of Larkin’s caliber to the attack would be beneficial, anyone who thinks the Golden Knights are weaker is actually overlooking the fact that this season’s goalie tandem may be one of the best in years. And even though Kelly McCrimmon doesn’t have a suitcase full of money to throw around to other executives to pry away more superstars, it’s way too early in the 2026-27 hockey season to worry about whether or not this is how Vegas will look in December, February, or even April.
Add us as a preferred source on Google