Thursday was a busy day for the Vegas Golden Knights. First, it was the 2026-27 schedule release that showed the Golden Knights who they'd play on what dates. Then, it was the numbers for the newbies being announced for the Golden Knights. Believe it or not, there was an uproar over a specific number.
No, it's not Victor Olofsson getting his old No. 95 back after returning to the Golden Knights. Instead, it involved Marc-Andre Fleury's treasured No. 29, which was occupied by a fellow former Pittsburgh Penguin. His name? Parker Wotherspoon.
There’s still time to change to something other than 29… https://t.co/QKIhYBbybQ
— Alex Norwood (@AlexNorwood23) July 16, 2026
Some fans saw it as extremely disrespectful to the Vezina Trophy winner's services. The former Golden Knights star put up incredible numbers during his Vegas residency, posting a GAA of 2.41 and a save percentage of .917. Those are career bests for the Misfits with a single team, making him a bona fide legend within the organization.
I’m not invested here but seems awfully disrespectful handing out 29
— Las Vegas 28’s (@liberallyLV) July 16, 2026
Yeah, you definitely see how that's disrespecful. Doing that to the best goaltender in franchise history? That seems awfully rude.
The Golden Knights assigning Parker Wotherspoon No. 29 is a bad look—but it's only temporary
The good news about this is that Wotherspoon is sticking around for a season before he becomes an unrestricted free agent, barring a great 2026-27 campaign. The Golden Knights seem to be sitting on this temporarily.
Still, not keeping this number away from other players does scream "disrespect" to your franchise's best goaltender. He came in as an Original Misfit, helped the Golden Knights get to the Stanley Cup Final in their first season, and added the aforementioned Vezina Trophy to his collection of achievements. But this seems like a low blow. Of course, this isn't the first time that this has happened to Fleury.
Fans will remember Fleury being traded and the goaltender finding out on Twitter. The hockey universe was in a massive uproar when this happened, painting the Golden Knights as a villainous organization. While the logo on the front matters more than the name on the back, the latter isn't making fans feel better.
Still, it looks like it'll be for one season (unless Wotherspoon performs well and gets an extension). The opened wound might be peppered with an overwhelming amount of salt. But it's only temporary, as is everything bad in life. Think of burdensome people stopping their car in front of you for no reason as an example of this.
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