Every Vegas Golden Knights fan has seen the infamous tweet. You know the one that I'm talking about, dear reader. It involves a fellow expansion team and how they're the "greater expansion story" or the "greatest expansion story ever told." Something like that.
Must be the Mandela Effect taking place, eh?
The Seattle Kraken story is more impressive than the Golden Knights expansion story due to planning properly for the future.
— THE Kraken Pod (@KrakenPod) March 20, 2023
From year one to two, the Kraken are historically one of the best expansion stories…
BUT, national media ignores us in favor of larger markets. https://t.co/USIqkXU5gj
First, winning a Stanley Cup and making another Stanley Cup Final already sets a ridiculous bar for the Seattle Kraken to clear. Sure, they got one playoff appearance and knocked off the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Colorado Avalanche, in 2023. But have they even been to the semifinals? Because the Golden Knights have been to four.
Second, the Seattle Kraken traded Mason Marchment to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday. A second-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft and a fourth-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft are exchanged. Granted, this was before the NHL's roster freeze. However, it indicates that the "most impressive expansion story ever" is already waving the white flag on the season. Vegas? They're too busy sitting atop the Pacific Division to even care.
Finally, Seattle is a much bigger market than Las Vegas. We're talking about Seattle being 14th while Las Vegas is... 42nd (according to Station Index).
Apparently, facts don't matter in the Pacific Northwest. It's no wonder that the Seattle Mariners remain the only MLB team without a World Series appearance.
The Vegas Golden Knights' aggressive, yet calculated, approach proves to be better than the Seattle Kraken's steady strategy
Look, I'm all for drafting and developing the right way. When you look at teams like the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Chicago Blackhawks, and the Los Angeles Kings, they dominated the 2010s solely on this philosophy alone. But don't tell the "no state income tax" and "cost of living" conspiracy theorists that. It'll rustle their Jimmies.
But when you're staring down the barrel of another missed Stanley Cup playoff appearance, something has to give. It wasn't working with Ron Francis, who decided to fill the roster with nothing but middle-of-the-lineup forwards and knockoff Shea Theodore prototypes. Compare that to the Vegas Golden Knights, who've gone extremely bold since "Day F*****g One."
Some examples include acquiring Jack Eichel from the Buffalo Sabres and getting Mitch Marner on board. That's not even mentioning how they formed the Original Misfits, taking home run swings on names such as Reilly Smith, William Karlsson, and Marc-Andre Fleury.
This is a testament to Bill Foley's commitment to winning. He made the bold proclamation of winning the Stanley Cup in Year Six, fulfilling his promise to the delight of Las Vegans everywhere. You can't say the same for the Kraken, who had an opportunity to snag names like Alex Ovechkin, Gabriel Landeskog, and Sam Montembeault off the board.
The Golden Knights continue to be the Pacific Division gold standard while the Kraken watch other divisional rivals pass them
Watching other teams pass you used to be a time-honored tradition for the Mariners. They'd watch Mike Trout and the Los Angeles Angels smoke them into the Puget Sound. They'd watch the cheating Houston Astros stuff them into a trash can and bang them. They'd even watch the Rangers go big with Corey Seager and the Moneyball Oakland Athletics stomp them flat before John Fisher and Rob Manfred started simping for Las Vegas.
But the Mariners decided that enough was enough and built a World Series contender. They must've seen the jokes on here and other forums because they got serious by re-signing Josh Naylor and keeping Cal Raleigh around. So, where did the time-honored tradition of watching other teams pass a Seattle squad by go to?
None other than the Kraken. You see, the San Jose Sharks have Macklin Celebrini, Yaroslav Askarov, and Will Smith. They're actually drafting and developing the right way, looking to annoy the Golden Knights once more. The Anaheim Ducks are already fighting the Golden Knights and the Edmonton Oilers for Pacific Division supremacy. Imagine if they get another big piece in the future (i.e., an actual goaltender). They'd be super-scary.
That leaves the Kraken, who've taken on the responsibility of being the team that's presumably owned by Howard Lincoln. In two years, it could be the Sharks and the Ducks running the Pacific Division show. Three years after, it could be the Calgary Flames if they get Gavin McKenna. Heck, Vegas and Edmonton could still be sticking around in that time frame.
It makes you wonder if drafting and developing "the right way" was actually worth it for the Kraken, after all.