First, happy Opening Knight for the Vegas Golden Knights faithful out there. 'Tis the season for hockey to return because it's the best season of al. There's nothing better than seeing your favorite players take the ice and play for the biggest prize of all: The Stanley Cup.
'Tis the season for seeing thousands of fans pack T-Mobile Arena for Golden Knights hockey. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year because we finally can usher in cooler weather and hockey to boot. Now, Las Vegas can truly experience the wonders that is Autumn in Nevada.
With that comes bold predictions for the 2026-27 season. It's time to go extra bold here and surprise the masses with our boisterous picks. Fair warning, though: Trevor Connelly is mentioned a lot in this article and with good reason. He's an exciting player who should bring plenty of points to Vegas.
Again, the key word is "should." Anything can happen and fans will remember what happened with Alexander Holtz and Brendan Brisson. Both were young stars who didn't pan out for the Golden Knights. Oh well, it is what it is. Anyway, here's what Vegas Hockey Knight came up with on the bold prediction front.
Jacob Walters: Trevor Connelly leads the Golden Knights in goals scored
In case you didn't hear the bold prediction on TikTok (PLEASE like, follow, and save), I made a bold prediction that Trevor Connelly would be the Vegas Golden Knights' leading goal-scorer for the 2026-27 season. He has many benefits working for him, including veterans on his line and unwavering confidence in his own game.
That should benefit him as he begins his highly-anticipated rookie campaign with the Golden Knights. We'll get more into the nitty-gritty on why the rookie is excellent and will shine for the Golden Knights. But Vegas hasn't seen a first-round draft pick in town with this much swagger ever. Expect big things from the youngster as the 2026-27 rolls on.
Ryan Gagne: Carter Hart will be the third Golden Knights goalie with 30 wins
The Vegas Golden Knights are Stanley Cup favorites once again after coming within two wins of their second title in four years in June 2026. They waltzed through the first three rounds of the playoffs, riding the hot hand of goalie Carter Hart. Despite mixed results in his first months with the club, the 28-year-old bounced back to finish 7-1-0, helping the team win the Pacific Division. Now, after a brilliant playoff run, Hart has secured the team's starting role and could be one of the biggest reasons Vegas makes the playoffs, wins the division, or goes on another deep postseason run.
Considering only Marc-Andre Fleury and Adin Hill have reached the 30-win mark in a single season, Hart is on a collision course with Golden Knights history. Interestingly, in six seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers, he never won more than 24 games, making this campaign in Vegas even more special if he reaches and surpasses 30 wins for the first time.
Robert Lazar: Trevor Connelly is a Calder Trophy contender
By all accounts, Trevor Connelly has made the Golden Knights' opening-night roster, playing in three of four preseason games and surviving the team's last round of roster cuts before opening night. The 2024 19th-overall pick is seemingly the first first-rounder the team has had outright confidence in since Peyton Krebs, as he's now made it past two trade deadlines and three offseasons without getting dealt for a superstar as per usual. In his two AHL seasons, he's lived up to the hype, with a total of 53 points in 52 games played and an over-point-per-game season this past year, despite injury.
It looks like he'll be centered by Tomas Hertl on the Golden Knights' third line, and he also got power-play time on the second unit in Vegas' final preseason game. In short, it's all shaping up to be a breakout rookie year for Connelly, and my hot take is that it'll be that in spades, with Connelly finishing at worst third in Calder voting. Vegas has never had a Calder finalist, only coming close when Logan Thompson was a contender pre-injury in 2023; let's hope this year is the one.
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