Why the Vegas Golden Knights Will Repeat as Champs

Winning the Stanley Cup is no simple task. Defending one’s title is arguably more difficult because all 31 rivals clubs have the champions in their crosshairs the following season. Free agency, trades, injuries, retirements, all these and more complicate matters. It isn’t impossible, however. The Pittsburgh Penguins (2015 and 2016) and Tampa Bay Lightning (2020 and 2021) recently accomplished the feat.

Can the current title holders, the Vegas Golden Knights do the same?

In one word: yes. They will.

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Golden Knights: Strength in Numbers

Whenever a team wins a championship, regardless of sport, everyone is thanked. Every player, every coach, every staff member. It’s the honourable thing to do and, in many respects, fully accurate.

But rarely did the concept of “team effort” hold as true as it did with the Vegas Golden Knights as they built upon an excellent regular season with a memorable playoff run that culminated with a 4-1 series win in the final over the Florida Panthers.

Not a single Golden Knights player finished in the top 40 league-wide for points during the regular campaign. Not one found a spot in the top 40 for goals scored. Chandler Stephenson was 32^nd in assists with 48. That’s it.

Where did Vegas rank in the Western Conference when the postseason began? First with 111 points.

Of course, that changed in the playoffs since the team made it as far as it did. Guys like Jack Eichel, Jonathan Marchessault, Mark Stone, Ivan Barbashev, Alec Martinez, Zach Whitecloud, and William Karlsson all performed out of their minds en route to lifting the Cup.

Lest he’s forgotten, goaltender Adin Hill, who spent several more or less “lost seasons” in Arizona and San Jose, emerged as a terrific playoff keeper. He posted a formidable GAA of 2.17 in 16 games and a save percentage of .932.

This was a team effort. This was “next man up.”

There isn’t one player opposing defences, attacking units, and disrupters can target to get Vegas off its game. There are too many extremely solid, very talented players that, together, make an incredible whole. Vegas really is as good as gold.

The good news for Golden Knights fans? Everyone is back for 2023-2024.

The Rest of the West is Vulnerable

That’s a bold statement. When we say that the rest of the Western Conference is vulnerable, it still acknowledges that there are several high-profile clubs that will put up stiff competition.

One candidate is the Colorado Avalanche, champions just two years ago and it isn’t as if their roster is drastically different. Key injuries will mean they could start slow out of the gate though.

Jason Robertson and the Dallas Stars are probably the biggest threat. That said, they’ll have to go out and defeat Vegas, something they didn’t do last year, falling 4-2 in the Western final.

The elephant in the room is the Edmonton Oilers. This will be year four of extreme hype surrounding the franchise (2020-2021, 2021-2022, 2022-2023, and now 2023-2024). Edmonton has made it out of the second round only once (2022) and was swept in the conference final. In 2021 they were swept in the first round. Last year they went out somewhat meekly to the eventual champs in the sophomore round. With Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, one would think the sky is the limit, but the club has yet to just reach the clouds.

Other clubs include the Los Angeles Kings, Seattle Kraken, and Minnesota Wild. All are interesting sides, but each has key weaknesses (lack of scoring, mediocre goaltending, etc.)

The Stanley Cup is the Vegas Golden Knights to lose.