There’s a line forming to bid for Chandler Stephenson’s services. That’s not good news for the Vegas Golden Knights’ hopes of retaining him at a discounted rate. Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman has linked the Boston Bruins to Stephenson if he becomes available. They have been looking for a productive center since Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci retired from the NHL. Meanwhile, David Pagnotta of Fourth Period has the Bruins, Maple Leafs and Nashville Predators among a growing list of teams interested in Stephenson. He has averaged 60 points a season for the past  three seasons. Steph ..read more

The Vegas Golden Knights’ decision to hang onto their 2024 first round draft pick is more of a gift for fans than a shift in strategy. The Golden Knights use draft picks more like tradable commodities than a means to stock their roster. Today’s roster shows six Vegas draft picks on their roster. Defenseman Nicolas Hague (drafted 34th overall in 2017) is the only one playing a critical role. GM Kelly McCrimmon prefers to use his draft picks or drafted prospects to acquire experienced players. Eleven players on the current roster, including Jack Eichel, Mark Stone and Tomas Hertl, were acquired ..read more

The Vegas Golden Knights appear to be defying the long-held axiom about failed hockey teams. Tradition is that losing clubs hit the links once their season hits the skids. In the case of the Golden Knights, their postseason laments make it sound more like they’ve gone fishing instead of golfing. They keep pining for the one that got away. GM Kelly McCrimmon addresses the media at the end of the 2023-24 season pic.twitter.com/u6NjKgDqmJ — Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) May 8, 2024 “I believe it’s the best team we’ve ever had in Vegas,” GM Kelly McCrimmon said of the 2023-24 edition of ..read more

The Toronto Maple Leafs’ first round playoff loss is part of an alarming pattern. The Vegas Golden Knights’ first round exodus is a result of bad luck and circumstances That’s the easiest way to explain why no one in the Golden Knights organization is panicking over losing a Game 7 to the Dallas Stars 11 months after winning a Stanley Cup championship. Here are five reasons to believe the Golden Knights will remain a Stanley Cup: Dependable Goaltending The tandem of Adin Hill and Logan Thompson was tied for 11th in goals-against average (2.96) and tied for 10th in save percentage (.907). Both ..read more

The Vegas Golden Knights dispatched the Dallas Stars in the 2023 Western Conference Final. Six games and done. However, the Golden Knights will be watching the 2024 WCF while the Dallas Stars get another bite at the apple. After rolling through Vegas, Dallas is now the oddsmaker’s favorite to win the Stanley Cup, going off at only +180. It’s a crowded field, including the juggernaut Florida Panthers, but Dallas seemingly quelled the best team in the league, the Colorado Avalanche, in six. It was a stunning but thorough series victory. Perhaps Dallas learned a little something from the Golden K ..read more

Earlier in the season, the Athletic ranked the Vegas Golden Knights’ prospect collection 23rd out of 32 NHL teams. Since then, the Golden Knights traded away their top prospect David Edstrom to San Jose in the Tomas Hertl trade. TSN draft analyst Craig Button listed his top 50 affiliated prospects in February, and the Golden Knights didn’t have a single player on his list. The Golden Knights don’t have a line of blue chip players waiting for their opportunities. It’s entirely possible that the player they draft at No. 19 next month will instantly become their best prospect. It will be the earl ..read more

The Vegas Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon to-do list this summer starts with the recognition that he has 45 days to figure out how to keep a 41-goal scorer. Forty-five days take us to Friday, June 28, the first day of the NHL draft .  Traditionally, there’s plenty of trade talk leading up to the opening day of the draft. If McCrimmon hasn’t made a trade or two to create some cap space, his leading goal scorer Jonathan Marchessault will likely be using his unrestricted free agency to sign elsewhere on July 1. In the end, he may not be able to create enough space to get it do ..read more

If you’re among those Vegas Golden Knights fans who are criticizing the dismal postseason effort newcomer Tomas Hertl was turning in, know that he is also part of your fraternity. “It was tough for me when we lost it because I know I can help way more than I did during the playoffs,” Hertl said during the club’s exit interviews. Tomas Hertl: “I know I can bring more to the team.” pic.twitter.com/agTsioAAlT — Rochelle Richards (@vegassportstalk) May 7, 2024 Over seven playoff games as the Golden Knights were being dispatched by the Dallas Stars, Hertl would account for a solitary goal – a Gam ..read more

Seventh round NHL draft picks have roughly a five percent chance of reaching the NHL. But Vegas prospect Carl Lindbom is on course to defy those odds. After the Golden Knight drafted the Swedish netminder 222th — third pick from the bottom – in the 2021 NHL draft, Lindbom has made a steady climb on the Vegas prospect list. Two seasons ago, he was named Goalie of the Year honors in HockeyAllsvenskan. That’s Sweden second division. This year, Lindbom enjoyed a strong season for Farjestads BK Karlstad, posting a 17-7-0 record with a .911 save percentage in the Swedish Hockey League. The Golden Kn ..read more

The Vegas Golden Knights’ commitment to hanging onto their 2024 first-round draft seems comical considering the disdain they have shown for first round picks in their short history. They owned six first round picks from 2017 to 2019, and traded two of those picks and dealt the players drafted with the other four picks. From 2018 to 2023, they traded two first-round picks and the players drafted with three other first-round picks. Brendan Brisson (2018) is the only player chosen in the first round who is still with the organization. Even while they were telling teams they would not move this ye ..read more