Thoughts on the Vegas Golden Knights?

[CraigsList]

Thoughts on them?

Currently "the cleanest team" in the NHL. Yeah, that joke is running dry.

Don't really see them making the playoffs with all of the Pacific teams ahead of them.

How many points do you see them realistically getting? What player will have the most points on the team? What player makes the most impact?

It's fun seeing a new team play, and I really don't think they'll lose in blowout games, but they will certainly lose a lot more than winning. It should be interesting at how long it takes them to build a contending team, because in my opinion they completely failed the expansion draft, focusing on getting too much picks. What they should of done is pick the BPA on every team, and then go from there. They took too many incentives, some good, but some really questionable.

 

[M2Beezy]

Gonna be super interesting and exciting to have a expansion team. For a lot of us this is the first time its happend since being a hockey fan

 

[Machinehead]

Jagr would put some butts in those new seats

 

[bert]

I have read that people think that Colorado is the worst team in the league but when you compare rosters its not close. Vegas is gonna be real bad, which I think is the way you want to go about it to build a winner however I do agree with the OP they really blew the expansion draft. Mcphee seemingly gave favorable deals to the old boys club and with the new GM's he was much harder to deal with. Which to me really hurt the overall market value of all the assets because of the lack of consistency.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Jagr would put some butts in those new seats

Much to the annoyance of the people who have already bought tickets for those seats.

 

[Empoleon8771]

They're going to be the poop emoji of the NHL for quite a few years. Hopefully they get Dahlin in the 2018 draft.

 

[The Macho King]

They will be very bad. McPhee failed at everything except the entry draft.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

I think we can all agree they're not a playoff team. That defense is bottom 3 in the NHL even if Theodore breaks out. If he doesn't, it's probably the worst.

However, i think their offense can be better than a lot of people expect. They've got multiple guys with 20-goal ability, every single player in their top 9 can score 35+ and they got NHL players for every role possible.

It'll come down to if Shipachyov can be legit 1C for them. He's got the skills for 60 points, but whether or not his transition goes well nobody knows.

In any case, if the offense is as good as it can potentially be and Fleury-Pickard gets the job done, they can stay in the mix up until January/February until most teams turn it on and they fall out of the picture. Of course then McPhee will be looking to deal any assets he can so they will probably be the worst team in the last quarter.

But of course there's always a chance things don't work out all from the start and they're straight up terrible from the get go.

I would put the expectations to the same category with teams like the Devils, Canucks and Avalanche.

 

[AveryStar4Eva]

I think they took the right path in rebuilding, but could have probably squeezed more picks and prospects out of the teams. They will be crap for a few years, but its for the best

 

[MMC]

They'll be fine. McPhee is an underrated GM.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

They'll be moved within 10 years.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

They didn't have a good expansion draft but they did have a good entry draft. They have a weak roster so they'll be bad for a bit, but they might become something in the future

 

[Aerchon]

Colorado got 48 points last year with a better team/situation.

I would personally be surprised if L.V. managed to get more than 50 points.

Few players who have ever played together before. A very distracting city to live in. New coach and systems for all. Many on the roster that know they are most likely being traded at the trade deadline no matter what. Many on the roster that are in the last years before being a UFA.

50 points would be "respectable" under the circumstances and with the team they put together. Dead last pretty much a forgone conclusion.

 

[HanSolo]

I think they're stocked well for a strong team in the future. Erik Brannstom in particular is a home run of a draft pick.

As a Vegas native accepting them as my second team, I'm nervous of how McPhee is going to handle things. While I feel in some respects people tear into him too hard for how he's handled the expansion draft and the subsequent trades, but at the same time I think he could've handled things better. Yes the protected lists wouldn't be the same if he hadn't played ball with some GMs but some of the returns on good assets like Methot have been really lackluster.

They'll be moved within 10 years.

I keep seeing this but somehow Arizona has managed to stick around longer than 10 years. Sure the league helped them stay afloat but Glendale is a different market.

Even if local interest teeters to lower levels, Vegas still gets the benefit of being a destination fans WANT to go to. Even if they don't develop a strong fanbase they'll be kept alive by the dual aspect of tourism and hockey. Who wants to go to Glendale, AZ or Raleigh, NC for a fun trip alongside watching their team play an away game?

 

[Harvey Birdman]

Its not going to be pretty, it'll be massively entertaining at times... But it wont be pretty.

 

[Curufinwe]

They expansion-drafted too many dmen.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

Colorado got 48 points last year with a better team/situation.

There is absolutely no way the Avs were better team than what Vegas will be.

With EJ and Zadorov missing significant time the Avs D was a disaster. Vegas can also have a disaster defense.

However the Avs also had a lot of dead weight playing up front, guys who didn't give a jack ****. You look at the Knights forward group and see good balance throughout their lines.

And Varlamov got hurt.

I'd also argue their situation wasn't any better. Vegas is a new franchise and a lot of guys will look to seize the opportunity to get a big role on this team. And if things go bad, guys acknowledge it's a work in process and they'll just try to get better. The Avs were going through the motions for half a year and some of their top guys just lost it.

In Vegas you're playing for something all the time because at the very least you know the GM is actively looking to get assets. Almost everybody on this team can be traded at one point or another.

 

[Butch 19]

I wonder how many of my office co-workers (130) know the Knights even exist?

I'm gonna go with 15.

 

[Jared Dunn]

I think they're going to get 29 points this year, it's going to be ugly at some points.

 

[Advanced stats]

GMGM got that team off to a bad start, but they'll recover...one day.

There is absolutely no way the Avs were better team than what Vegas will be.

Vegas can also have a disaster defense.

. You look at the Knights forward group and see good balance throughout their lines.

I'd also argue their situation wasn't any better. Vegas is a new franchise and a lot of guys will look to seize the opportunity to get a big role on this team. And if things go bad, guys acknowledge it's a work in process and they'll just try to get better. The Avs were going through the motions for half a year and some of their top guys just lost it.

In Vegas you're playing for something all the time because at the very least you know the GM is actively looking to get assets. Almost everybody on this team can be traded at one point or another.

Colorado is so much better than Vegas.

I look at the vegas forwards and I see a bunch of 3rd line passengers and fodder. There's nothing impressive there. Colorado at least has landy, Duchene, MacKinnon, and rantanen, all who are much better than anything Vegas has.

Defense will be a nightmare for Vegas with literally everyone playing a pairing over their head.

Goaltending is at least average and will win them a few games.


I think a 19-53-10 record for 48 points.

 

[InfinityIggy]

I think they could set some unfortunate records in terms of standings.

I am excited that there is an expansion team though and it will be interesting to follow them this season.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

GMGM got that team off to a bad start, but they'll recover...one day.



Colorado is so much better than Vegas.

I look at the vegas forwards and I see a bunch of 3rd line passengers and fodder. There's nothing impressive there. Colorado at least has landy, Duchene, MacKinnon, and rantanen, all who are much better than anything Vegas has.

Defense will be a nightmare for Vegas with literally everyone playing a pairing over their head.

Goaltending is at least average and will win them a few games.


I think a 19-53-10 record for 48 points.

What Colorado is for next season is totally irrelevant. The topic was 16-17 Avalanche. Vegas will not be worse than them.

 

[MessierII]

In for a rocky start

 

[Advanced stats]

What Colorado is for next season is totally irrelevant. The topic was 16-17 Avalanche. Vegas will not be worse than them.

16-17 avalanche still had MacKinnon, Duchene, Rantanen, and Landeskog for 75+ games each.

I repeat when I say that Vegas has zero skaters of that calibur.

 

[deckercky]

What Colorado is for next season is totally irrelevant. The topic was 16-17 Avalanche. Vegas will not be worse than them.

Vegas might do better than Colorado did last year based on goaltending and coaching alone. However, once you get past the goaltending, the injured Avalanche roster was still better than what Vegas has to offer. It will be a tough few years for Vegas fans, so hopefully they get some good young talent out of it.