Will this be the year the Vegas market is truly tested?

[Royal Puck]

Aging core. Lack of a prospect pool. Didn’t acquire much or anything at all during free agency.

They seem like a prime candidate for a significant decline this season.

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[HockeyVirus]

No. That will be when they've been trash for 3-5 years. Easy to be profitable when you are good.

 

[ucanthanzalthetruth]

 

[NVious]

Gretzky and Lemieux are coming off the LTIR come playoff time

 

[Stewie Griffin]

Hopefully...SJS has their unprotected 1st.

 

[Hockeyholic]

They really did nothing to improve the team. Very good possibility they miss the postseason.

 

[BWJM]

It'll be interesting to see where the Vegas odd-makers have them to start the season, or let alone all the power rankings.

I agree they took a step back, but they also went to the SCF in year 1 so who knows lol.

 

[JurassicTunga]

Hopefully...SJS has their unprotected 1st.

and Calgary has their unprotected 1st in 2026.
Could be good.

 

[Rich Nixon]

prospect pools don't sell tickets so I dunno how that would be relevant next season.

 

[HockeyVirus]

They really did nothing to improve the team. Very good possibility they miss the postseason.

Only July 3rd. They are going to push aggressively for Marner. He will make them a playoff team.

 

[Hockeyholic]

It will be interesting to see how the market would respond to a bad team.

 

[Nogatco Rd]

and Calgary has their unprotected 1st in 2026.
Could be good.

If life has taught me anything it’s that you never want to hear the words “Vegas” and “Unprotected” in the same sentence

 

[Pablo El Perro]

They lost in the first round this year.

 

[ricky0034]

people here are gonna be so pissed when they add Draisaitl and Crosby and Orlov and Taylor Hall next year at the deadline

 

[Dr Salt]

Winning a cup and being a team original to the city unlike the Oakland transplants will give them lasting clout. I'm sure there will be some road bumps when they have to do a proper rebuild but it'll never endanger their place in Vegas.

 

[MNRube]

Eichel, Hertl, Wild Bill up the middle.

Theodore, Pietrangelo, Hanifin on the blueline.

OP is reaching

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

They lost 6 roster players? Quite a lot. But I expect them to go for a big fish at the deadline once again.

 

[McFlyingV]

Think they're still a playoff team, albeit maybe not a dominating one. Still have some really good pieces, but also a lot of question marks.

Is Pietrangelo's game falling off as it appeared to be last year or was that a blip and he'll bounce back? Can Adin Hill and Ilya Samsonov overcome huge stretches of inconsistency that they both experienced last season? Can Hertl bounce back from his injury and be more than a mundane 2nd liner? Can Mark Stone stay healthy in the regular season? Because its not out of the realm of possibility that this team misses the playoffs like they did in 2021-22 when he couldn't.

They won their cup so their market should continue to be strong regardless and it's a good tourist destination to see games so attendance wise they always have that going for them.

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

If anything their goaltending will be truly tested. Personally I would not have traded Thompson. Ownership must have not have faith in his history of injuries and his ability to stay healthy long term.

This will be the first year in Adin's career where he is a starter. Will be interesting to see the numbers he puts up playing 55-60 games a year.

Eichel, Hertl, Wild Bill up the middle.

Theodore, Pietrangelo, Hanifin on the blueline.

OP is reaching

Ive heard rumours that Hertl is taking Marchessaults old spot as #1RW. Then Karlsson as #2 and Roy as #3. That's still very good down the middle, Karlsson's production from this past season was on par as a #2 center. Same with Roy as a #3C

 

[Chet Manley]

Aging core. Lack of a prospect pool. Didn’t acquire much or anything at all during free agency.

They seem like a prime candidate for a significant decline this season.

They spent this year's ufa money at the trade deadline a few months ago. It's like an annual buffer overflow.

 

[ozzie]

Still a winning team on paper, nothing to panic over yet.

 

[hangman005]

Hopefully...SJS has their unprotected 1st.

Good motivation to win the cup

 

[Bank Shot]

It will be interesting to see how the market would respond to a bad team.

I think there will always be relatively good attendance there.

Always so many tourists looking to spend entertainment dollars.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

They really did nothing to improve the team. Very good possibility they miss the postseason.

When you add Hertl and Hanifin at the deadline, that's kind of what happens.

I think they're fine though. Dorofeyev/Holtz/Brisson/Olofsson are going to get the opportunity to show what they can do whether it's bigger minutes, fresh start or whatever, and there's definitely talent in that group of players. But even if it ends up being a pile of meh, they have the high-end dcore and top guys up front that should keep this team afloat in the playoff picture.

Biggest concern to me is health. If they have the type of injuries they've had in the last few regular seasons, then they can be in trouble. But that's just kind of a random thing.

 

[Chips]

It will be interesting to see how the market would respond to a bad team.

Not really, it’s predictable for 90% of teams. America was way more sports options, and even for hockey fans hockey most often isn’t their most favorite sport.


Unless the prices come way down, nobody wants to take hours out their day when they could watch their team lose on TV and follow via articles what’s happening.


The Penguins had dark years. The original 6 Blackhawks had dark years before their Toews/Kane era


It’s an entertainment business, you need an experience to sell. We’ll see an emptier arena when the team falls off, but they’ll come back when the team rebuilds and the cycle continues