The HONEST TRUTH About The Vegas Golden Knights

The HONEST TRUTH About The Vegas Golden Knights

This is Jack Eel, one of the many standout players who have joined the Vegas Golden Knights since they’ve entered the NHL. By now, it’s no secret that Vegas has become one of the league’s top destinations. Something that was showcased yet again this off season with the acquisition of Mitch Mner. But what makes them different from other expansion teams that have joined the league? While the one thing that has defined this organization is their unapologetic approach to roster building. They’ve stretched the salary cap, orchestrated trades that land elite talent, and aren’t afraid to spend their draft picks in order to do so, even when it seems impossible. For the most part, these high-stake moves have paid off quite handsomely, making Vegas a notorious threat in the eyes of hockey fans across the league, something that separates them from a lot of other expansion teams that usually take some time before they have a dominant run. In recent years, they’ve made it to multiple finals, captured a Stanley Cup, and have enjoyed consistent playoff success. But how sustainable is this dominance and aggressive approach from Vegas? And should we even consider them to be a top team anymore? Well, let’s talk about it. [Applause] What’s up, guys? Welcome back to the channel. Today I am breaking down and previewing the upcoming season for the Vegas Golden Knights. Following an early playoff exit, Vegas went back to the drawing board and boy did they come out on top. New faces, new expectations, and a roster that’s ready to make plenty of noise this year. But is it enough? And will Vegas get back to being that dominant postseason team that we know them to be? Well, let’s find out together. So, if you guys have been enjoying the content lately, be sure to toss this video a like and subscribe. Now, kick back for the next 10 to 15 minutes and let’s talk about the Vegas Golden Knights. Let’s kick things off with a quick look back at last season. Despite extensive roster turnover in the off season, the Vegas Golden Knights bounced back from their early first round exit to Dallas in 2024 with an impressive 2025 campaign in which they reached the 50 win threshold while also setting both individual and franchise records. Vegas won the Pacific Division title for the fourth time in eight seasons and were near the top of the standings pretty much all year long. They set a franchise record with 274 goals in 82 games played and even recorded their franchise’s best power play percentage, finishing the year with a success rate of 28.3%. In terms of individual success, Jack Eel recorded a franchise record 94 points. Dora Fiev and Hurdle both led the team in goals with a combined 67, 27 of which came on the man advantage and 14 of those were by Thomas Hurdle who set the franchise record with the most power play goals in Vegas history. Vegas in typical fashion had a ton of star players who were producing at a high level. But what really surprised me about the team this year was how evenly distributed their goal scoring was. Looking at their goalc scoring numbers, five total players top 20 goals this past season. Dorafv, Hurdle, Eel, Howden, and Barbesev. 13 total skaters reached double digits, including Stone, who had over 15, Olivesson, and Wah. Pearson and Hannah both rounded things out with 13 and 10 goals, respectively, but Vegas was getting goalc scoring from nearly every area of their roster, making them a very difficult team to game plan against. This was great and all for the regular season, but unfortunately their goalc scoring distribution completely dried up in the playoffs as both their stars and their depth players just couldn’t find the back of the net. After locking down their division and earning themselves a match up against the Minnesota Wild, Vegas was considered a heavy favorite in that series. But it took a pretty unexpected turn when they found themselves down 2-1 early against a Wild team that had battled injuries all year long. Ultimately, they were able to come back and win against Minnesota in six games, but it wasn’t a great sign that their scoring had ultimately started to fall apart at the worst possible time. Round two against Edmonton, and while considered a more even matchup, it ended up being completely lopsided, but just not in favor of Vegas. Through the series, Edmonton looked like a much more complete team. And the only win that Vegas managed to get was a return game for Stuart Skinner, who had been riding the bench after a shaky start to the playoffs against LA. Despite getting the best of Skinner in game three, the Knights were unable to capitalize on their own momentum. And in games four and five, they were held scoreless as they watched their season come to a close in pretty disappointing fashion. The last two games of that series represented a massive problem for Vegas throughout the entire playoffs. Not only did their scoring dry up, but just their overall production on offense was pretty embarrassing from a team that’s usually much more representable. Just looking at their top scorers, they all went cold at the worst possible time. Jack Eel had zero goals. Dorv had zero points in three games. Hurdle had zero points in five games. And Stone, while playing injured, played five games and had four points, but wasn’t much of a factor in this series. The point of this is to say when your stars don’t show up, you’re not going to win a playoff series. And in Vegas’s case, they doubled down because their depth didn’t show up either. Meanwhile, Edmonton was the complete opposite. They had their stars producing and their depth and just completely outclassed Vegas. It was truly an uninspiring story from a team that’s usually much more consistent in the postseason. So, where does Vegas go from here? Well, the off seasonason they had some ups and some downs, but in the end it’s the same old story for Vegas. They always land a big player. So, let’s start with the biggest acquisition of the off seasonason. Mitch Mner going to the Vegas Golden Knights. Coming off a career-high 102 point season, Mner heads to Vegas in a signing trade deal with Toronto, sending Nick W back in the deal while inking Mner to a new contract. Eight years, 96 million total, 12 million per season. Mner finished fifth in the NHL in scoring last year and will fill the topline winger void that Vegas desperately needed. To add to this, he is also an elite two-way forward and pairing him with Jack Eel will make the two a deadly combo to go against on both sides of the ice. Dora Fev is about to have a monster goalcoring year with these two dishing him the puck. I mean, how could you not? Either that or Mitch Miner or Jack Eel are going to see their goalcoring production skyrocket compared to the past. Now, here comes the bad news. Reports early in the offseason revealed that Alex Petrangelo will miss the entire upcoming season, taking away the Golden Knights top defenseman with no replacement lined up. Petrangelo is going to miss some time while dealing with a physical injury that according to doctors, he wouldn’t be able to recover from if he continued skating in the NHL. So, of course, we’re all wishing him nothing but the best, and we all want to see him back on the ice again soon. But in terms of Vegas in their upcoming season, this is a massive loss for the team. Vegas didn’t find any sort of replacement for Alex Petrangelo, and outside of the Mner move, they only made two other small ones, acquiring Coleman Sison and Jeremy Lison, and also bringing back Riley Smith on a one-year contract. So, with this past year and the offseason recap, just how good will the Vegas Golden Knights be this year? Will they be better, worse, or about the same? While as I highlighted, the Knights were pretty awesome during the regular season last year. And with Mitch Mner being added and being that quote unquote amazing regular season player, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if they put up similar numbers and won the Pacific Division title again. But that wasn’t the problem they needed to address. The troubles for Vegas and more specifically their offense began when the playoffs started. And I hate to be that guy, but it’s not exactly like Mitch Mner is this excellent playoff performer. Through the regular season last year, the Golden Knights averaged 3.34 goals four per game. In the postseason, they went all the way down to 2.54. And Mitch Marner is not going to fix this issue if you look at his past resume in the postseason. He’s played in over 70 games and only has 13 goals to show for it. Granted, that was with Toronto and maybe things will change now that he’s with Vegas, but to invest $96 million in a player trying to fix that big playoff need that you had and have those two things not line up is kind of a troublesome thing for Vegas. Now, pressure can distract you from playing your best hockey. And Marner has mentioned feeling as though a weight has been lifted since joining Vegas, suggesting that the pressure he faced in Toronto may now be easing thanks to the new media environment, the atmosphere, and how much healthier it is, not only for him, but his family as well. With this change, Mner has the opportunity to reach new heights and get a fresh start, much like Jack Eel did after he made the move from Buffalo to Vegas. Speaking of Jack Eel, I think this is easily going to be one of the biggest storylines for Vegas going into the year. His contract extension and how adding a potential top playmaker in the league could put him on track for an MVP level season. Eel coming off the best season of his career and a strong four nations tournament will have less defensive responsibility with Mner playing on his wing and should be able to capitalize on more scoring chances since Mner is such a gifted playmaker. Add on to that that he hasn’t gotten a contract extension with Vegas this year and typically players put up some crazy numbers when they’re looking for that new deal. So keep an eye on him. Overall offense really shouldn’t be an issue for Vegas this year. And I think that this past postseason was just one bad year. However, the two biggest storylines for the year is how will Mitch Mner play in the playoffs and what will Jack Eel do this year when he’s looking for that new contract in Vegas. So, to summarize, Vegas was a great Auggie team last year, and they’re going to be great again this year. Will they be able to repeat as division champs and be a favorite to come out of the West? Well, that’s something I’m going to leave up to you guys. So, let me know what you think about all of that in the comments below. Thank you guys so much for watching this video. If you enjoyed the content today, be sure to toss it a thumbs up and subscribe. Now, I also have a few other pieces of content for you to check out here on the screen as well. Again, thank you guys so much for watching the video today. I will see you in the next upload.

The Vegas Golden Knights are back and up to their old tricks. Today we break down the Vegas offseason and breakdown why they are the most notorious franchise in the NHL.

Subscribe to Jimmy Hockey for more NHL News and Breakdowns.

TikTok:

@jimmyhockeyy

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/jimmyhockeyy/

#nhl #hockey #stanleycupplayoffs #icehockey #hockeyhighlights #montrealcanadiens #hockeyvideos #goldenknights #edmontonoilers #nhlplayoffs #nhlhockey #connorbedard #chicagoblackhawks #vancouvercanucks #nhltradedeadline #mikkorantanen #bradmarchand #bostonbruins #edmontonoilers #connormcdavid #vegasgoldenknights