(Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen)

Once again, the Golden Knights have positioned themselves in a playoff spot at the end of October. In four seasons under coach Bruce Cassidy, Vegas is an astounding 30-7-5 in the opening month of the season. Year after year, the Cassidy-led Golden Knights have essentially put themselves on a smooth path to the postseason. Sure, there have been some tough stretches. (Remember that brutal stretch last January?) However, the Golden Knights’ great early success has made it a much easier path to the ultimate finish line.

VGK’s October Points Percentage Under Cassidy

2022-23: .800 (8-2-0)
2023-24: .950 (9-0-1)
2024-25: .682 (7-3-1)
2025-26: .682 (6-2-3)

Surprisingly, the last two Octobers were Vegas’ worst, if you want to call it that, under Cassidy. The coach could argue he was hampered by injuries to key players last month, but his club still sits in first place in the Pacific Division on November 1st. So far this season, the Golden Knights have seen injuries to a top defenseman, their captain, and the starting goaltender. Nevertheless, the 2023 Stanley Cup champions are in a much better situation than some of their Western Conference opponents.

You know that I keep a stat, it’s November 1st. In the salary cap era, full seasons, there’s been 72 teams four points or more out of the playoffs after games on November 1st. Out of those 72, only ten have made it. You can’t wait until American Thanksgiving anymore. If you’re more than four points out by November 1st, you’ve got a one in seven chance of making it. Fourteen percent. –Elliotte Friedman, 32 Thoughts

Unfortunately for teams like the Calgary Flames, Minnesota Wild, St. Louis Blues, and San Jose Sharks are on pace to be hitting the links by mid-April. The Golden Knights on the other hand have a 93.4% to make the postseason according to MoneyPuck.com. Heck, they even predict Vegas having close to a 10% chance of winning their second Stanley Cup trophy.

Back in 2018, the Golden Knights were coming off their first Stanley Cup finals appearance and were exactly four points below the postseason cut line on November 1st. As we remember, they were an outlier that season and qualified for the playoffs. Let’s continue to ignore how it unfolded afterwards. In the last four seasons, the November 1st yardstick was easily hurdled by the Golden Knights. They’re on pace for the same result for the Thanksgiving benchmark.

The Golden Knights should continue to build on their first-place record in the second month of the season. Vegas has nine home games this month and has only two back-to-back situations. One on the road in Minnesota and St. Louis, and the other two at home against Montreal and San Jose. Positive results or not, Vegas will have a high percentage to qualify for the postseason, no matter how they fare this month. And with Cassidy at the helm, it’s unlikely his club will trip and fall into Thanksgiving.