After another eventful offseason, the Vegas Golden Knights are set to compete for another Stanley Cup. They let Jonathan Marchessault walk and traded away Logan Thompson and still have Stanley Cup aspirations. Team captain Mark Stone spoke with Gary Lawless of VegasGoldenKnights.com about the team's chances at the Stanley Cup and his attitude towards Golden Knight's many critics.
“As I'm older I have realized that people are going to put a bullseye on our back because they want to see us fail.,” Stone said. “We haven't failed too much in our history. People want to see the Golden Knights crash and burn. But like I said, I think the foundation we built doesn't really allow for that to happen. So, I'm feeling confident.”
The team lost in the first round last season, only the third time in franchise history they failed to reach the second round of the playoffs. Fans found joy in their defeat, specifically because of Stone's timely return. He made his season debut in the playoffs, allowing the Golden Knights to leave him on Long-Term Injured Reserve for the entire season to stay under the cap.
For a new franchise, the Golden Knights have plenty of critics and haters. While the moves they have made will come back around to bite them eventually, 2024-25 does not appear to be that year. What should fans and haters expect from Vegas this season?
Golden Knights expectations for 2024-25
Stone has every reason to be confident, as the Golden Knights made the playoffs easily last year. Additionally, the Western Conference has many rebuilding teams who are not set to make the jump into the playoffs this season. Even though the Knights were the last team in, they clinched the final spot by six points over the St Louis Blues.
Once they get into the postseason, they have made multiple deep playoff runs. Their 2023 championship, 2017 runner-up, and two other semi-final appearances all make them an experienced team. Even in years where it appears the salary cap has caught up to them, they have strung together a good enough regular season to make these deep runs.
This offseason is another where it appears that the salary cap has finally caught up to the Golden Knights. Replacing Thompson with Ilya Samsonov and losing original misfit Marchessault are significant downgrades from last season. Part of the reason that there are so many critics is that everyone feels like the Golden Knights will still find a way.
Fans should expect to see the Golden Knights fully healthy come mid-April. They have made the playoffs in six out of seven seasons and have put together one of the deepest teams in the league. Even with their losses, they'll have the first full seasons of Tomas Hertl and Noah Hanafin to help replace them.
There's no word yet on Stone's back, which has bugged him for multiple seasons now. If he ends up back on LTIR, the critics will ratchet up their cheating accusations once again. If he plays, he will make a massive impact and have the Golden Knights challenging for another division title.
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