50-22-10, 110
points (1st Pacific, 3rd overall)
3.34 GF/GP, 5th; 2.61 GA/GP, 3rd
28.3 PP%, 2nd; 75.7 PK%, 26th
Key losses: C/RW Nicolas Roy, D Nic Hague, D Alex Pietrangelo
Key additions: RW Mitch Marner, C/LW Colton Sissons, D Jeremy Lauzon
Expected lineup:
Ivan
Barbashev – Jack Eichel – Mitch Marner
Reilly Smith – William Karlsson – Mark Stone
Brandon Saad – Tomas Hertl – Pavel Dorofeyev
Brett Howden – Colton Sissons – Keegan Kolesar
Brayden
McNabb – Shea Theodore
Noah Hanifin – Zach Whitecloud
Jeremy Lauzon – Kaedan Korczak
Adin Hill – Akira Schmid
5-on-5:
Across the board, the Golden Knights were, well, golden. There wasn’t anything that they couldn’t do well (except for killing penalties), but they were one of the most dominant teams at 5-on-5.
They ranked ninth in percentage share of shot attempts, third in expected goals, third in high-danger shot attempts and sixth in high-danger percentage share of shot attempts. They were really good at generating both volume and quality, and defensively they were an excellent at keeping shots away from their own slot even with a hobbled Alex Pietrangelo.
The Knights had plenty of players who missed significant time, but when they were on the ice, they absolutely cooked. Jack Eichel put in an MVP-caliber campaign 94 points, becoming an exceptional play driver and playmaker, finishing with 29 (!) power-play assists.
Mark Stone missed games (shocking, I know) but continues to score at a point-per-game pace, and this time at least managed to dress in 66 games, his highest total since 2019-20 when he finished top five in Selke voting. Tomas Hertl and Shea Theodore scored at incredible paces when they managed to stay healthy, but the biggest surprise of them all was Pavel Dorofeyev, who played in all 82 games and paced the Knights with 35 goals.
The Knights may have elite top-tier players but what’s often overlooked is their depth; Brett Howden and Ivan Barbashev are complementary players, but they combined for 43 goals at even strength, just one less than Eichel and Dorofeyev combined. When you can rely on such a balanced, multi-faceted attack, you become very, very difficult to defend against.
With Eichel, Hertl and original ‘Misfit’ William Karlsson down the middle and winning the majority of their draws – Eichel’s the laggard, but few players were better than him at overall even-strength play last season – the Knights are solid in the most important area of the ice and on the blue line where they boast four defensemen – Pietrangelo, Theodore, Noah Hanifin and Brayden McNabb – who can be relied upon for 20 solid minutes every night.
Bruce Cassidy’s teams have always preached quality over quantity, and also building a strong defense around their own zone to suppress the opposition’s scoring chances and facilitate rush attacks when the play turns the other way. Who cares if you’re giving up 30 low-quality shots if you’re getting 25 high-quality ones at the other end? Over time, higher quality wins.
And that’s perhaps the most interesting part – this was the first season under Cassidy where the Knights had really good possession metrics. They won 96 regular-season games and a Cup title in his first two seasons behind the bench, but actually ranked 22nd in percentage share of shot attempts during that time.
It wasn’t until the 2024-25 season when the Knights finished near the top of the league in possession metrics, which had been a hallmark of Cassidy’s Bruins. It makes me think the Knights’ underlying possession metrics is a very sustainable new trend, and they’ve certainly done it before under Gerard Gallant and Peter DeBoer. (Truthfully, they’ve been spoiled when it comes to coaching, too).
I think having Eichel reach a new level is a big reason for this, and individually his possession numbers have never been better since joining the Knights. It’s a little scary to think the Knights might get even better entering season four with Cassidy, and they did add a sublime two-way, playmaking winger with excellent production in Mitch Marner over the summer.
Power Play:
The power play was fantastic, and the best part is they didn’t have to rely on their big-time players to do all the scoring. Hertl led the way with 14 goals and Dorofeyev ranked second with 13. When Eichel and Theodore, one of the most underrated top-tier power play quarterbacks in the league, they can be an efficient puck-moving machine.
Consider this: The Knights ranked 12th in power-play goals for, which is in line with their underlying metrics – 11th in shot attempts and 12th in expected goals per 60 minutes, and 11th in shooting percentage – but received the second-fewest opportunities with 187. That’s barely two power plays a game, and yet they still managed to rank third in efficiency!
It was, in some ways, a perfectly built power play unit with Theodore distributing from the blue line, and then having Stone and Eichel set up plays for Dorofeyev, a good shooter from distance, and Hertl, a big power forward with soft hands.
All stats courtesy of naturalstattrick.com, moneypuck.com, hockeyviz.com, allthreezones.com, hockey-reference.com, eliteprospects.com unless otherwise noted.