The Golden Knights open the 2026-27 season with a new coach, plenty of familiar stars and high expectations after reaching the Stanley Cup Final last season.
Las Vegas has the stars, the experience and the expectations. Chicago has something Vegas can’t buy: a whole lot of young legs with something to prove.
The Blackhawks will get their first chance to show what that youth can do Tuesday night when they face the Golden Knights in Las Vegas, closing out a triple-header of national broadcasts on the NHL’s opening night.
It’s a tough place to start.
Vegas is coming off a Stanley Cup Final appearance and brings back much of the core that got it there. Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner and Mark Stone are still leading the way up front, while Shea Theodore and Noah Hanifin anchor an experienced blue line.
Eichel finished last season with 90 points in 74 games. Marner had 80 points in 81 games, and Stone produced 73 points in only 60 games.
But there is a new opportunity on the third line.
Trevor Connelly is stepping into a bigger role with Vegas this season after spending most of last year developing in the AHL. The 2024 first-round pick put up 49 points in 46 games with Henderson, including 14 goals and 35 assists, and now has a chance to establish himself in the Golden Knights’ lineup.
The 19-year-old fills the void left behind by Pavel Dorofeyev, who was traded in the offseason after leading the Golden Knights with 37 goals last season.
Braeden Bowman is also expected to begin the season in the bottom six.
They’ll be doing it with a new coach behind the bench.
John Tortorella led Vegas to the Stanley Cup Final after taking over late last season, but he is no longer with the organization and currently does not have an NHL coaching job.
Ryan Craig takes over after three seasons as head coach of the Henderson Silver Knights. It will be his first NHL head-coaching opportunity, and he inherits a team with considerably different expectations than the one he coached in the AHL.
The biggest question surrounding that team may not be its forwards or defensemen, though.
It may be the goaltending.
Carter Hart is expected to open the season as Vegas’ starter after joining the Golden Knights during the regular season. He went 11-3-3 with a .891 save percentage and a 2.71 goals-against average, then started every game of Vegas’ run to the Stanley Cup Final.
Hart struggled against Carolina, posting a .863 save percentage and 3.45 goals-against average in the six-game series.
Vegas also moved on from Akira Schmid this offseason. Schmid appeared in 34 games last season, going 16-10-6 with a .893 save percentage and 2.59 goals-against average before being traded to the Florida Panthers for a 2028 third-round pick.
Adin Hill remains in the picture after going 10-9-6 with a .870 save percentage and a 3.04 goals-against average last season.
So there are questions in the crease, even if there aren’t many elsewhere on the roster.
Chicago is dealing with a different kind of uncertainty.
Connor Bedard won’t be available for the opener as he continues recovering from a freak training accident that required shoulder surgery. The Blackhawks are expected to be without their franchise player until later this fall.
But there is some good news for Chicago fans and that’s the return of Patrick Kane, who will don a Blackhawks sweater for the first time in three years.
For Kane and a rebuilding Blackhawks roster, there’s probably no better measuring stick than to face the reigning Stanley Cup runner-ups off the bat.
The Golden Knights know what they’re chasing.
The Blackhawks are still figuring that out.
Tuesday night, they’ll collide.
