Five big questions heading into the Vegas Golden Knights 2023-24 regular season

Writers from The Hockey News share their insights on the big questions heading into the regular season.

The Vegas Golden Knights open the regular season tomorrow against the Seattle Kraken with a banner raising ceremony and a close to the memorable season in Las Vegas. So it’s time to answer five burning questions with The Hockey News Editor in Chief Ryan Kennedy and The Hockey News Managing Editor of Team Sites Michael Traikos, and myself.

Delos Santos: In terms of simple positional replacement, my bet is on Paul Cotter. That said, it will take a village to replace Smith’s void. He leaves holes on the power play, penalty kill, and leadership in the room. So it will require the likes of William Carrier and Jack Eichel to play more on the penalty kill; someone to provide some offense on the power play and just overall be a leader on and off the ice for the Golden Knights. Smith was a loved member of the team and community, so replacing him like for like isn’t going to be easy.

Kennedy: I could see Brendan Brisson filling that hole.

Traikos: Smith finished fourth on the team with 26 goals and 56 points, so replacing the Original Misfit's production is not going to be easy. That being said, look for Ivan Barbashev to play an even bigger role this season. Acquired at last year's deadline, the former Blues winger chipped in with seven goals and 18 points for Vegas in the playoffs (more than what Smith provided). It's no wonder that the Golden Knights re-signed Barbashev to a 5-year extension — and then let Smith walk.

Delos Santos: The duo is good enough with the defense in front of them, but the bigger questions is whether or not the duo can stay healthy for 82 games. Thompson missed the back end of last season and Hil hasn’t started more than 26 games in a season. That said, if the split does remain relatively close to 60-40, there could be a chance that the Golden Knights keep both healthy. If both are healthy, the tandem is good enough to keep VGK in contention.

Kennedy: Yes, both have proven they can carry the load for at least significant stretches. Good to have two of them.

Traikos: On any other team, Hill and Thompson would not be a tandem that gets you in the playoffs. But Vegas isn't any other team. They have a coach who prides himself on playing a defence-first game. Plus, the Golden Knights have a strong enough defence to more than make up for any deficiencies in net.

Delos Santos: If Stone does the unthinkable and plays a full season, there is no doubt he can be a Selke Trophy candidate. Combine that with his chemistry with Chandler Stephenson, he can easily elevate his game to another level and make a run at the Golden Knights single-season record for points. It Is, however, a big if.

Kennedy: The Golden Knights could certainly win the division with 82 games of Stone in the lineup.

Traikos: When healthy, Stone is a Selke Trophy-calibre forward who is capable of 80-90 points. The problem is he hasn't played more than 65 games in a season since 2016-17.

Delos Santos: We saw the prototype of what Eichel can be – a two-way center whose playmaking makes everyone around him better. He’s not Connor McDavid in a sense he’ll put up a bunch of points. He’s a different player than the guy he’s constantly asked about. Instead, I will put this out in the universe, it is more likely that Jack Eichel wins a Selke Trophy than a Hart Trophy, given his newfound comfort in playing on both side of the ice. Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy has found something and unlocked in in Eichel’s game and he makes the leap into top-10 status.

Kennedy: If we get playoff Eichel, then he'd be in the mix for sure.

Traikos: He's not a top-10 player, but he showed glimpses of being one during Vegas' run to the Cup last year, where Eichel led the team with 26 points in 22 games. If Stone can stay healthy — and that's a major big if — and Barbashev can take a step forward in his production, the chances are good that we'll be talking about Eichel as a candidate for the Hart Trophy.

Delos Santos: It will be tough, but they certainly can if things break for them. Health is the first thing during the regular season. If healthy, the depth of the Golden Knights can carry them to a potential Presidents Trophy given how the bottom end of the Pacific is. Then you have the Edmonton Oiler problem. The Oilers are coming in with a chip on their shoulder and are always dangerous. Then there’s the East. While Vegas only has to play one team from the East, the East is so good that it will be a tough go no matter who they play. All these things considered, Vegas can repeat, if the breaks fall their way.

Kennedy: It's certainly possible, but it's such a hard road to repeat and they'll likely have to go through some combination of Edmonton, Colorado or Dallas - so it's not probable.

Traikos: With pretty much the same core returning as last year, there's no reason why Vegas shouldn't be in the conversation as a Cup contender. However, a lot went right last year and it had less to do with the Golden Knights than the other teams in their conference. The fact that Colorado went out in the first round helped Vegas. The same can be said about Edmonton failing to get out of the second round. I don't think both will happen again, which means the competition could be fierce for Vegas to get out of the first two rounds — much less go all the way again.

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