In what has arguably been the most successful expansion journey for any professional sports franchise, the Vegas Golden Knights are Stanley Cup champions.
Tuesday night’s celebratory, 9-3, Cup-sealing romp in Game 5 before a raucous T-Mobile Arena crowd put an emphatic bow on a path that previously seemed unthinkable. For one thing, expansion clubs are supposed to be bad, but Vegas took a fairy tale expansion run to the 2018 Stanley Cup Final and used it as the foundation for becoming champions. Furthermore, the Golden Knights were the first “Big Four” franchise to plant their flag in Las Vegas, a bold move once thought to be taboo that has since inspired the NFL and MLB to follow.
While it certainly hasn’t been smooth sailing all the way along, there is a direct correlation to be drawn between the inaugural Golden Knights and the club that completed the journey six years later. There were the so-called “Original Six” — Jonathan Marchessault, Reilly Smith, William Karlsson, Shea Theodore, Brayden McNabb and Zach Whitecloud — celebrating triumphantly on the ice. Joining them were the likes of Mark Stone, Jack Eichel, Alex Pietrangelo and Alec Martinez, whose additions came as a direct result of that initial success.
In the wake of Vegas’ triumph, here are some of the people who this win is most meaningful to and who will surely be celebrating the most.
The Original Six
By the very nature of the 2017 Expansion Draft, all of the Vegas originals were, to some degree, unwanted when the Golden Knights picked them up. Even Whitecloud, who was not acquired in the draft, came aboard as a college free agent after going un-drafted during his time at Bemidji State University. As such, all had at least somewhat of a chip on their shoulder when they arrived in Nevada.
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Now, they are champions, having all lived through the agonizingly close expansion season and the roller coaster of ups, downs and plenty of changeover in the years since. Moreover, all had a major hand in delivering the Cup.
Smith, who the Florida Panthers rid themselves of when they did not want to pay his hefty contract extension, scored four goals and added 10 assists in the playoffs after re-signing last summer. Karlsson rediscovered some of his scoring magic with an 11-goal, six-assist postseason. Meanwhile, Theodore, McNabb and Whitecloud all logged major minutes for a stalwart blue line that allowed just 2.6 goals per game throughout the playoffs.
Jonathan Marchessault
No, my omission of Marchessault from the previous section was not accidental. By winning the Conn Smythe Award, the 32-year-old warrants his own section.
A long-time fan favorite, Marchessault has spent the past six years rewarding Vegas for negotiating him away from Florida as the cost of taking on Smith’s contract. This postseason, however, was a whole different level. Finding remarkable chemistry with Eichel on the club’s top line, he finished with a team-high 13 goals as part of his 25 points in 22 games. He closed the playoffs on a 10-game point streak.
Marchessault embodies some of the best managerial practices behind the organization’s success, first as an asset acquired through the club’s deft handling of the expansion draft and later as a productive talent that was locked up long-term (Marchessault is signed through next season at a reasonable $5 million annual cap hit). That being said, Conn Smythe winner might have even been beyond then-GM and now-president George McPhee’s wildest expectations for Marchessault upon acquiring him.
The Big Additions
After years of criticism that chasing big name talent left Vegas thin on both young, developmental talent and cap space, it was some of those big additions that led the way.
Stone, one of the club’s first blockbuster acquisitions back in 2019, could not have scripted a better redemption story coming off of two injury-marred nightmare seasons. The team captain has managed just 80 regular-season games over the past two years, but stayed healthy through all 22 playoff games, pouring in 11 goals and 24 points. Stone even delivered a Game 5 hat trick before getting the honor of being the first to hoist the Cup.
Eichel capped off his first-ever foray into the NHL postseason by leading the team with 25 points (13 goals, 12 assists). In doing so, he also answered critics of last year’s blockbuster deal that saw Vegas part ways with Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs and draft picks to bet big on the US-born star who was coming off serious neck surgery.
Even on a team that incurred its share of serious injuries, no one experienced scarier set backs this season that Pietrangelo. The Golden Knights’ marquee free agent signing in 2020 left the club in the middle of the season when his four-year-old daughter, Evelyn, was diagnosed with encephalitis and brain legions, severely limiting her motor skills. Yet, there was Evelyn on the road to recovery and on the ice to celebrate her daddy’s victory in what was a wholesome, emotional scene.
Bruce Cassidy
Vegas’ Cup-clinching Game 5 victory came exactly one day shy of the one-year anniversary of Bruce Cassidy’s hiring as head coach. With no disrespect to predecessor Pete DeBoer, who led the Dallas Stars to a strong season in their own right, it’s hard to know where the club would be without Cassidy.
Rather than come in and change things around, the former Boston Bruins bench boss instead leaned into what the Golden Knights do well. Their defensive calling card, one that hadn’t looked quite so formidable at times last season, was bolstered through a few minor system tweaks while maintaining the same personnel. The forward corps underwent some changes, including the critical decision to move Marchessault up to the top line, but many of those had as much to do with injury returns as with Cassidy’s influence.
The biggest impact that Cassidy had was infusing the team with his calm demeanor, one that expects results. In light of a letdown season, it was easy to forget the capabilities of this talented, veteran-laden club, one that had already competed in 11 playoff series in five years. Cassidy played a key role in Vegas’ journey through the 2023 postseason, helping maintain a steely focus, even in the face of teams like the explosive Edmonton Oilers and the surging Panthers.
The Front Office
Nothing changes a narrative like winning. A year ago at this time, Golden Knights fans weren’t exactly enamored with the front office. Obviously, injuries had played an outsized role in the first playoff miss in franchise history. Even still, there seemed to be larger problems associated with the big money contracts held by aging veterans on a team that appeared headed in the wrong direction with little cap room or future assets to help matters.
In response, McPhee and GM Kelly McCrimmon didn’t waver from the plan. Smith was re-signed and Adin Hill was brought in to offset the loss of Robin Lehner in net. Otherwise, they largely maintained the status quo, opting to run it back with a full season of Eichel and the return of several key players from injury. After all, enough long-term salary cap money remained on the books so as to make a full rebuild challenging and complicated.
By believing in what they had built, McPhee and McCrimmon have now built a Cup champion. And what’s more, the long-term money that once seemed to be a hindrance now means that the core of this championship team should be able to remain largely intact for years to come. The brain trust will need to address the club’s forward depth this summer (Ivan Barbashev and Brett Howden headline a pretty small list of pending free agent forwards) and, most importantly, determine a course of action between the pipes. Still, they’ve built a team that appears primed to mount a formidable Cup defense next season.
First, though, the organization has earned the right to celebrate the fulfillment of a prophecy made by owner Bill Foley, who eerily projected a Stanley Cup victory in six years before the franchise was even officially awarded. Turns out hockey in Las Vegas has worked out pretty well.
