A few weeks into the 2020-21 NHL season and only the Washington Capitals can say they have as many points through seven games as the Vegas Golden Knights.
Las Vegas Golden Knights Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury will share goal duties with Robin Lehner as the Knights look to find the promised land in 2021.
Peter DeBoer’s side have a 5-1-1 record with that sole loss coming against the Arizona Coyotes, which was followed up with a 1-0 victory in the second game of the series.
In their last outing, the Golden Knights were taken to a shootout in which they beat the St Louis Blues after a 4-4 draw.
Whether it’s Marc-Andre Fleury or Robin Lehner between the sticks it doesn’t seem to matter. It doesn’t hurt DeBoer’s side that they are outshooting and outscoring (23-17) their opposition quite substantially either.
It will come as little surprise to any avid hockey fans that VGK are the early favourites to win the Stanley Cup this year, currently at a price of 7/1 over at the likes of bet-wv.com and other sportsbooks.
Fourth Time Lucky?
The Las Vegas franchise are only in their fourth season too, having reached the Stanley Cup finals in their debut campaign of 2017-18, only to lose 1-4 to the Washington Capitals.
They have made the post-season in each of their three campaigns, losing last year’s Western Conference Final to the Dallas Stars (1-4). This year they will be hoping to go all the way.
Defending champions Tampa Bay Lightning would like to have their say in that though, with Vegas books currently giving them a price of 9/1 to retain, whilst the Colorado Avalanche are the second favourites at a price of 8/1.
Salary Cap Concerns
Much has been made of the Golden Knights’ salary cap in recent months, but the situation doesn’t look as worrying now as fans initially feared.
If there were any issues, trading Marc-Andre Fleury and his $7 million salary cap may be an option, given the coaching staff used Robin Lehner during most of last season’s playoff run. The goaltenders are splitting time again this regular season though.
A number of other high salary players have been rumoured to be leaving the T-Mobile Arena in the opening weeks of the season – notable Max Pacioretty and Jonathan Marchessault. Both of those have played a bigger role than Fleury in the opening seven matches – Pacioretty with three goals and an assist in his six matches, and Marchessault with one goal and four assists in his six.
If anything, these performances will only increase each players’ value if VGK are to strike a trade over the coming months.
Despite Nic Hagur or Nick Holden not being able to suit up this term due to the salary cap issues, it’s not stopped an impressive winning start. You could even argue DeBoer has accomplished this despite not being able to field his best lineup yet.
That’s not say General Manager Kelly McCrimmon won’t seek a more permanent solution before 12 April’s trade deadline. In fact, you could say moves are likely. But so far, performances from the current squad on the rink show Vegas have little to worry about in the coming weeks.
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