Vegas Golden Knights

Pacific Division, Western Conference · 21 reports in the 2025-26 edition.

This is the 2025-26 edition — an archived read, written from that season alone. Read the 2026-27 club page →

The club

2024-25 · 82 games · 236 for, 213 against

How it played

Shot attempts share, five-on-five: 51.2% 8th of 32
Expected goals share, five-on-five: 53.5% 5th of 32
Power play expected goals per sixty: 8.73 2nd of 32
Penalty kill expected goals allowed per sixty: 5.95 1st of 32

Where the record lies

Finishing goals scored above what the chances were worth: +1.8 15th of 32
Goaltending goals prevented beyond what the chances allowed were worth: +3.2 15th of 32

Vegas Golden Knights finished close to the chances underneath them at both ends. The record is roughly what the play deserved.

Roster shape

Points-weighted, so these are the ages and origins of the production rather than of the sweaters.

Average age: 29.3; weighted by points
From 33 and up: 7.8%; of skater points
From under 26: 9.6%; of skater points
Homegrown: 8.1%; drafted by this club
Continuity: 63.6%; of last season's five-on-five minutes

The read

the numbers, and the eye

Sixth in goals for and third in goals against with league-average finishing and league-average goaltending — the one club in this edition whose results and its process agree almost exactly.

Who this names 13 of 21 on the roster · 66% of their five-on-five minutes details

Both columns above are searched, and a name counts on the same terms the page links it: in full always, by surname only when one man in the edition wears it. Nothing here says who ought to be named — only who was, so the weighting can be seen rather than guessed at.

Not named here: Ivan Barbashev, Pavel Dorofeyev, Noah Hanifin, Adin Hill, Alexander Holtz, Brett Howden, Akira Schmid, Shea Theodore.

What the Quant Says

110 points, 50-22-10, a Pacific Division title, a six-game win over Minnesota and a five-game loss to Edmonton.

The club was 3rd in the league in goals for and 3rd in goals against. Its finishing at five-on-five was 15th and its goaltending was 15th. Both of those are dead average, and the club still finished third at both ends, because it was 5th in the league at creating chances at even strength and 10th at suppressing them.

That is the whole chapter and it is worth stating plainly, because almost nothing else in this edition works out that way. Most of the clubs in this book are arguing with their own numbers — a process that says one thing and a goals column that says another, with a goaltender or a shooting percentage in between. Vegas got precisely what it earned at both ends of the ice, and what it earned was third.

The second structural fact is discipline. The club spent less time shorthanded than any club in the league and had fewer power-play minutes than any club in the league, and it had the 4th-best kill and the 4th-best power play by rate. It does not foul and it does not draw fouls; it plays five-on-five, and it is very good at five-on-five.

Then it spent the summer acquiring a hundred-point winger. Mitch Marner arrived from Toronto in a sign-and-trade for Nicolas Roy — 102 points and 75 assists, on the club that already had Eichel's 66. Nicolas Hague was traded to Nashville for Jeremy Lauzon and Colton Sissons, Brandon Saad was added, Reilly Smith came back at the deadline, and Alex Pietrangelo did not play at all last season.

Alex Pietrangelo's absence is the one genuine question. He played no games and the blue line still finished 10th at suppressing chances, which says the depth held. Whether it holds for a second season behind McNabb at 34 and a third pair of Whitecloud, Korczak and Lauzon is the thing to watch.

This is a 110-point club that added a hundred-point player and lost a top-four defenceman it had already learned to play without.

What the Scout Says

The best-skating centre in the league, the second-best passer in it, and a roster that takes fewer penalties than anybody.

Jack Eichel crosses the blue line at a speed that forces a defenceman to give ground, and he took 8 penalty minutes in 77 games at twenty and a half minutes a night. Mitch Marner holds the puck on the half wall until a killing box commits and then puts it through the seam, and he took 14 in 81.

Mark Stone is among the very best stick-checkers in the league and wins pucks by taking them rather than by hitting anybody. William Karlsson took 4 penalty minutes in 53 games.

The weight is on the blue line. Brayden McNabb is 6-4 and 215 and among the heaviest hitters in the league, Jeremy Lauzon is 6-3 and 225 with 353 penalty minutes in 316 career games, and Tomas Hertl is 6-3 and 220 and very difficult to move out of a crease.

And there is exactly one agitator. Keegan Kolesar hits everything and took 53 penalty minutes, which on this roster is essentially the entire supply.

Who this names 7 of 13 forwards · 60% of their five-on-five minutes details

Not named here: Alexander Holtz, William Karlsson, Keegan Kolesar, Brandon Saad, Colton Sissons, Reilly Smith.

What the Quant Says

275 goals, 6th in the league, and 5th at creating chances at even strength at 2.716 expected goals per 60. Those two numbers belong to the same hockey team, which is rarer than it sounds.

At five-on-five the club scored 178 goals against an expectation of 176.2 — a finishing surplus of 1.8 goals, 15th in the league. Third in scoring with dead-average finishing means the chances were real.

Jack Eichel had 94 points with 66 assists, Pavel Dorofeyev scored 35 goals on 254 shots at 24, Tomas Hertl 32 with 14 of them a man up, Mark Stone 67 points in 66 games and Ivan Barbashev 23 goals on 111 shots. Shea Theodore threw 50 assists in 67 games from the blue line.

The shot locations are the reason. Hertl takes 57 per cent of his attempts from inside 20 feet, Stone 53 and Barbashev 48, and Barbashev converted 20.7 per cent, Hertl 18.1 and Brett Howden 18.4.

What the Scout Says

Two of the best distributors in hockey, and three men who shoot from the paint.

Jack Eichel carries the puck into the zone and gives it up a beat after the defence has committed to him, which is the hardest pass in the sport to defend, and it produced 66 assists. Mitch Marner throws pucks into space a full second before a teammate reaches it and produced 75 in Toronto.

The finishing is close-range and deliberate. Tomas Hertl shoots from a median of 17 feet with 57 per cent of his attempts inside 20 and converted 18.1 per cent. Ivan Barbashev takes 48 per cent from inside 20 and converted 20.7. Brett Howden takes 48 per cent inside 20 and converted 18.4.

Pavel Dorofeyev is the volume — 254 shots, more than anybody here, at a median of 26 feet with 35 per cent from inside 20, for 35 goals at 24.

Mark Stone takes 53 per cent of his attempts from inside 20 and 12 per cent from beyond 40, one of the least perimeter profiles in this edition, and threw 48 assists in 66 games.

Who this names 6 of 6 defencemen · 100% of their five-on-five minutes details

What the Quant Says

219 goals against, 3rd in the league, and 10th in even-strength expected goals against at 2.384 per 60.

At five-on-five the club conceded 150 goals against an expectation of 153.2, which is three fewer than the chances predicted — again, results and process saying the same thing.

Brayden McNabb was plus-42 in 82 games, the second-best figure in the league, and his ice took 54.9 per cent of the chances. Noah Hanifin played the most five-on-five minutes on the roster at the 93rd percentile of chances and took 14 penalty minutes in 80 games. Shea Theodore was plus-18 and Zach Whitecloud took the 84th percentile.

There is no weak pairing. Kaedan Korczak took 54.2 per cent of the chances in 40 games on 2 penalty minutes, which is the third pair, and it is the third-best chance share on the blue line.

What the Scout Says

Two puck-movers, a pair of very heavy bodies, and the second-best plus-minus in the league.

Shea Theodore walks the line, holds the puck until a defender commits, and carries it out of his own zone rather than passing it out — 50 assists in 67 games, which is among the best rates at the position. He is 6-2 and 197 and does not clear his crease.

Noah Hanifin escapes a forecheck by turning away from it and is quick enough backwards to recover when the first read is wrong, and he took the 93rd percentile of chances across more minutes than anybody on the roster.

Brayden McNabb clears the front of his own net by force and finishes checks that hurt, and he does not shoot — 33 goals in 822 career games, with 78 per cent of his attempts from beyond 40 feet. He was plus-42.

Zach Whitecloud is undrafted out of Bemidji State with 321 NHL games and a Stanley Cup. Kaedan Korczak took 2 penalty minutes in 40 games, and Jeremy Lauzon is 225 pounds and answers everything.

Who this names 2 of 2 goaltenders details

What the Quant Says

The club's goaltending came in 3.2 goals better than the chances faced, 15th in the league — exactly average, behind the 10th-best chance suppression in hockey.

Adin Hill went 32-13-5 with a .9064, a 2.47 average and 4 shutouts in 50 games, facing 1,293 shots. It is a solid season and it is not the reason this club won 110 points.

Akira Schmid played 5 games and went 2-0-1 with a .9444. Ninety shots is not evidence of anything.

Ilya Samsonov played 29 games and is off the roster, which leaves a 25-year-old with 48 career games as the backup on a club with genuine Stanley Cup ambitions. That is the one place this roster is thin.

What the Scout Says

Six-foot-four and six-foot-five, both of them deep, and 48 career games between the crease and a problem.

Adin Hill is 6-4 and 222 and plays deep and large. He sets at the top of the crease, he is square almost without exception, and the rebound control is good for a goaltender built this way, which is the thing that usually goes wrong at that size. The lateral recovery is the cost and it is a real one.

He took over a Stanley Cup run in 2023 after two goaltenders ahead of him were hurt and went 11-4 with a .932. Nothing before that had suggested he could and nothing since has taken it away. He has never played more than 50 games in a season.

Akira Schmid is 6-5 and 190 and plays deep and enormous, and at that height and weight there is not much left over for moving quickly. The lateral recovery is the limitation and it always has been. He started a playoff series for New Jersey at 22 and won it.

Forty-eight career games behind a 110-point club is the thinnest spot on this roster.

Who this names 10 men details

The data does not say who takes these minutes, so there is no denominator to hold this against — a count of names is all it can honestly be. Both columns above are searched, and a name counts on the same terms the page links it.

What the Quant Says

4th in the league at 6.506 expected goals against per 60, over 3:52 a game — the least shorthanded time of any club in hockey. Best of both, which is the rarest combination on this page.

The discipline is the whole explanation and it runs the length of the roster. Jack Eichel took 8 penalty minutes in 77 games, William Karlsson 4 in 53, Brandon Saad 6 in 72, Ivan Barbashev 10 in 70, Mitch Marner 14 in 81, Noah Hanifin 14 in 80 and Kaedan Korczak 2 in 40.

Karlsson scored 2 shorthanded goals and Reilly Smith 2, and Brayden McNabb added a third. McNabb took 32 penalty minutes in 82 games at twenty minutes a night, which for a defenceman who hits the way he does is a remarkable rate.

Keegan Kolesar's 53 penalty minutes are the most on the club and would be a middling total anywhere else.

What the Scout Says

The most disciplined roster in the league, killing the fewest minutes in the league, at the fourth-best rate in the league.

William Karlsson took 4 penalty minutes in 53 games, wins the draw that begins the shift, and defends with his stick rather than with contact. Mitch Marner is among the better stick-checking forwards in the league and takes the puck rather than the man. Colton Sissons was acquired in the summer and has been a first-unit killer for a decade.

Reilly Smith scored 2 shorthanded goals and Karlsson 2, which says the reads a man short are genuinely good rather than merely safe.

On the blue line it is McNabb, who clears the crease by force on 32 penalty minutes in 82 games, and Hanifin, who closes gaps early and takes the puck with his stick before contact becomes necessary on 14 in 80.

A kill is a discipline statistic before it is a structure statistic, and this is the most disciplined club in the book.

The roster

Evidence 0 Full 19 Light 2 No record

No measured season behind two of them: Adin Hill and Akira Schmid. Their pages carry an older stat line and a judgment, and nothing from 2024-25.

Ivan Barbashev

LW · Vegas Golden Knights

Twenty-three goals on 111 shots — a 20.7 per cent conversion — and a plus-26.

Pavel Dorofeyev

RW · Vegas Golden Knights

35 goals on 254 shots at 24, and the 96th percentile of chances.

Jack Eichel

C · Vegas Golden Knights

94 points, 66 assists, a plus-32, and 8 penalty minutes in 77 games.

Noah Hanifin

D · Vegas Golden Knights

The 93rd percentile of chances at 21:33 a night, and 14 penalty minutes in 80 games.

Tomas Hertl

C · Vegas Golden Knights

Fifty-seven per cent of his shot attempts from inside 20 feet, 32 goals, and fourteen of them a man up.

Adin Hill

G · Vegas Golden Knights

32 wins and a .9064 in 50 games, two years after a Conn Smythe-calibre playoff run.

Alexander Holtz

RW · Vegas Golden Knights

Twelve points in 53 games, four years after being taken seventh overall.

Brett Howden

C · Vegas Golden Knights

23 goals on 125 shots at an 18.4 per cent conversion, from a fourth-line centre.

William Karlsson

C · Vegas Golden Knights

The 95th percentile of chances from a defensive centre, and 4 penalty minutes in 53 games.

Keegan Kolesar

RW · Vegas Golden Knights

Fifty-three penalty minutes — the most on the club — and the ice he was on outscored its expectation by eight.

Kaedan Korczak

D · Vegas Golden Knights

No goals in 40 games, a plus-15, and 2 penalty minutes all season.

Jeremy Lauzon

D · Vegas Golden Knights

Three hundred and fifty-three penalty minutes in 316 games, and 28 of the games last season.

Mitch Marner

RW · Vegas Golden Knights

102 points and 75 assists in Toronto, and the largest thing any club acquired in the summer.

Brayden McNabb

D · Vegas Golden Knights

Plus-42 in 82 games at 34, second only to one man in the league.

Brandon Saad

LW · Vegas Golden Knights

Two Stanley Cups, 935 games, and 30 points across two clubs at 32.

Akira Schmid

G · Vegas Golden Knights

Six-foot-five, a .9444 in five games, and the first Swiss goaltender to hold an NHL job in a decade.

Colton Sissons

C · Vegas Golden Knights

Eleven seasons, 690 games, and a fourth-line centre who came in the Nicolas Hague trade.

Reilly Smith

RW · Vegas Golden Knights

Forty points across the Rangers and Vegas, and a return to the club he won a Cup with.

Mark Stone

RW · Vegas Golden Knights

Fifty-three per cent of his shot attempts from inside 20 feet, 67 points in 66 games, and a captain who has won everything and been available for none of it.

Shea Theodore

D · Vegas Golden Knights

Fifty assists in 67 games from the blue line, and the most productive defenceman this franchise has had.

Zach Whitecloud

D · Vegas Golden Knights

Undrafted, the 84th percentile of chances, and the first Indigenous player from Manitoba to win a Stanley Cup.

How they were used

2024-25 · 79 games

Measured from shift charts at five-on-five, not projected. Units are built from the strongest partnership outward and ordered by how much they were used; the percentage is the share of the first player’s five-on-five ice time spent alongside each linemate. A low number means the club never settled on a combination. Players who have gone are marked — either to another club, or off an NHL roster altogether, which covers retirement and an unsigned summer alike.