The leaves are changing, there’s a nip to the air, and pumpkin spiced lattes are out in full force. All those things, and a back-to-school Target special, signal that hockey is just a stone’s throw away.
Admittedly, no temperature or aesthetic changes are happening in Las Vegas– palm trees’ leaves don’t change colors, and it’s still 93℉ and sunny. Nevertheless, the start of the 2026-27 season is right around the corner, and after a long summer, the Vegas Golden Knights are preparing to head to Training Camp.
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Of course, the Golden Knights had a shorter summer than most, as their 2025-26 season didn’t end until June 14th, when they had to stand and watch as the Carolina Hurricanes were awarded the Stanley Cup. I imagine that, as the runners-up, the Golden Knights’ offseason felt impossibly long.
But finally, at long last, it’s Training Camp Eve, and the Golden Knights are just one sleep away from their revenge tour. Tomorrow, they’ll embark on their quest for redemption. Tomorrow, they’ll be given the opportunity to attempt to right all their wrongs, to write themselves a new story in which they emerge victorious.
Tomorrow, all the questions will be answered. But for tonight, here are the three biggest questions heading into training camp.
1. Who Will Become the Golden Knights’ New Goalscorer?
Turnover is inevitable in hockey, but the Golden Knights did their best to keep the band together. As it stands, their roster is almost identical to the one that fell just two wins short of the Stanley Cup.
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Almost identical. Almost.
When the Golden Knights take the ice on September 29th, they’ll do so without a former mainstay in their lineup: Pavel Dorofeyev. General Manager Kelly McCrimmon is never afraid to make difficult decisions, and he hammered that point home when he traded Dorofeyev, a sharpshooter who led the team in goals for the past two years, to the New York Rangers at the NHL Entry Draft. This year, they’ll have to look elsewhere for a late tying goal or game-winner.
But where will they look? The Golden Knights are a team that does things by committee and takes pride in their depth scoring, but 35-goalscorers don’t just grow on trees. They’ll likely need one of their two superstars to step up and prioritize shooting the puck. They’ll also probably need a healthy season from William Karlsson and a bounce-back season from Tomáš Hertl.
2. Can the Golden Knights Replicate their Elite Power Play?
Looking back, the Golden Knights’ 2025-26 season was like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde– it was the tale of two seasons.
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They entered the playoffs on shaky ground, but most of their regular season failures were overshadowed by their postseason success. For three rounds, the Golden Knights would not be denied. They cut through the Utah Mammoth, shot down the Anaheim Ducks, and militaristically dismantled the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche.
Essentially, the Golden Knights’ postseason was nothing like their regular season. In the regular season, they were a fragile team. They rarely scored first and, as a result, spent a concerning amount of time trailing in games. Their defensive woes resulted in an inability to keep the puck out of the net and an occasionally devastating struggle to stop the bleeding.
Honestly, for most of the season, the Golden Knights had just one saving grace: an utterly lethal power play. And, boy, was it ever magnificent. That power play helped Mark Stone enjoy a career year at age 34. The Golden Knights trotted out a five-forward unit with Mark Stone at the goal line, Jack Eichel at the half wall, Hertl in the bumper, Pavel Dorofeyev as the one-time option, and Mitch Marner as the quarterback.
Now, Pavel Dorofeyev is gone, and the Golden Knights will need to find a way to replace his team-leading 20 power-play goals.
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3. Which Goaltender Will Take Control of the Net?
While some teams are desperately searching for a starting goaltender, the Golden Knights have the opposite problem. Both netminders will be looking for redemption, but both Carter Hart and Adin Hill are more than capable of shouldering a starter’s load.
Carter Hart struggled during the regular season, but thrived under latecomer head coach John Tortorella and looked unbeatable until the Stanley Cup Final. Then, he came back down to earth, setting records for all the wrong reasons while showing signs of fatigue. Hart is one of the biggest reasons that the Golden Knights swept the Avalanche, and he’ll look to regain that form and prove to new head coach Ryan Craig that he’s the right man for the starting job.
Adin Hill, who backstopped the Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup in 2023, is coming off of a season he’d like to forget. He fell victim to the injury bug, started just 27 games, and posted a career-worst .871 average save percentage. He lost the net to Hart when Tortorella took over for Bruce Cassidy, but with a new head coach behind the bench, Hill has the chance to reestablish himself as the starter.
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A new CBA kicks in this year, and the regular season grows from 82 to 84 regular games. Both netminders will get their chance to make their case for the starting role, and only time will tell who will win the job.
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