The Vegas Golden Knights entered the league under the guise of an expansion franchise.
It was a cutesy, “golden misfit” group that scratched and clawed its way to the Stanley Cup Final in 2018. It was a fun story, the Golden Knights were easy to root for, a rather popular “second team” for fans looking to track a good story.
And then five years later they won the Stanley Cup, now as the NHL’s evil empire.
The Vegas story is fascinating, because for as much of the expansion draft defined the entry into the league, it’s become one of the most minor footnotes in how the franchise is actually run.
Vegas aggressively manipulates and attacks the salary cap better than any team in NHL history (remember the cap era started in 2005). Every team works to manipulate the cap, it’s a requirement in today’s NHL, but Vegas has both the owner and the management group willing to worry about the present, future be damned.
The Golden Knights also take a ton of heat for their use of long-term injured reserve, specifically with captain Mark Stone, who is currently dealing with a lacerated spleen, and has been on LTIR around this time in each of the prior two seasons.
There will be more online grumbling this spring about Stone, who will likely play in the NHL playoffs. Because of his injury the Golden Knights had the cap space to acquire both Anthony Mantha and Noah Hanifin this week.
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