Vegas Golden Knights are not contenders without their goalies

Vegas’ goaltending tandem of Marc-Andre Fleury and Malcolm Subban have both had poor starts to the season. How will this change the Vegas Golden Knights?

Through the expansion draft, the Vegas Golden Knights were able to build a good team. This team was so good, that they made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals. While a lot of the team’s talent was scraped from underperforming players in various bottom sixes, the Knights would not be the Knights without their goaltenders.

While the Stanley Cup appearance is cool and all, the most amazing thing about the Golden Knights last season, was their unexpected goaltending depth. One by one, they were stripped to the guts of their new organization, forced to plop whatever OHL goalie they could find on the ice.

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When Marc-Andre Fleury wasn’t injured, he was fantastic. He went from a career-low .909 save percentage in 2016-17 with the Penguins to a .927 save percentage with the Knights in 2017-18.

In a move that looked weird when it happened, Calvin Pickard was placed on waivers and eventually traded to Toronto, with Malcolm Subban becoming the backup. Fleury got injured and in he came.

For a goalie with a former career .657 NHL save percentage, Subban was impressive, maintaining a .910 save percentage. And, thus continued the story. He got injured, then Oscar Dansk got injured, which left the glorious Maxime Lagace and Alex Ferguson tandem.

The point is, despite all of these injuries, the Knights never crumbled. Lagace, a career ECHL/low AHLer, somehow held up with a save percentage above .800. If the Knights had any real problems, goaltending wasn’t one. This season, things don’t look as great so far.

Fleury and Subban this season

Fleury is getting older. Now, remember, this has been said before, and he kept on trucking. Penguins fans have heard their share of it, and now it’s the Knights’ turn.

Additionally, it’s still only nine games into the season. The luck factor is still making itself known. However, if this continues, the Knights will be in an odd situation. As hard as it is to get used to, this is a real team, and they made the Stanley Cup Finals last season.

Along with the awing goaltending depth of last season, the Knights were great because, well- their team was great. The careful analysis that went into each and every expansion pick was great. The way they added a successful desert team to the NHL was great. The way they toyed with the rest of the league was great.

Excluding the goaltenders, there’s a reason the Golden Knights got as far as they did. They brought together players who themselves didn’t know how good they were. William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault, Reilly Smith, and Erik Haula – these were all hidden talents, buried within the depths NHL.

This is a good team. This is an inspiring team. This is a Hollywood-esque team; a team that should be making the playoffs. If it can’t happen because of an aging Fleury or a declined Malcolm Subban, it will be a real disappointment.

So far then, it’s been established that the Golden Knights have good offensive and defensive groups, but may lack a goaltender. In that case, in my opinion, the Knights should find a way to trade for a starting goalie in that situation.

It’s weird to think of a recent expansion team as a contender, but that is what Vegas is. If it means giving up some draft picks and a bit of the corps, it shouldn’t matter. People need to get used to the idea of the Stanley Cup contending Vegas Golden Knights. If they’re going to stay there, though, they’re going to need a goalie.