Vegas Golden Knights:
The Vegas Golden Knights have no players who meet the criteria for this article. They only have three players over the age of 33 and all three of them have won the Stanley Cup before.
Alec Martinez won the Stanley Cup twice with the Los Angeles Kings, scoring some pretty big overtime goals along the way for the Kings. Additionally, Alex Pietrangelo captained the St. Louis Blues to their first Stanley Cup in franchise history back in 2019. The other player to note is 35 year old Phil Kessel who won back to back cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins. In four playoff games this season Kessel has two assists.
The next oldest player in Vegas looking for his first cup would be Jonathan Marchessault, who registered a natural hat trick in game six helping to send the Golden Knights to the Conference Final over the Edmonton Oilers.
First Time Stanley Cup Winning Franchises:
Last season, the Colorado Avalanche won their third Stanley Cup in franchise history, before that, the Tampa Bay Lightning won their second and third Stanley Cups. The league has not had a first time Stanley Cup winning franchise since the 2018-19 season when the Blues won.
This season could see another first time Stanley Cup winning franchise. The Vegas Golden Knights and Florida Panthers have never won the Cup before. Additionally the Dallas Stars and Carolina Hurricanes have only won once before.
Stars will meet Golden Knights in West Finals
This season there is not going to be a repeat Stanley Cup winner, or even the same team in the Stanley Cup Final as was the case the past few years. No matter how the Conference Final goes, there are going to be two deserving teams entering the Stanley Cup Final with a lot of players to root for.