The Vegas Golden Knights are the Stanley Cup Champions. It has been an incredible run for them during their time as a franchise which isn’t really that long at all.
In year one, they made it all the way to the Final which was incredible. They lost to the Washington Capitals in five games but it felt like a team that was always going to thrive.
They then finally got back in 2023 and didn’t fail this time. They defeated the red-hot Florida Panthers to get the job done. It was incredible to watch.
Coming into 2023-24, they want to repeat. They put themselves into position each year by making smart roster moves so nobody thinks they won’t be in the mix. However, they won’t repeat for this reason:
1. The West Teams
The Western Conference teams are getting hard for the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Vegas Golden Knights managed to get through the Western Conference in the playoffs last year. That was an incredible accomplishment that they should be proud of.
The West isn’t as strong as the East in terms of depth but the top teams in the conference are incredible. The four or five best teams in the West are just as good as the four or five best teams in the East.
Just because the West doesn’t really have an 8th seed going to the Final for a while doesn’t mean it is a bad conference at the peak of the playoffs.
Vegas is going to have to battle that this year. The Edmonton Oilers, Dallas Stars, Colorado Avalanche, and Los Angeles Kings all pose a tremendous threat. The odds of Vegas escaping again are low.
Even if they somehow did again, it would be more grueling and then they’d have to face the East winner which won’t be easy either. Doing that twice in a row is very hard.