Inaugural Season Predictions

[Bart9349]

Always fun to see in retrospect what some people thought at the beginning of the season.

Inaugural season predictions:

Crystal ball: 20 predictions for the Vegas Golden Knights’ inaugural season

Mostly wrong. Some very, very wrong.

Season leader, assists: Vadim Shipachyov
(34) The 30-year-old Russian has yet to play in the NHL, but he’s been a phenomenal playmaker in Russia for the past seven years. Shipachyov had 97 points last season with SKA St. Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League, including 65 assists. Playing as the first-line center man for the Knights with Reilly Smith and Jonathan Marchessault on his sides should give to plenty of assist opportunities.

Vegas Golden Knights: 2017 Season Preview, Predictions

Prediction
The Golden Knights will not be the worst team in the NHL. Heck, they might well not be the worst team in the Pacific Division. The battle for that undesired accolade will feature the Golden Knights and the Vancouver Canucks. They’re roughly equal in most areas, with the Canucks having an edge in forwards and the Knights having an advantage as far as defense.

However, Vegas has a far more stable goaltending situation than Vancouver, who is stuck with two backup goalies and no true starting goalie. This season won’t be about winning for the Golden Knights, though. And because Vegas will likely trade guys, they still might be worse than the Canucks by the end of the season.

Quite a few predictions to assess:

Home opener: 80 predictions for the Golden Knights' inaugural season

9. Final record: 29-40-13 (71 points)
The over-under for the Golden Knights’ win total was 26.5. They are already more than seven percent of the way there, and I think they go over due to an early-season surge riding the momentum of the new franchise.

Click to read more...

 

[Nevada Jones]

I've been surprised, pleasantly, by the VGK performance so far. And I think many folks have been downright shocked.

Some are probably waiting for an inevitable regression to the mean, and it may yet happen, but I think at season's end when we look back at how things went the conclusion will be that it was a very successful first season overall.

 

[Dirty Old Man]

Crystal ball: 20 predictions for the Vegas Golden Knights’ inaugural season

Mostly wrong. Some very, very wrong.

Longest concession line: Shake Shack? Gift shop. Jeezey Pete, I went up there for the Blues game, spent both intermissions waiting in the makeshift gift shop lines, and gave up both times. Had to get my traditional souvenir puck elsewhere, as in at a different arena.

 

[Vegas Mac]

Yeah I expected Shippy to adjust and post up some good stats. And the Knights to give up a load of quality chances and thus goals because I didn't think their blueline had enough quality. This team has exceeded my expectations and that's a great thing. Couldn't be happier with their inaugural season.