Robin Lehner just missed the cut, and that alone tells you how strong the Golden Knights have been in net since they entered the league. His 2.61 goals-against average and .910 save percentage were good enough to keep the conversation alive, but not quite enough to crack the top three.
Vegas has been carried by quality goaltending from the start, piling up shutouts and making life miserable for opposing shooters. When you look back at the franchise’s short history, the names at the top are the ones that have already become part of the team’s identity.
At No. 3 is Adin Hill, a pick that might raise eyebrows at first glance. But the 2023 Stanley Cup run changed everything.
Once Laurent Brossoit went down, Vegas needed someone to take over, and Hill stepped into that pressure with a 2.17 GAA, a .932 save percentage and two shutouts. The defense in front of him mattered, with shot blockers like Alex Pietrangelo and Alec Martinez helping the cause, but the Golden Knights don’t win their first Stanley Cup without Hill.
No. 2 is Logan Thompson, who put together a strong run in Vegas before moving on to the Washington Capitals. He finished his Golden Knights stint with a 2.67 GAA and a .912 save percentage, and he also earned an All-Star nod in 2022-23. The ending wasn’t ideal, but his work in Vegas left a real mark.
And at No. 1, there was never much doubt: Marc-Andre Fleury. A Vezina Trophy winner with absurd numbers, Fleury set the bar for everyone who followed. In four seasons with Vegas, he posted a 2.41 GAA, a .917 save percentage and 23 shutouts, making him the most important goaltender in Golden Knights history.
In Other News...
Sharks Just Handed Golden Knights Fans A Reason To Feel Better
San Joses latest move is the kind of deal that makes the rest of the Pacific Division sit up and take notice, even if not for the reasons the Sharks intended. Locking up Macklin Celebrini on a long-term extension gives them a franchise centerpiece, but it also comes with a price tag that immediately changes the way the team has to think about its roster building. For a club trying to climb back into relevance, the commitment is bold. For everyone else in the division, it is a reminder that one of the teams trying to catch up just tied a major piece of its future to a very expensive contract.
For Vegas, the bigger takeaway is less about Celebrini himself and more about the cap landscape around him. The Golden Knights have built their championship model around flexibility and balance, not letting one player consume the kind of space that can squeeze out the rest of the roster. With several Pacific teams still not positioned to challenge that approach on the financial side, Kelly McCrimmon has a little more room to keep shaping the roster the way he wants. The Sharks may have made a splash, but they may also have made life a bit easier for the team they are trying to chase. [Read more 🡒]
Which Original Six Team Has Really Gotten Under Vegas' Skin
The Golden Knights have built a surprisingly layered set of grudges and connections with the NHLs Original Six, and the list goes well beyond the usual playoff flashpoints. Toronto, Montreal, Boston, New York, Chicago and Detroit all bring a different kind of edge, whether it is old postseason history, coaching ties, player movement or the kind of one-time crossover that makes a matchup feel bigger than a regular-season date on the calendar.
Montreal still stands out because it is the only Original Six club Vegas has seen in the playoffs, which gives that matchup a different kind of weight in the franchises short history. The rest of the field is more about proximity and personnel than scars, but that can change fast in the NHL, especially when former faces keep showing up on the other bench and the Golden Knights keep running into familiar names from their own past. [Read more 🡒]