The Golden Knights are heading toward the 2026-27 season with the kind of expectations that leave no room for much margin. They’re still built to chase the top of the Pacific Division and the Western Conference, but not every familiar name is likely to repeat last season’s production.
That’s especially true for three players who could be due for a step back: Adin Hill, Brayden McNabb and captain Mark Stone.
Hill’s case starts with a simple reality: Vegas has already seen how hard it is to keep him in a full-time workload. The goalie has reached more than 35 games only once in his career, and last season he lost his starting job while sharing time with Akira Schmid, Carl Lindblom and Carter Hart. Hart eventually carried the club to the Final after an 11-3-3 regular season.
Hill still has the resume of a goalie who mattered in franchise history, becoming the only one to lead the Golden Knights to a Stanley Cup championship. But 2025-26 was rough.
In 27 games, the $6.5 million netminder posted the worst save percentage and goals-against average of his NHL career. He’s now projected to back up Hart, and a similar 10-9-6 line won’t be enough for a team with championship ambitions.
McNabb is a different kind of concern, but the same basic issue applies: age and mileage. The Original Misfit is entering his 15th NHL season and will turn 36 in January.
He played only 63 games last year, which was enough to limit him to 12 points, his lowest total in five seasons. He did chip in during the playoff run, finishing with 10 points in 21 games and a plus-13 rating, but that extra hockey can start to add up for a player getting closer to 40.
His value has always been more steady than flashy. McNabb has never scored more than five goals in a season, but he has usually provided around 14 assists a year. Last season, he finished at just half that pace and was a plus-2, the second-lowest mark in Vegas threads.
Stone, meanwhile, just delivered his best statistical season in the desert, and that’s exactly why the regression conversation is hanging over him. In 60 games, the captain put up 28 goals, 73 points and a plus-26 rating. He also collected 12 points in 17 playoff games, though he finished at minus-3 during the run to the Final.
The challenge for Stone is that durability has always been part of the conversation. He’s eligible for an extension this season, and at 33, he’ll be looking for one more major payday while hoping to finish his career with Vegas.
But he has scored more than 25 goals only three times, and expecting a repeat of last season’s scoring pace is probably asking a lot. With his point totals climbing over the past three years, the bigger question is whether another long playoff push will come with a cost in 2026-27.
In Other News...
Golden Knights Goaltending Question Just Got Harder To Ignore
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For Vegas, the bigger issue is what comes next at a spot that can tilt everything in a season. The path forward can start with simply staying healthy, but the organization may also have to keep weighing bigger-picture options, including the trade market, if it wants the position to look more stable in future seasons. [Read more 🡒]
Carter Harts Vegas Return Just Reopened A Bigger Hockey Canada Fight
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The tension comes from the way those two realities now coexist. Harts eligibility in the NHL and his standing with Hockey Canada do not tell the same story, and the gap between them has only grown more visible as his career continues. For Vegas, it is another layer to a signing that was never going to be simple, and for Hockey Canada it keeps a larger debate alive about accountability, reinstatement and who gets to wear the crest again. [Read more 🡒]