The Vegas Golden Knights keep operating like a team that can have it all right now, and for the most part, that approach has paid off. They’re coming off their second trip to the Stanley Cup Final in the last four seasons, a run that followed their 2023 championship before a loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in June.
But the price of staying in the mix every year has shown up in the one place that usually protects a team’s future: the prospect pipeline. General manager Kelly McCrimmon and his front office have built a reputation for swinging big, and those swings have brought in names like Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner, Noah Hanifin, Rasmus Andersson, Tomas Hertl and Mark Stone.
That aggressive style has made Vegas a magnet for top-end talent. It has also stripped away a lot of draft and prospect capital along the way.
That reality was the focus on Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, where host Tyler Yaremchuk, co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton, and prospect analyst Steven Ellis took a hard look at the Golden Knights’ long-term outlook. Ellis ranked Vegas’ prospect group 31st in the league, and the conversation centered on just how thin the system looks compared with the rest of the NHL.
Tyler Yaremchuk: The team that I kind of look at as maybe even the most concerning, again, not furthest away from winning the Stanley Cup because they’re still really damn good right now, but Vegas being ranked No. 31 with a blue line where Theodore’s 31 now. Who knows how well Rasmus Andersson’s going to age.
Mark Stone is 34 years old. Tomas Hertl’s 32, he’s battled inconsistencies.
If there’s a fan base that I think actually should be concerned about where they’re going to be four, five years from now, I almost look more to Vegas than Dallas just because of the age of the actual roster combined with where you have them.
Steven Ellis didn’t push back on the concern. In his view, the downturn could be severe once it starts, especially because the Knights have so few first-round picks left to keep replenishing the system.
He pointed to Trevor Connelly as one of the brighter pieces in the group, saying he sees him as a top-six player and someone who should get NHL action this year. Beyond that, though, the picture gets murkier.
Steven Ellis: Yeah, I think 100%. This is a team that that fall off, when it eventually happens is going to be brutal.
They only have so many first-round picks. They can’t just continuously trade them away and then continue to do that because they run out of those at a certain point.
Trevor Connelly I think is a top-six player. I think this is a guy that should get into some NHL duty this year and I think should be good, but then you look at a guy like Juho Piiparinen who’s that second-best player in my prospect pool.
I didn’t necessarily love him where he got picked at 29th overall. I thought they were leaving some talent on the board.
I would also like to see them use one of their highest picks on a goalie, because if Carl Lindbom doesn’t really work out, they don’t really have anybody else in the system that you can really get excited about as a future NHL goaltending prospect there, so that’s something where I hope they continue to address that and maybe have a guy that’s the long-term future.
For a team built to win now, the message was clear: the Golden Knights can still look like a contender today, but the foundation underneath them is much thinner than their on-ice success might suggest.
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What has kept that deal in the conversation is how the other side has aged. Suzuki has grown into Montreals captain and top-line center, won the Selke Trophy, and become a central figure in the Canadiens recent success, which naturally keeps the trade under a brighter light whenever Vegas and Montreal are measured against each other. For the Golden Knights, it is one of those transactions that still invites a familiar debate about value, timing and how much a contender is willing to surrender for immediate help. [Read more 🡒]
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Still, the next step is hard to miss: Vegas has to bring that pressure earlier and more consistently in games. The problem was not always a lack of talent or effort, but an approach that could let opponents settle in before the Knights forecheck and pace took over. If they can start imposing that style from the opening shift in 2026-27, the same strengths that showed up in the numbers could turn into a far more dangerous edge. [Read more 🡒]