The Golden Knights’ prospect cupboard is getting thin, and the latest look at the NHL’s best young talent only underscored it.
On September 3, Scott Wheeler released his Top 145 NHL Prospects for The Athletic, and Trevor Connelly was the lone Vegas player to make the cut. Just a few months ago, Pavel Dorofeyev was viewed as the future in town. After his trade to the New York Rangers in June, Connelly now sits at the top of the organization’s prospect list.
Wheeler placed Connelly in his Support tier, one of five buckets he used to sort the list: MVP, Franchise, All-Star, Star and Support. Connelly, taken 19th overall in 2023, is one of only four first-round picks Vegas has made this decade. The others are Juho Piiparinen, David Edstrom, Zach Dean and Brendan Brisson, with Brisson the only one to have appeared in an NHL game.
Piiparinen, the club’s 2026 first-round pick, will spend another season developing with Tappara in Finland after signing his entry-level contract. The rest of Vegas’ recent first-rounders have already been moved out in trades that helped keep the team stocked for another run.
Edstrom went to the San Jose Sharks in the Tomas Hertl deal. Dean was sent to the St.
Louis Blues for Ivan Barbashev. Brisson later landed with the New York Rangers in the trade that brought Riley Smith back to Vegas.
Those moves have paid off in the standings, but they’ve also left Connelly as the franchise’s top prospect by default. After solid seasons in the USHL with the Tri-City Storm, he spent one year at Providence College and saw his scoring dip as a freshman. A brief season there still opened the door to his debut with the Henderson Silver Knights, and over the last two seasons he has put up 15 goals and 53 points in 52 games.
Connelly has also checked the medal box at the international level, helping win Bronze at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, Silver at the U18 WJC and Gold at the U20 WJC. The common thread, though, was his role: he contributed on teams built to win, but in secondary spots.
That is where the bigger question around Vegas comes in. The Golden Knights are built to win now, and they came within two victories of a second Stanley Cup title in four seasons. Like other contenders such as the Florida Panthers and Colorado Avalanche, who had no prospects in Wheeler’s Top 145, they’ve pushed chips toward the present and accepted the cost to the future.
The risk is obvious. When a core ages out - and in Vegas’ case that includes Mitch Marner, Jack Eichel and even Mark Stone - the next wave has to be ready.
If injuries hit the stars, the depth behind them becomes everything. The Panthers learned that last year, when injuries helped send them from back-to-back Stanley Cup champions to the bottom of the Atlantic Division and nobody could step in to cover the holes.
Vegas is betting on a different outcome, and Kelly McCrimmon has clearly chosen that path. It can produce real success. It can also leave a team staring at an empty pipeline when the window starts to close.
In Other News...
Marc Gatcomb Is Giving The Golden Knights A Fourth Line Edge
Through the Golden Knights first three games, Marc Gatcomb has slipped into the sort of role every contender needs but not every player embraces. He has been doing the dirty work as a fourth liner, bringing energy, finishing checks and helping set a tone that shows up long before it ever appears on a scoresheet. He leads the team in hits and has given Vegas a physical edge that fits neatly with the identity the coaching staff wants from the bottom six.
His impact has already shown up in the kind of sequence that can swing momentum without drawing much attention from the box score. Against the Vancouver Canucks, Gatcombs heavy forecheck helped force a turnover and keep play tilted in Vegas favor, another reminder that the fourth line can matter just as much as the stars when the games tighten up. Gatcomb said he takes pride in the lines growing identity and in doing whatever he can to help the team win, a mindset that tends to earn trust quickly in this market. [Read more 🡒]
Golden Knights Face An Early Test They Need To Answer
The Golden Knights opened their 10th NHL season by collecting three of a possible four points over the weekend, capped by a 3-2 win over the Canucks that offered an encouraging start without exactly settling every question. There is already a familiar early-season feel around this group: new pieces are still learning how to fit, especially Mitch Marner and Jack Eichel as they continue building their on-ice chemistry, while William Karlssons recent two-year extension added a bit of stability to the core.
Now comes a week that should tell Vegas plenty about where it stands. The schedule turns quickly with three games against the Kraken, Maple Leafs and Kings, and the margin for error can shrink fast when some players are day-to-day and others are already on the injured list. For a team that expects to be judged on the bigger picture, this stretch is an early test of depth, rhythm and how quickly the lineup can settle in around its most important pieces. [Read more 🡒]
Golden Knights Cannot Afford Another Sloppy Night Against Seattle
The Golden Knights head into their matchup with Seattle knowing the margin for error is thin, especially against a Kraken team that can make a game uncomfortable if Vegas gets loose with the puck. Victor Olofsson and Jack Eichel are both expected to have important roles, and that points to the formula the Knights need most - get their top players involved early, keep the tempo up and force Seattle to play on Vegas terms.
Seattles style has a way of turning ordinary mistakes into long shifts in the defensive zone, which is exactly the kind of trouble Vegas cannot invite again. The Knights have the talent to control this game, but only if they stay clean through the neutral zone, avoid the turnovers that fuel momentum swings and keep the pressure steady from the opening puck drop. [Read more 🡒]