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Are Vegas Golden Knights cementing Stanley Cup repeat after Noah Hanifin and Anthony Mantha trades?
The Vegas Golden Knights are the defending Stanley Cup champions and are just a little over a month away from officially beginning their title defense when the playoffs start. Right now, the Golden Knights are on pace to face the Edmonton Oilers in the first round, a team they beat en route to the title last season.
This year, the Oilers are not going to be a pushover. They have one of the league's best records since firing coach Jay Woodcroft in November and hiring Kris Knoblauch, Connor McDavid's former junior coach.
Considering Edmonton has yet to reach the Stanley Cup Final with McDavid, who is now 27, the clock is ticking for the team to win a championship with the game's best player. They are also stocking up on new players, acquiring Adam Henrique, Sam Carrick, Ty Taylor and Troy Stecher to help them through the grueling Western Conference playoffs.
However, the Golden Knights have faced adversity all season, playing long stretches with Adin Hill and Jack Eichel. They will play the remainder of the season without captain Mark Stone, Brett Howden, William Carrier, Pavel Dorofeyev and Alec Martinez.
In the days before the NHL trade deadline on March 8, Vegas didn't wait until the last minute to get good players. On Tuesday, the club acquired Anthony Mantha and secured the services of the top defenseman available, Noah Hanifin.
Instead of waiting for reinforcements, the defending champions were proactive and boosted their lineup to repeat as champions. So, the question is, are these latest additions enough to keep the Golden Knights at the top of the NHL mountain?
Vegas Golden Knights face a long road ahead to repeat as Stanley Cup champions
Dynasties are a thing of the past, rarely achieved in the salary cap world of professional hockey. The Pittsburgh Penguins won back-to-back titles in 1991 and 1992, followed by the Detroit Red Wings in 1997 and 1998.
Then, no team would repeat for almost 20 years when the Penguins did it in 2016 and 2017, becoming the first team in a post-lockout world to do it.
The Tampa Bay Lightning then threw convention out the window, not only winning in the bubble in 2020 but repeating in 2021 and defending their titles until the end, losing in the 2022 Final. Just four years removed from being the top team, the Lightning are now a wild-card team, facing a daunting challenge if they want to return to the winner's circle.
Meanwhile, the Golden Knights came into existence in 2018 and instantly became a powerhouse. They lost in the Stanley Cup Final their first season but have remained one of the top teams in the NHL since then, winning it all in 2023.
Thanks to a lineup anchored by Stone, Eichel, Hill, Shea Theodore, Jonathan Marchessault and William Karlsson, Vegas has ranked amongst the top ten teams in the NHL all season. But, as mentioned, the Golden Knights have had losing streaks, battled through injuries and overcame bad bounces to maintain a 33-22-7 record after 62 games.
Considering the gaping holes in their lineup, the Golden Knights acted quickly, acquiring Mantha from the Washington Capitals, who was desperate for a change of scenery to reignite his career. A former 25-goal scorer, he's reached 20 for the third time in his career, and with elite players around him in Vegas, he has a chance to resurrect his career.
According to lineup projections, Mantha is slated to be on the second line with Karlsson and Chandler Stephenson. The pair have 81 points this year and should help their new linemate adjust to a new system under coach Bruce Cassidy.
Hanifin comes to Sin City from the Calgary Flames, where he scored 35 points in 61 games, including 11 goals and 24 assists. He is now the Golden Knights' highest-scoring defenseman, leapfrogging Alex Pietrangelo (29 points) and Theodore (28 points).
He will be on the top with Pietrangelo, forming a lethal duo for opposing teams. Interestingly, the newest addition to the lineup has extensive knowledge of the Oilers, having played in the Battle of Alberta for six years. He has 16 points in 31 games against Edmonton in his career.
Overall, the Golden Knights enhanced their chances of repeating as Stanley Cup champions, reinforcing their lineup in the short term while waiting for all the walking wounded to return.
Once stars like Stone, Howden and Martinez return, the lineup will be even better from top to bottom. Even if these players don't come back at 100%, management has done enough to find them supporting pieces to offset any downturn in production they may have.
According to odds at Moneypuck, Vegas has a 69.9% chance of making the playoffs and just a 1% chance of repeating as Stanley Cup champions, the second-lowest percentage of any team in the playoffs today. As mentioned, it won't be easy, but this team has shown resiliency in the past, achieving the unimaginable less than a year ago.
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