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Vegas Golden Knights playoff picture: How does a 3-1 loss to #1 Canucks affect 2023 Stanley Cup champions' postseason chances?
The Vegas Golden Knights are in trouble. Not only are they dealing with significant injuries, they are struggling to win games.
As they continue to drop in the Western Conference standings, reinforcements are on the way through acquisitions at the NHL trade deadline, but it might not be enough to repeat.
Despite the 4-8-1 record over the past month, the defending Stanley Cup champions will at least qualify for the postseason unless the bottom falls out entirely and they collapse in the final 18 games.
How the Golden Knights' title defense started, and how it's going?
Vegas opened the 2023-24 season by going 11-0-1, then hit a rough patch, going 3-5-3, before compiling a 7-1-1 streak.
Right before Christmas, the Golden Knights suffered through their first-four-game losing streak, running an 8-9-1 record into the All-Star break.
Since returning to action in the first week of February, they are 4-8-1, losing the last four, including 3-1 on a Thursday night game against the Pacific Division-leading Vancouver Canucks. In their last eight games, they are 1-6-1 and have been outscored 39-25.
The Golden Knights are missing Mark Stone, Alec Martinez, Brett Howden, William Carrier and Pavel Dorofeyev.
However, their absence is not an excuse for their poor play, especially with superstars like Jack Eichel, Jonathan Marchessault and Alex Pietrangelo still in the lineup.
Additionally, they have Adin Hill in the net, who was the favorite to win the Vezina Trophy in the first half of the season.
Through the first 19 games, he was 14-2-2 with a .937 save percentage (SV%) and a .178 goals-against average (GAA). In the last eight games, Hill is 1-6-0 with a .881 SV% and 3.62 GAA.
Vegas replenishes depleted lineup with top players for Stanley Cup defense
Leading up to the NHL trade deadline, Golden Knights' general manager Kelly McCrimmon acquired Anthony Mantha from the Washington Capitals, Noah Hanifin from the Calgary Flames and Tomas Hertl from the San Jose Sharks.
On paper, none of these new players will be able to replace Stone's leadership or Martinez's contributions, but they are a small band-aid on a pulsating wound that's hemorrhaging blood.
Hertl may not even play during the regular season, while Stone is on the shelf for an undetermined time. Hanifin was the best defenseman available on the market, while Mantha was a 20-goal scorer who desperately needed a change of scenery.
Considering that the Golden Knights love to call themselves "misfits," it's only fitting that these three new players are being outcasted from their former teams. That could be the solution to a problem that has plagued the reigning champions for months.
Initially, Vegas was a top team that clung to the second seed in the Pacific Division for most of the season. Not only did they tumble out of the divisional race, but they are now clinging to the second wildcard seed in the Western Conference.
Ideally, it's not the place to be this late in the season. Thankfully, they have a six-point lead over the Calgary Flames, Seattle Kraken and St. Louis Blues, who all have 67 points.
However, two of those three teams have one game in hand over the Golden Knights, which makes things more difficult. Of the 18 games that Vegas has left, eight are against playoff opponents, while the other 10 are against teams below them in the standings.
Interestingly, they have matchups against the Flames and Blues, which could be worth more than two points.
Their final two games are against the Chicago Blackhawks and Anaheim Ducks, two of the NHL's lowest-ranked teams.
Eventually. the defending champions' season could come down to two contests, which would be challenging for them.
No wildcard team has won the Stanley Cup, making the Golden Knights' quest to repeat as champions much more daunting.
Only the 2017 Nashville Predators qualified for the Stanley Cup Final as a wildcard, giving Vegas some hope of achieving their dreams.
As of Friday, Moneypuck projects Vegas to have 59.9% of making the playoffs and just a 1% chance of winning the Stanley Cup, which ranks last and second to last amongst the 16 teams in playoff positions.
Even though the team improved at the NHL trade deadline, it might not be enough to help the Golden Knights defy the odds and repeat as champions.
However, despite all the adversity and setbacks, they are almost a lock to make the postseason, even if they face an Everest-like climb back up the mountain.
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