Chris Gawlik’s New VGK Weekly Update - 7/6/2020 - Short Season Recap / Round Robin Outlook

New VGK Weekly Update – 7/6/2020 – Short Season Recap / Round Robin Outlook

www.FranchiseSportsMedia.com

The 2019-2020 campaign has been an interesting one. Understatement of the year.

It seemed as if the team would be motivated and hungry after a significantly longer offseason than the previous year.  VGK’s record after forty-nine games was less than stellar, and the team was on the bubble for the postseason. A coaching change later sprinkled with some savvy acquisitions, and VGK was crowned Pacific Division Champions after a COVID shortened season.

The Knights were one of the hottest teams on the ice just before the stoppage. However, Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty sustained injuries that would have forced them to miss most or all the remainder of the regular season. The Edmonton Oilers trailed VGK by three points when the season stopped.  It was far from a lock that the Knights would have held on to claim their second Pacific Division Championship in three seasons.

Next up for VGK is three games against the Dallas Stars, St. Louis Blues, and Colorado Avalanche in a mystery hub city that is now rumored to be Toronto or Edmonton.  The results of those games will determine their seed entering the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.  VGK is currently in third place in the Western Conference.  To advance their seed, The Knights will have to score one point or more than the St. Louis Blues and Colorado Avalanche.  If VGK and Dallas tie for round-robin points, VGK will draw the higher seed based on having more regular-season points.

When the Stanley Cup Playoffs start the teams surviving the play-in round will be matched up with the four teams from their respective conference by seed.

The top seed will play the lowest remaining seed for the first two rounds.  For example, if the Golden Knights were to go 3-0 in the round-robin games and the #12 Chicago Blackhawks upset the #5 Edmonton Oilers – VGK would be matched up with the Blackhawks in the first round.  If VGK has a poor showing in the round-robin games, then they could be matched up with the Oilers or Nashville Predators in the first round.

Of the teams VGK will face in the round-robin rounds, they have seen the St. Louis Blues the most.  The Blues defeated The Knights once in regulation, and VGK defeated the Blues twice in overtime. VGK split their road battles with the Dallas Stars in their two matchups.  Outscoring VGK by a margin of thirteen to four this season, the Colorado Avalanche have had no trouble playing in T-Mobile Arena this season.  The round-robin games against the Blues, Stars, and Avalanche will be extremely close with plenty of action taking place between and after the whistles.

NHL News and Notes

• Just recently, the NHL held their annual draft lottery. The team with the first pick in the 2020 NHL Draft is…UNKNOWN!  One of the teams eliminated in the play-in round will receive the first pick.  It seems logical, right?
• The NHL’s thirty-second franchise, The Seattle (insert team name here), will begin play in the 2021-22 season. Why does that matter now?  The NHL salary cap is expected to freeze at ~$81.5M for the next two years.  That will make roster creating in the offseason much more difficult.  Even more challenging for each franchise will be deciding which players to expose in the expansion draft.  Look for Seattle to have a competitive team right out of the gate.  Any chance VGK and Seattle square off for the Western Conference Finals in 2022? Seems impossible, right? In Vegas, we have lived the impossible…

vgk weekly update    vgk weekly update    vgk weekly update    vgk weekly update    vgk weekly update    vgk weekly update    vgk weekly update     

-Chris Gawlik – Franchise Sports Media

Follow The Franchise on social media

Twitter

Instagram

Facebook

YouTube