A closer look at the Vegas Golden Knights: Canucks Pacific Previews

In today’s National Hockey League, the biggest hurdle to a playoff spot is besting the seven teams in your own division. The Vancouver Canucks’ rivals in the Pacific Division, each at different points in their team’s evolution, will try to keep Vancouver out of the postseason party. And the only way to best your competition is by knowing them.

Every day this week, we’ll be looking at each of these Pacific Division teams and how they stack up compared to the Canucks.

Today, in our final segment, we’ll be looking at the Vegas Golden Knights.

Just when you thought the time had finally come for the Golden Knights to pay the piper, a lightly used Mitch Marner falls right into their lap.

The Knights unseated the Canucks as Pacific Division champions in 2024-25, winning 50 games and earning 110 points, and their reputations as the archvillains of the NHL precede them. In eight years of existence, Vegas has made the playoffs seven times, won four division titles, made the Final twice and won the Stanley Cup. And that’s not even including all the star players who have found their way to Nevada through trades or free agent signings.

Vegas has been a masterclass in salary cap management and capitalizing on opportunities. After Alex Pietrangelo announced he wouldn’t be playing hockey for the foreseeable future due to injury woes, the Knights used that additional space to acquire Marner in a sign-and-trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Regardless of how one feels about Marner’s skillset come playoff time, adding another 100+ point player to a lineup that already boasts Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, and Tomas Hertl is like adding another superlaser onto the Death Star.

But all those top six weapons have come at the cost of the team’s depth elsewhere. With age and wear starting to play a factor for the Golden Knights’ veterans, the younger players coming up to replace them have more question marks than guarantees. Alexander Holtz, Kaeden Korczak and Cole Schwindt represent the next wave of Knights looking to make the leap long term, but they all have big shoes to fill right away.

The Knights have consistently given the Canucks trouble throughout their short existence, and last season was a microcosm of the skill gap between the two teams. Vegas swept Vancouver 4-0 in the season series, and if the Canucks have aspirations of making it out of the division into a Conference Final, these Knights are a team they’ll be forced to go through.

As constructed, the Canucks have a little more edge to their game – a requirement against the often-chippy play of the Knights – but still lack the horses in their depth to match Vegas’ offensive volume. As is often the case, the goaltending of Thatcher Demko and Kevin Lankinen will have to make up the difference. And given the inconsistency of the Knights’ tandems in goal between Adin Hill and Akira Schmid, there’s room for a stolen game or two.

If the Canucks want to be taken seriously as a Pacific Division contender once again, how they matchup and compete against the Golden Knights will be easily the most telling. If they can hold their own and put Vegas under pressure on a regular basis, that would be a great sign for Vancouver’s viability as a playoff team. If not, there’s still a lot of work to do.

Season Schedule

February 4, 2026 @ T-Mobile Arena

March 30, 2026 @ T-Mobile Arena

April 7, 2026 @ Rogers Arena