It Cannot Be Stated Enough How Ridiculous It Is That In The First Year Of Their Existence, The Vegas Golden Knights Clinched A Playoff Berth In March
I know that we’re in the business of Hot Takery and this take is like a room-temperature beer at best. But it’s true. People have been talking about the ridiculous season that the Vegas Golden Knights have been having since the first week of the year. It’s not like this team is going by unnoticed. But I still feel like we need to talk way more about the fact that this team didn’t even exist last year. The entirety of their roster is compiled of players that their previous teams considered non-essential to their organization. And here we are today. The date is March 27th in the year of our lord and savior Jesus Christ. And the Vegas Golden Knights are the first team in the Pacific Division to clinch a playoff berth.
It is insane. Especially when you give their season a little more context.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are an Original 6 team. They’ve been doing this for 100 years. And in just one season, the Vegas Golden Knights have already had the best season in Toronto Maple Leafs history. If that doesn’t make you want to continuously punch yourself in the balls until you throw up uncontrollably, I don’t know what will. You look at all these teams who have been so damn desperate to make it back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for years.
The Carolina Hurricanes haven’t been to the playoffs in 8 years. The Sabres in 6. The Coyotes and Devils in 5. The Oilers have only been to the playoffs once in the last 12 years. And here come the Golden Knights. First year in the league. Led by a guy named William Karlsson who had all of 6 goals and 25 points last year. And this year?
Well last night he picked up his 40th goal of the season. He hasn’t had a double-digit goal season since 2013-14 when he was playing for HV71 in the Swedish Elite League. That year he had 15 goals. In his 3 years in the NHL prior to moving to Vegas this year, he’s had a total of 18 goals. And somehow he’s put up 40 this year. None of it makes any sense. A first year team pretty much has their division locked up before April and they’re led by a kid who was able to more than double his career goal total in one season. Like I said–I know that people have been talking about the Vegas Golden Knights all season long. But why aren’t we talking about this even more. It should consume every minute of every hour of every day.
And now think about this. I feel like Vegas was always going to be a pretty appealing landing spot when it comes to free agency. But the fact that the team is already this good right now? Well it just means they can load up right away starting this summer. Free agents don’t have to worry about jumping on to an expansion team and sucking dick for the first few years while they’re there. They can make bank, live in Vegas, and play playoff hockey right away. If you’re a single dude in the NHL and you’re an unrestricted free agent, Vegas has to be at the top of your list.
Sidenote: After the Golden Knights clinched a playoff berth last night, that makes the Metro the only division left without a team to have clinched. The tightest division in the league. Not a big deal or anything. Must be nice for all these other teams who get to load up on points against shit bags all season long. Teams from the Metro basically have to play playoff hockey from October until the end of the season. Just saying.