The Vegas Golden Knights are 2023 Stanley Cup Champions. While they enjoy a summer of celebration, 31 others teams will try to dissect their roster for insight into how they built a champion. Let’s do the same and look at how the Vegas Golden Knights assembled their championship roster.
Building the Golden Knights Championship Roster
The inaugural Golden Knights roster was primarily built through the expansion draft, where they selected one player from each of the existing 30 teams. The first year squad went on an improbable run to the Stanley Cup Final and just six of the ‘original misfits’ remained by the time Vegas hoisted the cup six years later.
Jonathan Marchessault, William Carrier, William Karlsson, Reilly Smith and Brayden McNabb were all selected in the expansion draft, while Shea Theodore was acquired from the Ducks for expansion draft considerations.
There were other moves the Golden Knights made in 2017 that helped build their 2023 championship roster. They selected Nic Hague 34th overall in the 2017 draft and acquired Keegan Kolesar from the Blue Jackets. They also made a few other trades that set them up for future transactions, including acquiring Alex Tuch and trading Marc Methot to the Stars.
The next three years saw the Golden Knights continue to add pieces that would become key components of their eventual Stanley Cup run.
They found two undrafted gems in Zach Whitecloud and Logan Thompson and signed them to entry level deals. They also added Alex Pietrangelo as an unrestricted free agent after he won the cup with the St Louis Blues.
While the defence and goaltending grew via free agency, the forward ranks evolved through the trade market. Mark Stone was acquired from Ottawa, with the 2nd round pick acquired in Methot trade included in the package going the other way. Vegas also shipped out another expansion draft pick in Erik Haula to add Nick Roy. Paul Cotter was added through the draft and Chandler Stephenson came at the expense of just a 5th round pick.
2021 saw Vegas add a few more key pieces in their championship roster. Alec Martinez was signed as an unrestricted free agent, Brett Howden was acquired from the Rangers, and Michael Amadio was claimed off waivers.
The biggest addition came in a blockbuster trade with the Buffalo Sabres early in the 2021-2022 season. The Golden Knights acquired Jack Eichel, with Alex Tuch (acquired in 2017 for expansion draft considerations) and Peyton Krebs (drafted 17th overall in 2019) were shipped off to Buffalo.
The Golden Knights added the final pieces for their Stanley Cup roster through 2022 and 2023.
Phil Kessel, Ben Hutton and Laurent Brossiot signed as unrestricted free agents, adding depth and veteran precense.
Adin Hill was also acquired in the 2022 offseason in a trade with the Sharks after Vegas learned Robin Lehner would miss the 2022-2023 season due to injury.
The final pieces came at the 2023 deadline. Jonathan Quick was acquired, adding depth in the crease. Teddy Bleuger and Ivan Barbashev were also added, bostering the forward ranks.
Roster Building Takeaways
What’s striking about the Golden Knights Stanley Cup winning roster is that is was not built through the draft. While we’ve seen the Lightning and Avalanche win in recent seasons, it’s been on the back of successful rebuilding cycles. The Golden Knights took a much different approach. Nic Hague and Paul Cotter were the only homegrown draft picks on their championship squad.
Instead of building through the draft, Vegas made it a priority to acquire high end players when the opportunity presented itself. When Mark Stone, Jack Eichel, Alex Pietrangelo, Alec Martinez and others became available, the Golden Knights did what was in their control to acquire them. The defense corps was built primarily through the UFA market and the forward group was built primarily through trade.
What’s important in building a contending roster is not how a team acquires star players, it’s simply that they do acquire star players. Whether through the draft, trade or free agency, compiling a group of stars will give a team a strong chance at hoisting Lord Stanley’s mug.
