The Vegas Golden Knights are on an unprecedented run for an expansion team in any league, and they’re starting to receive praise from people around the NHL.
The Golden Knights are 7-1-0 in their first 8 games in team history and are only a point back of the conference lead with two games in hand. James Neal leads the team in goals and assists, but the goalies have truly been the story – posting a collective .930 sv% so far.
With all of this said, ESPN has decided to rank them as the best team in the league at the moment. Here’s the full list:
1.Vegas Golden Knights
2.Tampa Bay Lightning
3.Los Angeles Kings
4.Toronto Maple Leafs
5.Chicago Blackhawks
6.St. Louis Blues
7.New Jersey Devils
8.Pittsburgh Penguins
9.Columbus Blue Jackets
10.Ottawa Senators
11.Washington Capitals
12.Anaheim Ducks
13.Dallas Stars
14.Philadelphia Flyers
15.Nashville Predators
16.San Jose Sharks
17.Winnipeg Jets
18.New York Islanders
19.Colorado Avalanche
20.Vancouver Canucks
21.Boston Bruins
22.Minnesota Wild
23.Detroit Red Wings
24.Calgary Flames
25.Carolina Hurricanes
26.Buffalo Sabres
27.Florida Panthers
28.Edmonton Oilers
29.New York Rangers
30.Montreal Canadiens
31.Arizona Coyotes
If we’re being honest, we’re sure you’re aware that we love the story of the Vegas Golden Knights. They have a great social presence and they’ve done great things for the city since their tragedy. Still, this ranking feels a little premature.
The Tampa Bay Lightning, while they have technically lost one more game (In overtime) than the Knights, they have been absolutely dominant so far. Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov have absolutely dominated on the Lightning’s top line and Andrei Vasilevskiy has been rock solid in net.
Add in that their advanced numbers look subpar, many people are skeptical that they can keep up this pace.
We’re hoping for the best for the new franchise, but we highly doubt that they’ll remain at the top of the power rankings for very long.
