Before the season for each of the last two years, I’ve published an article with 50 predictions for the upcoming season. Some are fairly light while others get a bit bolder. I try to touch on as many different players on the roster and I’m always looking for events that are less than obvious.
In a perfect world, I’d hit them all, but realistically, 50% would be a fairly solid outcome. Let’s see how I did for 2024-25.
- VGK will make the playoffs
- Many doubted it, I never did. It was never in question.
- Jack Eichel will lead the team in goals
- Wasn’t even close actually (Dorofeyev 35, Hertl 32, Eichel 28). Not sure I’ll ever make that prediction again as long as he’s a Golden Knight.
- Jack Eichel will lead the team in points
- Easy. 94 points to Stone’s 67, and Eichel missed 5 games.
- Jack Eichel will lead the team in shots
- Pavel outshot him 254 to 233. Impressive for Dorofeyev, but everyone now says Eichel should shoot more, so I should have been right.
- Mark Stone will score at least 20 goals
- Oh come on! 19?!?
- Victor Olofsson will be among VGK’s top 3 goal scorers
- Dorofeyev was what I expected Olofsson to be. Victor finished 7th with 15.
- Kaedan Korczak will play at least 60 games
- VGK’s defense was healthier than expected. He got 40 but never took anyone’s job.
- Shea Theodore will have more points than Noah Hanifin
- 57 to 39 and Theodore missed a ton of games.
- Pavel Dorofeyev will play more games on a line without Mark Stone than with him
- Dorofeyev only played 3 games with Stone. Before the season that was a highly likely projected duo, never came to be.
- Ilya Samsonov will finish the year with a better goals against average than Adin Hill
- 2.47 to 2.82. Samsonov was not nearly as good in the easier games than I expected.
- VGK will win at least 2 of their first 3 games
- Won all 3. They always start quickly.
- VGK will not be in a playoff position for at least one day after Thanksgiving
- Not a single day all season were VGK out of the top 3 in the division, let alone a playoff spot.
- VGK will have the worst Corsi For Percentage in team history (48.2%)
- Still shocks me that they ended up being a decent Corsi team. Finished at 51.8%. Just the 5th best in team history, but no where close to the worst.
- VGK will win 20 or more games when outshot
- They were only outshot 21 times and they won 12 of them.
- VGK will not sweep the San Jose Sharks but will sweep the Anaheim Ducks
- Swept both, San Jose still stinks.
- Brendan Brisson will score at least 6 goals
- Didn’t even register a point. Yikes.
- Matyas Saplovaliv will make his NHL debut
- Nope. The two preseason waiver claims (Schwindt and Lavoie) threw a wrench in this one.
- Tomas Hertl will not set a career-high in any stat
- Power play goals, but that was the only one.
- Brett Howden will reach double-digit goals for the first time in his career
- Nailed this one. 23 goals.
- VGK will not acquire a player via in-season trade that scores a postseason goal
- Can’t say I saw Reilly Smith’s return coming.
- Keegan Kolesar will not lead the team in hits
- Oops, he led by more than 1oo. 237 to 132.
- Brayden McNabb will play 82 games for the 3rd consecutive season
- Never in doubt.
- Brayden McNabb will be the only player to play 82 games
- Doroveyev and Kolesar also did.
- Akira Schmid will win at least 4 games
- He got 2, but not 4.
- Alexander Holtz will be sent to the AHL
- This was considered a very hot take.
- Jonas Rondbjerg will double his career number of games played (63)
- Nah, he only played 13.
- Nic Roy will record more than 100 shots
- 107, well done Nic.
- VGK’s longest winning streak will be 6 games
- Exactly 6, twice.
- The split between home wins and road wins will be within 5
- 29 to 21. Close, but no.
- The home team will win all three games between VGK and Utah
- VGK stole a game up in Utah after getting smoked early, then got demolished in the late November home game.
- No Golden Knight will be a finalist for an individual award
- Really? Screwed by the Lady Byng. Brutal. (Eichel)
- VGK will clinch a playoff berth on a day they do not win a game
- Got it! Lost to EDM but CGY beat UTA on April 1st to clinch VGK’s spot.
- VGK will defeat Edmonton at least twice
- Would have been nice if it happened in the playoffs too.
- VGK will win both games against at least 5 Eastern Conference opponents
- Ottawa, Boston, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and… nope.
- Jack Eichel will be VGK’s only All Star
- Legit forgot there was no All Star game. He absolutely would have been, so I’m taking credit for this one.
- VGK will finish behind one of Seattle, Calgary, or Los Angeles
- LAK gave them a bit of a run, but not really.
- VGK will never be greater than a -300 favorite
- Way off. It happened 6 times. They won 5.
- Nic Hague will match or exceed his career high in goals (5)
- Phew, needed that one in late March to hit it on the nose.
- At least 12 different players will play on the 3rd line
- 17 did.
- VGK will use fewer than 10 defensemen
- Robert Hagg’s two games made it close with 9 but we never got to 10.
- VGK will lose more games in overtime than they win (shootout not included)
- 3-5 in OT. Not sure why, but they really aren’t great at it.
- Jack Eichel will be the only Golden Knight to record a hat trick
- 2 other guys did it in the same week at one point.
- Tanner Pearson will play fewer than 50 games
- He earned so much more trust from Cassidy than expected, and stayed healthy. Impressive 78 game season for him.
- Ivan Barbashev will register at least 25 assists
- Got dicey there towards the end but he got 28.
- Alex Pietrangelo will lead all defensemen in average time on ice
- Never in doubt. 22:24 to Theodore’s 22:00.
- William Karlsson will score fewer than 20 goals
- Couple this with the Howden prediction and all the red ones look a little less terrible, right? (He had 9.)
- VGK’s power play will finish at greater than 20%
- 28.3%, best in team history. Nailed this one too.
- VGK will claim a player off waivers that will play at least 25 games
- Cole Schwindt played 42 and even played a playoff game.
- Victor Olofsson will be named one of the 3 Stars of the Week by the NHL
- Eichel, Stone, and Hill all got it, but can’t say Victor was ever close.
- VGK will record at least 5 shutouts and will be shutout at least 5 times
- 6 shutouts and shutout 5 times. That’s a strong prediction right there.
Final Tally
Correct: 23
Incorrect: 27
I’ll try to do better next year.
