The Vegas Golden Knights missed the 2021-22 postseason for the first time since becoming an NHL team in 2017.
The main issue for the Golden Knights last season, of course, was their roster’s constant proneness to injury.
Mike Rupp of NHL Network said on NHL Tonight on Monday that he believes that low point will not extend into next season.
He chose Vegas and the Vancouver Canucks as his two Pacific Division teams that missed the playoffs last season to make it next year.
“I think they’re going to get in,” Rupp said. “I think the only reason they missed is from all the injuries. This was a good group. They struggled last year for a lot of different reasons. They were banged up. If they are healthy, — I don’t even want to say fully healthy because this is an older group; they might miss some time. But they just can’t miss what they had missed last year. They all their big players missed significant time — I think this is a team in that division – – Look out.
Scroll to continue
“I actually think they can win that division. It’s going to be a lot of work to be had, but those are the two stranger teams in the Pacific.”
With Rupp picking two teams out of the division to make the playoffs in the 2022-23 season, he had to pick two that made it last year that he believes could be in danger of missing next season’s playoffs. He chose the Los Angeles Kings and the Calgary Flames.
“It’s hard to have that good of a first season kind of getting into the playoffs and then replicating that,” Rupp said of the Kings. “So they’re the ones that very well could be in, but if I think those other two teams are getting in, someone’s got to come out.”
“… Maybe in danger is the Calgary Flames. I mean Calgary Flames — that’s a good trade. Brad Treliving did a good job in kind of putting his group back together for what happened in this offseason, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to work automatically.”
For all VGK Today news, follow @HondoCarpenter and @champion_aidan on Twitter.
Please make sure you tell us your thoughts when you like ours Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.
.