Vegas Golden Knights

How Vegas plays, trait by trait, against the rest of the league.

Real numbers through Oct 10: 5 games this season, blended with last season. Traits that take longer to settle lean more on last season.

Real numbers through Oct 10, from this season’s 5 games only. Expect these to swing a lot this early, which is why the likely ranges are so wide.

Offense

• Shot volume
  SelectiveRelentless

  61.2 shot attempts per 607th of 32

  63.9 shot attempts per 607th of 32

• Shot quality
  HopefulDangerous

  a 6.6% chance of scoring on the average shot11th of 32

  a 6.7% chance of scoring on the average shot16th of 32

• Second chances
  One-and-doneCrashers

  10.3% of chances come from rebounds13th of 32

  16.6% of chances come from rebounds6th of 32

• Off-turnover offense
  PatientOpportunist

  6.7% of chances come right after a turnover31st of 32

  4.6% of chances come right after a turnover24th of 32

• Shots from defensemen
  Forward-ledActive D

  36.2% of shot attempts come from defensemen6th of 32

  36.4% of shot attempts come from defensemen8th of 32

• Shots from in close
  From distanceIn close

  30.9% of shots come from within 20 feet13th of 32

  31.5% of shots come from within 20 feet19th of 32

Defense

• Shot suppression
  PorousStingy

  51.5 shot attempts allowed per 603rd of 32

  47.6 shot attempts allowed per 604th of 32

• Quality allowed
  ExposedSheltered

  a 6.0% chance of scoring on the average shot against5th of 32

  a 6.2% chance of scoring on the average shot against13th of 32

• Breakdowns avoided
  Fire drillComposed

  0.38 defensive breakdowns per 609th of 32

  0.00 defensive breakdowns per 601st of 32

• Goaltending
  SieveWall

  +0.03 goals saved above expected per 6030th of 32

  −0.35 goals saved above expected per 6022nd of 32

Tempo and edge

• Pace
  SlogTrack meet

  79.3 shots per 60, both teams combined25th of 32

  79.3 shots per 60, both teams combined17th of 32

• Forecheck pressure
  PassiveHounding

  forecheck score 86 (100 is league average)28th of 3219.2 forecheck plays recorded per 6028th of 32

  forecheck score 81 (100 is league average)26th of 3219.4 forecheck plays recorded per 6028th of 32

• Physicality
  FinesseBruising

  hit score 96 (100 is league average)20th of 3225.4 hits recorded per 6022nd of 32

  hit score 91 (100 is league average)20th of 3226.3 hits recorded per 6020th of 32

• Depth
  Top-heavyDeep

  42.1% of forward ice time at 5-on-5 goes to the bottom six16th of 32

  41.5% of forward ice time at 5-on-5 goes to the bottom six20th of 32

Special teams

• Power play
  HarmlessLethal

  9.0 expected goals per 60 on the power play2nd of 32

  10.5 expected goals per 60 on the power play1st of 32

• Penalty kill
  LeakyAirtight

  6.5 expected goals allowed per 60 shorthanded1st of 32

  4.0 expected goals allowed per 60 shorthanded2nd of 32

• Power kill
  BunkeredPredatory

  0.9 expected goals created per 60 shorthanded15th of 32

  0.8 expected goals created per 60 shorthanded17th of 32

• Discipline
  RecklessClean

  0.30 more penalties drawn than taken per 601st of 32

  1.18 more penalties drawn than taken per 603rd of 32

Forecheck pressure and physicality are shown as arena-adjusted scores; switch “Hits and takeaways” to Raw in the settings to see the numbers as recorded. How the arena adjustment works.

Who Vegas leans on, and what they do best.

• Mitch Marner

  21:16 a game

  #93 · Right wing · 3 P in 5 GP (1 G, 2 A)

  • Most ice time
  • L2 · Karlsson, Howden
  • PP1
  • Kills penalties
  • Setting up goalstop 3%
  • Takeawaystop 4%
  • Staying out of the boxtop 9%
  • Power-play chancesbottom 1%
  • Fast burstsbottom 9%

• Jack Eichel

  20:59 a game

  #9 · Center · 12 P in 5 GP (3 G, 9 A)

  • 2nd in ice time
  • L1 · Stone, Barbashev
  • PP1
  • Kills penalties
  • Tough minutes
  • Creating chancesTop 10
  • Shooting volumeTop 10
  • Creating his own chancesTop 10
  • Power-play chancesbottom 5%
  • Top speedTop 5
  • Hardest shotTop 10
  • Fast burststop 9%
  • Hittingbottom 21%

• Mark Stone

  19:29 a game

  #61 · Right wing · 5 P in 5 GP (3 G, 2 A)

  • L1 · Barbashev, Eichel
  • PP1
  • Kills penalties
  • Preventing chancestop 7%
  • Power-play chancestop 9%
  • Hardest shotTop 5
  • Fast burstsbottom 8%
  • Shot blockingtop 15%
  • Staying out of the boxbottom 22%

• William Karlsson

  18:44 a game

  #71 · Center · 1 P in 5 GP (0 G, 1 A)

  • L2 · Marner, Howden
  • PP2
  • Kills penalties

  No clear strengths or weak spots yet.
  • Faceoffstop 16%
  • Hardest shottop 14%
  • Hittingbottom 7%

• Shea Theodore

  21:37 a game

  #27 · Defenseman · 3 P in 5 GP (1 G, 2 A)

  • Most ice time
  • P1 · McNabb
  • PP1
  • Kills penalties
  • Tough minutes
  • Creating chancestop 9%
  • Staying out of the boxtop 10%
  • Preventing chancestop 14%
  • Hittingbottom 1%
  • Creating chancestop 23%
  • Distance skatedtop 13%
  • Hittingbottom 14%

• Noah Hanifin

  20:11 a game

  #15 · Defenseman · 1 P in 5 GP (1 G, 0 A)

  • 2nd in ice time
  • P2 · Lauzon
  • Kills penalties
  • Staying out of the boxTop 10
  • Preventing chancesTop 10
  • Creating chancestop 14%
  • Drawing penaltiesbottom 1%
  • Preventing chancestop 25%
  • Hittingbottom 14%

The 4 forwards and 2 defensemen with the most ice time a game (at least half the games played). Tags show how each is used; rows show his clearest strengths, and a weak spot in grey, as a percentile against his position. Point at anything for details. All Golden Knights players.

Who plays together at 5-on-5, and how each group is doing.

Lines and pairs are numbered by 5-on-5 ice time together over the team’s last 10 games (5 so far this season), with each older game counting half as much as the one after it, so the latest combinations come first. With so few games, each group’s results are pulled toward the average for its line number.

Last game

Against Toronto Maple Leafs, the team used the same lines and pairs as above.

Which opposing lines each Vegas group has actually been out against at 5-on-5.

Each strip adds to 100%: it shows how one Vegas group’s 5-on-5 time is split across the opponent’s four forward lines, numbered the same way as above. Sized by ice time, a wider box means more time against that line; even columns line the boxes up so you can compare groups straight down. At home the coach changes last and picks these matchups; on the road the other coach does. Faded rows have under ten minutes.

What “with no line matching” means: if a coach just rolled his lines and took whoever was out there, each of his groups would face the opponent’s first line about as often as that line is on the ice. If opposing first lines play a third of the time against Vegas, every Vegas group would see them for about a third of its shifts. A number well above that means the coach is sending that group out against them on purpose; well below means he is keeping it away.

Who Vegas sends out with a man up and a man down.

Each power-play unit is built around its quarterback, the defenseman running it, plus the four players most often out with him over the last 10 games (5 so far). Power-play units’ expected goals per 60 are pulled toward league average while samples are small. Penalty kills are too loose for fixed units (the most common foursome covers only about a tenth of a typical team’s shorthanded time), so penalty killers are grouped by when they go on: the ones who start kills, the second wave who come on after the first change, and spot duty. Point at a power-play name to see his shots on the map.

What the tags mean

Quarterbackthe defenseman who runs the unit from the blue line.

Triggerthe unit’s main shooter, with the most dangerous power-play shots on the team over this season and last.

Distributorthe main passer, with the most first assists on the team’s power-play goals over this season and last.

Net-frontparks in front of the net. At least 40% of his power-play shots come from within 15 feet.

Pointa second defenseman on the unit, alongside the quarterback.

Is he stopping more than he should, and what is his team asking him to face?

Expected-goal models can’t see passes before a shot, so a goalie whose team gives up a lot of cross-ice passes will look worse here than he really is. Ratings compare him with goalies who have at least 10 starts over two seasons, or 2 this season.

How Vegas’s goals are scored and allowed, against the league average, and how much of any difference luck alone could explain.

Every goal counts once, in the first of these that applies: empty net, power play, shorthanded, goalie pulled, then rebound, turnover, faceoff win, and everyday play. These mixes are mostly luck: over three seasons, teams’ goals came from much the same places, and most of the differences here didn’t last.