The Edmonton Oilers will be facing royalty again. First it was the Los Angeles Kings, and now they will see the Vegas Golden Knights. The Knights made it through a very competitive Minnesota Wild team in six games, and there were some players that stood out in a big way to help finish the first round series.
With the way that the Oilers played in the first round against the Los Angeles Kings, they will have to pick it up a notch if they want to beat a very good Golden Knights team. I’ll be taking a look at which Vegas players the Oilers will have to watch out for in their second round battle.
Jack Eichel is jacked up
Jack Eichel has thrived with the Vegas Golden Knights and he proved that this year, when he set a career high in assists and points with 66 apples and 94 points respectively.
Eichel has still produced in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoff, but it hasn’t been the same as his regular season. In the six game series, Eichel potted one goal and picked up four assists for five points. Eichel is proving that he is one of the top superstars in the NHL. His regular season shows that, and now he just has to get to that level in the playoffs. With a Cup already, he is definitely enjoying life in Vegas over Buffalo.
Tomas Hertl is “not” Tomas the train
Tomas Hertl has shown to be a great addition for the Vegas Golden Knights. This season, Hertl ended up with 32 goals and 29 assists for 61 points in 73 games played. With that being Hertl’s best season as a Golden Knight, he is definitely trending in the right direction, but I feel like he has more that he can prove as well.
Hertl like Eichel, has produced in the Stanley Cup Playoff as well with three goals and two assists for five points in six games. Both Hertl and Eichel are currently the top two points scorers for the Knights in the playoff this year. Hertl must be happy to be away from the San Jose Sharks and playing for a Cup winning and Cup contending team in Vegas.
Mark Stone is stone solid
Mark Stone, the current Captain of the Vegas Golden Knights had a very solid season where he posted 19 goals and 48 assists for 67 points in 66 games. In seven seasons with the Golden Knights, this was actually Stone’s best career season in terms of points and assists. That honestly comes as a surprise to me, but because of injuries he has not been able to play a full complete season yet.
Stone in the playoffs, is not far behind his teammates with two goals and two assists for four points in the round one series. At 32-years-old and with one Stanley Cup under his belt, I’m sure that Mark Stone will want to make one more push with the Golden Knights on their quest to a second Cup.
Shea Theodore is not a chipmunk
One of the most relied on defenceman on the Vegas Golden Knights, is currently Shea Theodore. With a career season as well, Theodore finished his season with seven goals and 50 assists for 57 points in 67 games played. He set a personal best in terms of assists (12 more than his previous best of 38 in 2021–22) and points.
Theodore is like Stone in the playoffs, not far behind Eichel or Hertl with an identical stat line of two goals and two assists for four points. Shea Theodore has made some mistakes in the playoffs so far, but has still definitely seen some offensive production with an average TOI of 22:11.
Honorable mention: Brett Howden
Career seasons seem to be the storyline, as centreman Brett Howden who is currently in his fourth season as a Knight, set a career high in terms of goals, assists and points. After shattering his personal best goals wise, 23 in 80 games played, his best before was nine with the Golden Knights and New York Rangers respectively in 2019–20 and 2021–22. Howden finished the season with 17 assists and 40 points in 80 games played.
Howden has had a quietly good postseason, with just three goals in his six games played. That is pretty good for a guy who has only been getting an average TOI of 12:40. On the entire Knights team in the playoff so far, Howden is one of four players with a plus-minus in the positives and above zero.
With nine players averaging 0.5 points per game or higher, the Vegas Golden Knights are seeing some depth production down their lineup. The Edmonton Oilers will have to keep that in their game plan as they are set to face off in just a few days. One thing that I think is interesting to mention, is that all four of the players listed above have a plus-minus in the negatives and out of a 19 man roster, ten players are in the negatives, four are positive and five are at zero.
The Oilers can definitely use that to their advantage in their quest to defeat the Knights.
Let us know your thoughts on which Vegas Golden Knight players the Oilers should watch out for.
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