The Vegas Golden Knights made some great trade deadline acquisitions and were looking to go on another long run in the playoffs.
Some even thought they had what’s needed to become back-to-back Stanley Cup champions.
But they ended the regular season poorly, and despite winning the first two games of the first-round series against Dallas, they could not pick up the pace needed in the playoffs.
The Golden Knights were eliminated in Game 7 and will have to think long and hard about their strategy next year.
The Golden Knights have been heavily criticized for their use of players on LTIR during the last couple of years.
Vegas has been ending its regular season without its captain for three years. Two years ago, they didn’t make the playoffs. Last year, they were crowned champions.
This year, Mark Stone sat out since February. What the Golden Knights have been doing is not illegal, but it has allowed them to replace ’injured’ players to replace those on LTIR, only to have them all available in the postseason, where the salary cap doesn’t apply.
But Stone only had three goals and zero assists in seven games; he wasn’t able to pick up momentum. And things would’ve been different if they hadn’t entered the playoffs as the second wild-card team.
On Monday, when speaking to media, Stone made his honest assessment about Vegas’ postseason and what went wrong. He claimed that the poor performance in the regular season cost them.
”We felt like we definitely had a team that had a chance to go on a long run,” said Stone.
”Probably would have been better off putting ourselves in a better position in the regular season. Never easy coming in as the 8-seed and trying to beat all the top teams at the start.”
Stone, who has earned the nickname ’Mr. LTIR,’ was absolutely slammed for his assessment of Golden Knights’ early postseason exit, and everyone was saying the same thing about it on social media, as he was brutally trolled.
”He wants people to know that the LTIR thing is not his idea,” one said on X, formerly Twitter.
”Maybe should’ve played at the end of the regular season, to help your team achieve a higher spot, you were healthy right?” another said.
”Less Tanking In Regular season is a solid idea,” a third added.
