For the last 20 years (12 with The Hockey News) Dobber has reviewed each team from a fantasy-hockey standpoint and graded them.

The 21st annual review will appear here on DobberHockey throughout the summer. This is not a review of the likely performance on the ice or in the standings, but in the realm of fantasy hockey both for the season ahead as well as the foreseeable future. Offensively, will the team perform? Are there plenty of depth options worthy of owning in keeper leagues? What about over the next two or three years? These questions are what I take into consideration when looking at the depth chart and the player potential on that depth chart.

Enjoy!

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Gone – Reilly Smith, Phil Kessel, Teddy Blueger, Laurent Brossoit, Jonathan Quick

Incoming – No notable additions.

Impact of changes – It might seem strange that a team would not add any players during the offseason, but a team that had just won the Stanley Cup won't normally have much to fix. In addition, the Golden Knights re-signed their two main offseason UFAs in Adin Hill and Ivan Barbashev.

Two of the main departures were goalies, which makes sense because the Golden Knights used five goalies last season because of various injuries. That didn't include Robin Lehner, whose career remains on hold. There's now more stability at the goaltending position, as Stanley Cup hero Hill will battle Logan Thompson, whose season ended in March because of a lower-body injury.

Smith was an original Golden Misfit whose consistent scoring will be missed. However, trade-deadline acquisition Barbashev has provided a similar level of scoring to Smith over the past three seasons while adding more sandpaper to the Vegas lineup than Smith did. Barbashev definitely has appeal in bangers leagues.

Ready for Full Time – Since their highly successful inaugural season, the Golden Knights have moved all their chips to the middle of the board in an attempt to win it all. That constant attempt to upgrade at key positions has compromised the team's farm system, so you won't find a deep prospect base here.

Pavel Dorofeyev delivered after being called up for the final month of the regular season, scoring seven goals over a 10-game period. Although he did not appear in a single playoff game, Dorofeyev should have a legitimate shot to make the Golden Knights this season. He might be one to consider if you need a roll of the dice for a very deep league, as he seemed to fit in well on a scoring line with Smith and William Karlsson. 

The Vegas blueline is big and bruising, so Kaedan Korczak should fit in once he is NHL-ready. The 6-3, 200 lb. Korczak doesn't project to be much of a scorer, but he should be effective at providing hits and penalty minutes. If he does not start for Vegas on opening night, expect Korczak to be in the lineup once the injuries hit.

Fantasy Outlook – This might not be the norm for a Stanley Cup winner, but the Golden Knights did not feature a single player that cracked the point-per-game mark. Jack Eichel came the closest with 66 points in 67 games. While we're on the subject of Eichel, his 66 points led the team, which means that they did not have a single player reach 70 points. A total of 60 players reached that mark in 2022-23. That and the unsettled goaltending situation are why this team does not grade in the A range from a fantasy perspective. Aside from maybe Eichel, there are no elite players.

Speaking of the goalies, Hill and Thompson have a combined 158 games of regular-season NHL experience. Even though Hill has the cup run on his resume, this appears to be a true goaltending battle and even has the makings of a timeshare. Hill has never played 30 games in an NHL season, so is he a goalie that can carry the load? Can Thompson continue his development as the starter that the Golden Knights thought they had after Lehner went on LTIR? Both are potential Zero G targets that could pay off if they can run with the starter's job.

Fantasy Grade – B (last year was a C-)

Check out the rest of the Dobber team previews here.