# 2023–24 Vegas Golden Knights season

The 2023–24 Vegas Golden Knights season was the seventh season for the National Hockey League franchise that started playing in the 2017–18 season. The Golden Knights entered the season as the defending Stanley Cup champions.
During the season, Vegas started off hot, winning the first seven games, the most wins to start a season from a defending cup champion. The Golden Knights played in the 2024 Winter Classic, losing 3–0 to the Seattle Kraken at T-Mobile Park on January 1, 2024.
After a 7–0 win against the Colorado Avalanche on November 4, Vegas struggled throughout the rest of the season, stumbling from first in the Western Conference to a wild card spot. This included a 4–5–1 February slump, and a 2–8–1 record between February 12 and March 7. On April 12, the Golden Knights clinched a playoff berth for the sixth time in their first seven seasons, following a 7–2 win over the Minnesota Wild and a 5–2 loss by the St. Louis Blues to the Carolina Hurricanes. In the playoffs, the Golden Knights faced the Dallas Stars, losing in seven games in the first round; despite taking a 2–0 series lead, Dallas went on to win four of the last five games.

## Standings
### Divisional standings

Pacific Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | y – Vancouver Canucks | 82 | 50 | 23 | 9 | 44 | 279 | 223 | +56 | 109 |
| 2 | x – Edmonton Oilers | 82 | 49 | 27 | 6 | 39 | 294 | 237 | +57 | 104 |
| 3 | x – Los Angeles Kings | 82 | 44 | 27 | 11 | 37 | 256 | 215 | +41 | 99 |
| 4 | x – Vegas Golden Knights | 82 | 45 | 29 | 8 | 34 | 267 | 245 | +22 | 98 |
| 5 | e – Calgary Flames | 82 | 38 | 39 | 5 | 32 | 253 | 271 | −18 | 81 |
| 6 | e – Seattle Kraken | 82 | 34 | 35 | 13 | 28 | 217 | 236 | −19 | 81 |
| 7 | e – Anaheim Ducks | 82 | 27 | 50 | 5 | 21 | 204 | 295 | −91 | 59 |
| 8 | e – San Jose Sharks | 82 | 19 | 54 | 9 | 14 | 181 | 331 | −150 | 47 |

### Conference standings

Western Conference Wild Card :
| Pos | Div | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | CE | x – Nashville Predators | 82 | 47 | 30 | 5 | 38 | 269 | 248 | +21 | 99 |
| 2 | PA | x – Vegas Golden Knights | 82 | 45 | 29 | 8 | 34 | 267 | 245 | +22 | 98 |
| 3 | CE | e – St. Louis Blues | 82 | 43 | 33 | 6 | 31 | 239 | 250 | −11 | 92 |
| 4 | CE | e – Minnesota Wild | 82 | 39 | 34 | 9 | 32 | 251 | 263 | −12 | 87 |
| 5 | PA | e – Calgary Flames | 82 | 38 | 39 | 5 | 32 | 253 | 271 | −18 | 81 |
| 6 | PA | e – Seattle Kraken | 82 | 34 | 35 | 13 | 28 | 217 | 236 | −19 | 81 |
| 7 | CE | e – Arizona Coyotes | 82 | 36 | 41 | 5 | 28 | 256 | 274 | −18 | 77 |
| 8 | PA | e – Anaheim Ducks | 82 | 27 | 50 | 5 | 21 | 204 | 295 | −91 | 59 |
| 9 | CE | e – Chicago Blackhawks | 82 | 23 | 53 | 6 | 17 | 179 | 290 | −111 | 52 |
| 10 | PA | e – San Jose Sharks | 82 | 19 | 54 | 9 | 14 | 181 | 331 | −150 | 47 |

## Schedule and results
### Preseason

The 2023 preseason schedule was published on June 22, 2023.

### Regular season

The regular season schedule was published on June 27, 2023.
2023–24 game log :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point) :

### Playoffs

2024 Stanley Cup playoffs :
Legend:
  Win
  Loss :

## Player statistics

Updated to games played May 5, 2024

### Skaters

Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Jonathan Marchessault | 82 | 42 | 27 | 69 | –2 | 40 |
| Jack Eichel | 63 | 31 | 37 | 68 | +4 | 27 |
| William Karlsson | 70 | 30 | 30 | 60 | +15 | 22 |
| Mark Stone | 56 | 16 | 37 | 53 | +1 | 22 |
| Chandler Stephenson | 75 | 16 | 35 | 51 | –9 | 25 |
| Ivan Barbashev | 82 | 19 | 26 | 45 | +15 | 42 |
| Shea Theodore | 47 | 5 | 37 | 42 | +4 | 6 |
| Nicolas Roy | 70 | 13 | 28 | 41 | +8 | 29 |
| Alex Pietrangelo | 64 | 4 | 29 | 33 | –5 | 24 |
| Michael Amadio | 73 | 14 | 13 | 27 | +4 | 16 |
| Brayden McNabb | 82 | 4 | 22 | 26 | +18 | 37 |
| Paul Cotter | 76 | 7 | 18 | 25 | –11 | 41 |
| Pavel Dorofeyev | 47 | 13 | 11 | 24 | +8 | 12 |
| Brett Howden | 72 | 8 | 11 | 19 | –11 | 39 |
| Keegan Kolesar | 79 | 8 | 10 | 18 | –8 | 49 |
| Alec Martinez | 55 | 4 | 13 | 17 | –2 | 6 |
| Zach Whitecloud | 61 | 2 | 12 | 14 | –3 | 32 |
| Noah Hanifin$^†$ | 19 | 2 | 10 | 12 | +6 | 2 |
| Nicolas Hague | 73 | 2 | 10 | 12 | –5 | 43 |
| Anthony Mantha$^†$ | 18 | 3 | 7 | 10 | +6 | 8 |
| Ben Hutton | 41 | 2 | 8 | 10 | +12 | 17 |
| Kaedan Korczak | 26 | 1 | 8 | 9 | +12 | 8 |
| William Carrier | 39 | 6 | 2 | 8 | +3 | 16 |
| Brendan Brisson | 15 | 2 | 6 | 8 | –5 | 2 |
| Mason Morelli | 9 | 3 | 1 | 4 | –3 | 0 |
| Tomas Hertl$^†$ | 6 | 2 | 2 | 4 | –2 | 0 |
| Sheldon Rempal | 9 | 2 | 1 | 3 | –2 | 4 |
| Jonas Rondbjerg | 20 | 1 | 2 | 3 | +2 | 0 |
| Brayden Pachal$^‡$ | 17 | 1 | 0 | 1 | –2 | 12 |
| Lukas Cormier | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +1 | 0 |
| Byron Froese | 16 | 0 | 1 | 1 | –2 | 4 |
| Tobias Bjornfot$^{†‡}$ | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –2 | 2 |
| Daniil Miromanov$^‡$ | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –2 | 0 |
| Grigori Denisenko | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –3 | 2 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Jack Eichel | 7 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Noah Hanifin | 7 | 2 | 3 | 5 | –2 | 0 |
| Brayden McNabb | 7 | 2 | 3 | 5 | +5 | 0 |
| Jonathan Marchessault | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | +1 | 2 |
| Ivan Barbashev | 7 | 0 | 4 | 4 | +3 | 0 |
| Mark Stone | 7 | 3 | 0 | 3 | –2 | 2 |
| Michael Amadio | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | +2 | 0 |
| Brett Howden | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | +1 | 0 |
| William Karlsson | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | +4 | 0 |
| William Carrier | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 6 |
| Tomas Hertl | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | –6 | 2 |
| Chandler Stephenson | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | –3 | 8 |
| Alex Pietrangelo | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Pavel Dorofeyev | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nicolas Hague | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nicolas Hague | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 0 |
| Anthony Mantha | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –1 | 2 |
| Zach Whitecloud | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Keegan Kolesar | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –1 | 2 |
| Alec Martinez | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –2 | 0 |
| Nicolas Roy | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 4 |
| Shea Theodore | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +2 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Regular season :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Logan Thompson | 46 | 42 | 2,645:28 | 25 | 14 | 5 | 119 | 2.70 | 1,298 | .908 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Adin Hill | 35 | 35 | 1,968:49 | 19 | 12 | 2 | 89 | 2.71 | 957 | .909 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Jiri Patera | 6 | 5 | 316:46 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 21 | 3.98 | 196 | .893 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Logan Thompson | 4 | 4 | 255:00 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 2.35 | 127 | .921 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Adin Hill | 3 | 3 | 176:17 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1.70 | 72 | .931 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
$^†$Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Golden Knights. Stats reflect time with the Golden Knights only. $^‡$Denotes player was traded or waived mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Golden Knights only. Bold denotes new franchise record.

## Transactions

The Golden Knights have been involved in the following transactions during the 2023–24 season.

### Trades

* Retained Salary Transaction: Each team is allowed up to three contracts on their payroll where they have retained salary in a trade (i.e. the player no longer plays with Team A due to a trade to Team B, but Team A still retains some salary). Only up to 50% of a player's contract can be kept, and only up to 15% of a team's salary cap can be taken up by retained salary. A contract can only be involved in one of these trades twice.
| Date | Details | Details |
| June 28, 2023 | To Pittsburgh PenguinsReilly Smith | To Vegas Golden KnightsVGK 3rd-round pick in 2024 |
| June 29, 2023 | To Columbus Blue Jackets7th-round pick in 2023 | To Vegas Golden Knights7th-round pick in 2024 |
| March 5, 2023 | To Washington Capitals2nd-round pick in 2024 4th-round pick in 2026 | To Vegas Golden KnightsAnthony Mantha* |
| March 6, 2024 | To Philadelphia Flyers5th-round pick in 2024 | To Vegas Golden KnightsNoah Hanifin* |
| March 6, 2024 | To Calgary FlamesDaniil Miromanov conditional 1st-round pick in 2025 or      1st-round pick in 2026 conditional 2nd-round pick in 2025 or      3rd-round pick in 2025 | To Vegas Golden KnightsMikhail Vorobyev |
| March 8, 2024 | To San Jose SharksDavid Edstrom 1st-round pick in 2025 | To Vegas Golden KnightsTomas Hertl* 3rd-round pick in 2025 3rd-round pick in 2027 |

### Players acquired

| Date | Player | Former team | Term | Via |
| July 1, 2023 (2023-7-01) | Mason Geertsen | New Jersey Devils | 2-year | Free agency |
| July 1, 2023 (2023-7-01) | Mason Morelli | Hershey Bears (AHL) | 2-year | Free agency |
| July 1, 2023 (2023-7-01) | Gage Quinney | Henderson Silver Knights (AHL) | 2-year | Free agency |
| October 7, 2023 (2023-10-07) | Grigori Denisenko | Florida Panthers | | Waivers |
| January 4, 2024 (2024-01-04) | Tobias Bjornfot | Los Angeles Kings | | Waivers |

### Players lost

| Date | Player | New team | Term | Via |
| July 1, 2023 (2023-7-01) | Teddy Blueger | Vancouver Canucks | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 1, 2023 (2023-7-01) | Laurent Brossoit | Winnipeg Jets | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 1, 2023 (2023-7-01) | Connor Corcoran | Bakersfield Condors (AHL) | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 1, 2023 (2023-7-01) | Jonathan Quick | New York Rangers | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 4, 2023 (2023-7-4) | Maxim Marushev | Ak Bars Kazan (KHL) | Tryout | Free agency |
| July 21, 2023 (2023-7-21) | Spencer Foo | Kunlun Red Star (KHL) | 3-year | Free agency |
| February 4, 2024 (2024-2-4) | Brayden Pachal | Calgary Flames | | Waivers |
| February 6, 2024 (2024-2-6) | Marcus Kallionkieli | Kiekko–Espoo (Mestis) | 1-year | Free agency |
| February 16, 2024 (2024-2-16) | Marcus Kallionkieli | | | Termination |
| March 8, 2024 (2024-3-8) | Tobias Bjornfot | Florida Panthers | | Waivers |
| June 17, 2024 (2024-6-17) | Ivan Morozov | Spartak Moscow (KHL) | 2-year‡ | Free agency |
| Legend: † Contract is entry-level. ‡ Contract begins in 2024–25 season. ||||||

### Signings

| Date | Player | Term |
| June 28, 2023 (2023-6-28) | Ivan Barbashev | 5-year |
| June 28, 2023 (2023-6-28) | Brayden Pachal | 2-year |
| June 30, 2023 (2023-6-30) | Adin Hill | 2-year |
| July 2, 2023 (2023-7-2) | Jiri Patera | 1-year |
| July 15, 2023 (2023-7-15) | David Edstrom | 3-year† |
| July 19, 2023 (2023-7-19) | Pavel Dorofeyev | 1-year |
| July 19, 2023 (2023-7-19) | Brett Howden | 2-year |
| October 8, 2023 (2023-10-08) | Jakub Demek | 3-year† |
| November 26, 2023 (2023-11-26) | Ben Hemmerling | 3-year† |
| November 29, 2023 (2023-11-29) | Jordan Gustafson | 3-year† |
| December 22, 2023 (2023-12-22) | Ben Hutton | 2-year‡ |
| December 31, 2023 (2023-12-31) | Mathieu Cataford | 3-year† |
| April 11, 2024 (2024-4-11) | Noah Hanifin | 8-year‡ |
| Legend: † Contract is entry-level. ‡ Contract begins in 2024–25 season. ||||

## Draft picks

Below are the Vegas Golden Knights' selections at the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on June 28 to 29, 2023, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
| Round | # | Player | Pos. | Nationality | Team (League) |
| 1 | 32 | David Edstrom | C | Sweden | Frölunda HC (J20 Nationell) |
| 3 | 77 | Mathieu Cataford | C | Canada | Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL) |
| 3 | 96 | Arttu Karki | D | Finland | Tappara (U20 SM-sarja) |
| 6 | 192 | Tuomas Uronen | RW | Finland | HIFK (U20 SM-sarja) |