# 2018–19 Vegas Golden Knights season

The 2018–19 Vegas Golden Knights season was the second season for the National Hockey League franchise that started playing in the 2017–18 season.
The Golden Knights bolstered their lineup during the offseason with the signing of Paul Stastny, as well as the acquisition former Montreal Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty. They also acquired goal-scoring forward Mark Stone from the Ottawa Senators at the 2019 NHL Trade Deadline, and subsequently signed him to an 8-year contract extension.
Prior to the season, the NHL suspended defenseman Nate Schmidt for 20 regular season games for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program. On March 29, 2019, the Golden Knights clinched a playoff spot after the Arizona Coyotes' 3–2 overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche.
Despite leading the series against the San Jose Sharks 3–1 in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Golden Knights were eliminated in seven games, after blowing a 3–0 3rd period lead in the deciding game following a controversial major penalty.

## Standings

Pacific Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | z – Calgary Flames | 82 | 50 | 25 | 7 | 50 | 289 | 227 | +62 | 107 |
| 2 | x – San Jose Sharks | 82 | 46 | 27 | 9 | 46 | 289 | 261 | +28 | 101 |
| 3 | x – Vegas Golden Knights | 82 | 43 | 32 | 7 | 40 | 249 | 230 | +19 | 93 |
| 4 | Arizona Coyotes | 82 | 39 | 35 | 8 | 35 | 213 | 223 | −10 | 86 |
| 5 | Vancouver Canucks | 82 | 35 | 36 | 11 | 29 | 225 | 254 | −29 | 81 |
| 6 | Anaheim Ducks | 82 | 35 | 37 | 10 | 32 | 199 | 251 | −52 | 80 |
| 7 | Edmonton Oilers | 82 | 35 | 38 | 9 | 32 | 232 | 274 | −42 | 79 |
| 8 | Los Angeles Kings | 82 | 31 | 42 | 9 | 28 | 202 | 263 | −61 | 71 |

## Schedule and results
### Preseason

The preseason schedule was released on June 18, 2018.

### Regular season

The regular season schedule was released on June 21, 2018.
2018–19 game log :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point) :

### Playoffs

The Golden Knights faced the San Jose Sharks in the first round of the playoffs, and were defeated in seven games. They played against each other in the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs, where the Golden Knights defeated the Sharks in the second round in six games.
2019 Stanley Cup playoffs :
Legend:
  Win
  Loss :

## Player statistics

Final

### Skaters

Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Jonathan Marchessault | 82 | 25 | 34 | 59 | +2 | 52 |
| William Karlsson | 82 | 24 | 32 | 56 | +1 | 16 |
| Reilly Smith | 74 | 19 | 34 | 53 | +13 | 14 |
| Alex Tuch | 74 | 20 | 32 | 52 | +13 | 8 |
| Paul Stastny | 50 | 13 | 29 | 42 | +14 | 30 |
| Cody Eakin | 78 | 22 | 19 | 41 | +19 | 16 |
| Max Pacioretty | 66 | 22 | 18 | 40 | −13 | 36 |
| Shea Theodore | 79 | 12 | 25 | 37 | −4 | 20 |
| Nate Schmidt | 61 | 9 | 21 | 30 | +22 | 8 |
| Colin Miller | 65 | 3 | 26 | 29 | 0 | 44 |
| Ryan Reaves | 80 | 9 | 11 | 20 | +1 | 74 |
| Brandon Pirri | 31 | 12 | 6 | 18 | +7 | 6 |
| Ryan Carpenter | 68 | 5 | 13 | 18 | −6 | 8 |
| Tomas Nosek | 68 | 8 | 9 | 17 | −10 | 18 |
| Brayden McNabb | 81 | 4 | 12 | 16 | +11 | 52 |
| Pierre-Edouard Bellemare | 76 | 6 | 9 | 15 | +2 | 6 |
| Jon Merrill | 57 | 3 | 12 | 15 | +16 | 53 |
| Nick Holden | 61 | 3 | 12 | 15 | +5 | 14 |
| Oscar Lindberg$^‡$ | 35 | 4 | 8 | 12 | +3 | 24 |
| Deryk Engelland | 74 | 2 | 10 | 12 | −3 | 18 |
| Mark Stone$^†$ | 18 | 5 | 6 | 11 | +4 | 5 |
| William Carrier | 54 | 8 | 1 | 9 | −4 | 29 |
| Brad Hunt$^‡$ | 13 | 2 | 5 | 7 | +3 | 2 |
| Erik Haula | 15 | 2 | 5 | 7 | +1 | 10 |
| Tomas Hyka | 17 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −2 | 2 |
| Valentin Zykov$^†$ | 10 | 2 | 0 | 2 | −3 | 0 |
| Daniel Carr | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0 |
| Jimmy Schuldt | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −1 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
| Mark Stone | 7 | 6 | 6 | 12 | +2 | 2 |
| Max Pacioretty | 7 | 5 | 6 | 11 | +1 | 4 |
| Paul Stastny | 7 | 2 | 6 | 8 | +2 | 2 |
| Shea Theodore | 7 | 1 | 7 | 8 | +1 | 6 |
| Jonathan Marchessault | 7 | 4 | 2 | 6 | +1 | 6 |
| Reilly Smith | 7 | 1 | 5 | 6 | +1 | 0 |
| William Karlsson | 7 | 2 | 3 | 5 | +1 | 2 |
| Nate Schmidt | 7 | 0 | 4 | 4 | +2 | 2 |
| Colin Miller | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | +1 | 6 |
| Cody Eakin | 7 | 2 | 0 | 2 | +1 | 17 |
| Alex Tuch | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| Brayden McNabb | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +4 | 8 |
| Deryk Engelland | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +2 | 8 |
| Nick Holden | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 2 |
| Brandon Pirri | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pierre-Edouard Bellemare | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| William Carrier | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 6 |
| Ryan Reaves | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 17 |
| Tomas Nosek | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3 | 14 |
| Jon Merrill | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Regular season :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Marc-Andre Fleury | 61 | 61 | 3,635 | 35 | 21 | 5 | 152 | 2.51 | 1745 | .913 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Malcolm Subban | 21 | 20 | 1,227 | 8 | 10 | 2 | 60 | 2.93 | 612 | .902 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Maxime Lagace | 1 | 1 | 60 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4.03 | 31 | .871 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Marc-Andre Fleury | 7 | 7 | 466:32 | 3 | 4 | 21 | 2.70 | 230 | .909 | 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 mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Golden Knights only. Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

## Transactions

The Golden Knights have been involved in the following transactions during the 2018–19 season.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| June 23, 2018 (2018-06-23) | To Pittsburgh Penguins7th-round pick in 2019 | To Vegas Golden Knights7th-round pick in 2018 |
| September 10, 2018 (2018-09-10) | To Montreal CanadiensTomas Tatar Nick Suzuki 2nd-round pick in 2019 | To Vegas Golden KnightsMax Pacioretty |
| January 3, 2019 (2019-01-03) | To Winnipeg JetsJimmy Oligny | To Vegas Golden KnightsFuture considerations |
| January 21, 2019 (2019-01-21) | To Minnesota WildBrad Hunt 6th-round pick in 2019 | To Vegas Golden KnightsConditional 5th-round pick in 2019 |
| February 25, 2019 (2019-02-25) | To Ottawa SenatorsErik Brannstrom Oscar Lindberg DAL's 2nd-round pick in 2020 | To Vegas Golden KnightsTobias Lindberg Mark Stone |

### Free agents

| Date | Player | Team | Contract term |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Daniel Carr | from Montreal Canadiens | 1-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Zach Fucale | from Montreal Canadiens | 1-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Alex Gallant | from Tampa Bay Lightning | 1-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Nick Holden | from Boston Bruins | 2-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Curtis McKenzie | from Dallas Stars | 2-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Jimmy Oligny | from Milwaukee Admirals (AHL) | 1-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | David Perron | to St. Louis Blues | 4-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Paul Stastny | from Winnipeg Jets | 3-year |
| July 2, 2018 (2018-07-02) | James Neal | to Calgary Flames | 5-year |
| July 2, 2018 (2018-07-02) | Paul Thompson | to Florida Panthers | 2-year |
| July 16, 2018 (2018-07-16) | Philip Holm | to Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (KHL) | 1-year |
| July 18, 2018 (2018-07-18) | Teemu Pulkkinen | to Dinamo Minsk (KHL) | 1-year |
| September 24, 2018 (2018-09-24) | Luca Sbisa | to New York Islanders | 1-year |
| October 2, 2018 (2018-10-02) | Jason Garrison | to Edmonton Oilers | 1-year |
| April 3, 2019 (2019-04-03) | Jimmy Schuldt | from St. Cloud State Huskies (NCHC) | 1-year |

### Waivers

| Date | Player | Team | Ref |
| December 29, 2018 (2018-12-29) | Valentin Zykov | from Edmonton Oilers | |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Contract term |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Maxime Lagace | 1-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Brandon Pirri | 1-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Ryan Reaves | 2-year |
| July 6, 2018 (2018-07-06) | Oscar Dansk | 2-year |
| July 7, 2018 (2018-07-07) | Colin Miller | 4-year |
| July 13, 2018 (2018-07-13) | Marc-Andre Fleury | 3-year |
| July 18, 2018 (2018-07-18) | Tomas Nosek | 1-year |
| July 23, 2018 (2018-07-23) | William Carrier | 2-year |
| August 4, 2018 (2018-08-04) | William Karlsson | 1-year |
| September 10, 2018 (2018-09-10) | Max Pacioretty | 4-year |
| September 24, 2018 (2018-09-24) | Shea Theodore | 7-year |
| October 19, 2018 (2018-10-19) | Alex Tuch | 7-year |
| October 25, 2018 (2018-10-25) | Nate Schmidt | 6-year |
| December 28, 2018 (2018-12-28) | Paul Cotter | 3-year |
| March 8, 2019 (2019-03-08) | Mark Stone | 8-year |
| April 14, 2019 (2019-04-14) | Nikita Gusev | 1-year |
| May 30, 2019 (2019-05-30) | Jonas Rondbjerg | 3-year |

## Draft picks

Below are the Vegas Golden Knights' selections at the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on June 22 and 23, 2018, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
| Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 2 | 61 | Ivan Morozov | C | Russia | Mamonty Yugry (MHL) |
| 4 | 99$^1$ | Slava Demin | D | United States | Wenatchee Wild (BCHL) |
| 4 | 115$^2$ | Paul Cotter | C | United States | Lincoln Stars (USHL) |
| 5 | 135$^3$ | Brandon Kruse | LW | United States | Bowling Green State University (WCHA) |
| 5 | 154 | Connor Corcoran | D | Canada | Windsor Spitfires (OHL) |
| 6 | 180$^4$ | Peter Diliberatore | D | Canada | Salisbury School (USHS) |
| 6 | 185 | Xavier Bouchard | D | Canada | Baie-Comeau Drakkar (QMJHL) |
| 7 | 208$^5$ | Jordan Kooy | G | Canada | London Knights (OHL) |
Notes:
* The Vancouver Canucks' fourth-round pick went to the Vegas Golden Knights as the result of a trade on February 23, 2018, that sent Derick Brassard to Pittsburgh in exchange for Ryan Reaves and this pick.
* The Pittsburgh Penguins' fourth-round pick went to the Vegas Golden Knights as the result of a trade on June 21, 2017, that ensured Vegas would select Jason Garrison in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft from Tampa Bay in exchange for Nikita Gusev, a second-round pick in 2017 and this pick.
* The Carolina Hurricanes' fifth-round pick went to the Vegas Golden Knights as the result of a trade on July 4, 2017, that sent Marcus Kruger to Carolina in exchange for this pick.
* The Toronto Maple Leafs' sixth-round pick went to the Vegas Golden Knights as the result of a trade on October 6, 2017, that sent Calvin Pickard to Toronto in exchange for Tobias Lindberg and this pick.
* The Pittsburgh Penguins' seventh-round pick went to the Vegas Golden Knights as the result of a trade on June 23, 2018, that sent a seventh-round pick in 2019 to Pittsburgh in exchange for this pick.