Golden Knights All-Decade Team Vegas | Ryan Rose

by Ryan Rose

What Happened

On August 10, 2026, SinBin.vegas posted its Golden Knights All-Decade Team. SinBin.vegas is a Las Vegas hockey site run by Ken Boehlke, and it has covered the franchise since the beginning. That history is part of why the list carries weight with local fans.

The format is what makes it different. Instead of simply naming the six best players in franchise history, Boehlke assigned players to roles. That means the question is not just "who was great," it is "who fits here." A player can be excellent and still land on the second line or the shutdown line because of the job he did best.

The top line is Mark Stone, Jack Eichel, and Jonathan Marchessault. That group covers a lot of ground. Marchessault was there from the first season. Stone arrived and became the captain. Eichel became the center the franchise built around. Putting all three on one imaginary line is the kind of thing that makes fans stop scrolling.

The shutdown line is Reilly Smith, William Karlsson, and Mitch Marner. Smith and Karlsson were part of the original group of players who nobody expected to win anything. Marner is one of the newest names on the roster. Pairing the old and the new in the same defensive trio is a bold call, and it is exactly the kind of choice that fills a comment section.

The piece also points out a small detail that Vegas fans love. Marner gave up No. 16 when he came to Las Vegas, and he wears No. 93 instead. Number stories matter in hockey. They tell you something about respect, history, and who came before you. That one line has probably launched a hundred conversations by itself.

Because the list is role-based, it also invites disagreement in a friendly way. You are not being asked to say a player was bad. You are being asked whether he belonged on the first line or the second, and whether the guy you loved most got the right job. That is a much more fun argument than a plain ranking, and it is a big reason this piece traveled through Las Vegas hockey circles so fast.

One more thing worth saying clearly. This is one writer's opinion, not an official team announcement. The Golden Knights did not release an all-decade team. SinBin.vegas did. That is part of the appeal. It is a local voice starting a local argument, and the whole valley gets to join in.

Hockey players lined up on the ice inside a large indoor arena during a game

Why It Matters to Las Vegas Residents

A debate about a fantasy lineup might sound like it only matters to hockey fans. In Las Vegas, it matters to a lot more people than that. The Golden Knights changed how this city sees itself, and lists like this one are how a community keeps its own story straight.

Think about what Clark County looked like in 2016. We had no major league team. If you wanted to root for something, you picked a team from somewhere else. Then a hockey team showed up, and within one year the whole valley was wearing gray and gold. Neighbors who had never watched a hockey game learned what a power play was. That shared experience is real, and it is worth remembering.

It also matters because sports drive real economic activity here. Game nights at T-Mobile Arena fill restaurants, rideshares, hotels, and parking garages. Workers across the valley pick up shifts on those nights. Small businesses near the arena plan their weeks around the schedule. When the team is good and the building is loud, that money moves through Clark County.

Then there is the youth side. City National Arena in Summerlin opened in 2017 as the team's practice facility, and it also serves the community. Kids in Clark County now grow up with real access to ice. Parents drive to early morning practices. Travel teams form. That is a whole layer of family life in Las Vegas that simply did not exist ten years ago.

For homeowners, this shows up in a quieter way. When people move here from other states, they ask about what there is to do. Having a decade of pro hockey, a championship, and a practice rink you can visit is an answer. It is part of the pitch for neighborhoods like Summerlin and the west side, and it is part of why families feel comfortable planting roots instead of treating Las Vegas as a stop.

There is a generational piece to this as well. A kid who was born in Clark County in 2017 is now about nine years old and has never lived in a Las Vegas without a hockey team. That kid does not think of the Golden Knights as new. To that kid, the team is just part of the city, the same way the Strip and the mountains are. Ten years is how long it takes for something to stop being an experiment and start being a tradition.

And honestly, it matters because it is fun. Clark County spends a lot of time arguing about water, traffic, school ratings, and home prices. An argument about whether Marchessault belongs on the top line is a break from all of that. Communities need low-stakes things to disagree about. This is one of them.

Background and History

The Golden Knights played their first season in 2017-18, and almost nothing about it went the way experts predicted. Expansion teams are supposed to lose. This one went all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. They became the first team since the 1967-68 St. Louis Blues to reach the Final in a first season, and the Washington Capitals beat them four games to one.

That run gave the roster its nickname. The players other teams gave up on became the Golden Misfits, and Las Vegas adopted them completely. It also came weeks after the October 1, 2017 shooting, and the team's first home game turned into something much bigger than hockey. Anyone who lived here then remembers what that night felt like.

Six years later, the franchise finished the job. The Golden Knights beat the Florida Panthers 9-3 in Game 5 of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final and won the championship. Las Vegas had waited a long time for a major league title, and it arrived faster than almost anyone thought possible.

The team built local roots along the way. City National Arena opened on September 18, 2017 at 1550 S. Pavilion Center Drive in Summerlin. It runs about 146,000 square feet across two floors, with two regulation rinks, locker rooms, sports medicine space, a restaurant, and a team store. The Golden Knights also added a minor league partner close to home, and the Henderson Silver Knights play in Henderson so young players can develop without leaving Southern Nevada.

So when a Las Vegas hockey writer publishes an all-decade team in 2026, there is real material to work with. There are original players, a captain, a franchise center, a Cup roster, and new arrivals. Ten years is enough time for players to become part of how the city talks about itself, which is exactly why the list generated so much reaction.

A red and white hockey net on fresh ice inside an empty rink

What Happens Next

The argument runs straight into the new season. The Golden Knights open at home against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday, September 29, 2026 at T-Mobile Arena, with puck drop set for 7:30 p.m. Pacific. The game is scheduled to air nationally on ESPN, which means the rest of the country will get a look at the start of Season X.

That is the eighth time in ten years the team has started its season at home. It is also a schedule with a real change behind it. The 2026-27 regular season is the first time NHL clubs will play 84 games instead of 82. More games means more nights downtown, more chances to see a live game, and more chances for a young player to make his own case for a future all-decade list.

Expect more lists like this one between now and the opener. Anniversary seasons pull nostalgia out of everybody. Local outlets, podcasts, and fan accounts will publish their own versions, and each one will start the argument over. If you disagreed with the SinBin.vegas lineup, you will get plenty of other lineups to compare it to.

Watch City National Arena in Summerlin too. The Golden Knights have invited fans to watch practice there before, and the weeks before a season open are when the roster starts to take shape. If you want to see the newest players up close without buying a ticket, that is the place to check.

Keep an eye on the Henderson Silver Knights as well. The Golden Knights develop players in Henderson, and the names that show up there this winter are the same names that could be on a Las Vegas all-decade list in 2036. Following the minor league team is one of the cheapest ways to watch that pipeline work.

The real answer to the debate will come on the ice. A lineup built by a writer is a snapshot of what already happened. The next few months decide whether new names force their way onto the list the next time somebody writes one.

Downtown Las Vegas street lit up at night, the kind of city energy that follows a Golden Knights home game

Ryan's Take

I sell houses in this valley, and I can tell you that this team shows up in real conversations with buyers. People relocating here ask what Las Vegas is like when you are not on the Strip. Hockey is one of the easiest answers I have. It gives you a season, a routine, and a reason to know your neighbors.

The other thing I notice is how much this decade changed the way locals talk about Las Vegas. We used to describe the valley by what visitors do here. Now people describe it by what we do here. That shift is subtle, and it matters for property values in a way that does not show up on any spreadsheet. Cities where people feel invested tend to hold onto their residents, and residents who stay build stable neighborhoods.

I also think ten-year markers are useful for buyers who feel like they missed something. A lot of people tell me they wish they had bought here in 2017. Fair enough. But 2017 was also the year most people assumed this team would be terrible for a decade. Nobody knew what was coming, in hockey or in housing. The lesson I take from it is simple. You make the best decision you can with the information in front of you, and you give it time.

My honest opinion on the list? Building it around roles was the smart move, because it forces you to think about what each player actually did rather than just who scored the most. I would still argue about the shutdown line all night. That is the point. If a list makes you want to defend a player from 2018, it did its job, and it says something good about how deep this city's hockey memory has gotten in ten short years.

Fans watching a hockey game from the stands as players battle for the puck along the boards

What You Can Do

Start by reading the SinBin.vegas piece yourself and building your own lineup. Write down your top line, your shutdown line, and one player you think got left out. Then post it. This is the rare Las Vegas argument where nobody loses anything, and it is a good way to meet other fans in your neighborhood.

If you want to be in the building, plan ahead for September 29 at T-Mobile Arena. Home openers are one of the tougher tickets of the year, especially with a national broadcast attached. If that game is out of reach, look at a weekday game later in the fall, when prices tend to settle down. You can also check the Henderson Silver Knights schedule for a cheaper night of pro hockey closer to Green Valley and the southeast valley.

Families should look at City National Arena in Summerlin. Public skating, youth programs, and open practices are all reasons to visit even if you never watch a full NHL game. If you have a kid who has been curious about hockey, one hour on the ice tells you more than a season of watching from the couch.

And if you are new to Clark County and trying to figure out which part of the valley fits your life, the answer often comes down to what you want to be near. Some buyers want the west side and Summerlin. Others want Henderson. Knowing what you actually want your weeknights to look like is a real part of picking a neighborhood.

Have questions about how this affects your home or neighborhood? Reach out to Ryan Rose or text/call 702-747-5921 anytime.