Golden Knights Forwards Are Carrying the Offense More Than Any Team in the NHL

by Ryan Rose

What Happened

In hockey, a point is either a goal or an assist. Through 18 games, Boehlke counted 6 goals and 28 points from Vegas defensemen. That ranked 29th in the 32-team league overall and 30th on a per-game basis.

Forwards did the rest. They had 89.8 percent of the team's goals and 78.0 percent of its assists, which adds up to the 82.4 percent of all points. Boehlke says that share is easily on pace to be the highest in franchise history.

Then came the money part of the story. Shea Theodore, Noah Hanifin and Rasmus Andersson together take up 22.3 percent of the salary cap. The cap is the league's limit on what each team can spend on players, and it is $104 million this season. That means those three cost about $23.2 million against the cap this year.

Through those 18 games, the three of them had 17 combined points, or 10.7 percent of the team's offense. Boehlke added a detail that stung. Former Golden Knight Kaedan Korczak picked up his 10th assist of the season, which was double Theodore's point total at the time.

The numbers have barely moved since then. After a 4-1 win in Buffalo on Nov. 8, NHL.com stats show Theodore, Hanifin and Andersson each with 2 goals, 4 assists and 6 points in 19 games. That is 18 points for the trio. The top scorer on the Vegas blue line is actually Brayden McNabb, who has 8 points, all assists.

The forward list tells the other side of the story. Jack Eichel has 24 points, Mitch Marner has 20 and Mark Stone has 19, including 10 goals. Tomas Hertl has 14, Ivan Barbashev has 13 and Trevor Connelly has 12. As a group, forwards now have 138 of the team's 167 points, or about 82.6 percent.

Pace makes the gap easier to picture. An NHL season is 82 games. At the rate they are going after 19 games, Theodore, Hanifin and Andersson would each finish with about 26 points. The whole Vegas defense group would finish with about 125. Pace numbers are only a rough guide this early, and a hot stretch can change them fast. But they give you a sense of how far off a normal year this is for players at this price.

A referee watches two players lean in for a face-off at center ice as the puck drops

Why It Matters to Las Vegas Residents

The most interesting number in Boehlke's story is not about scoring at all. It is about the other end of the ice. In the first 10 games, when Vegas defensemen scored all 6 of their goals and had 20 of their 28 points, the team gave up 2.40 goals per game. In the next eight games, the blue line had no goals and only 8 assists. Vegas gave up 3.13 goals per game over that stretch.

That does not prove one thing caused the other. Eight games is a small sample, and goalies, schedule and injuries all play a part. But it does match what coaches tell players at every level of the game. When your defensemen can move the puck and join the rush, the other team spends less time in your end. Good offense from the back can also be good defense.

Boehlke also points out that the Vegas blue line is not sitting back. Vegas ranks second in the NHL with 123 long-range shot attempts, 35 more than the league average. So the defensemen are shooting from far out. The shots just are not turning into goals. That is a different problem from a defense that never tries, and it may be easier to fix.

For fans, this changes how you might watch a game. Goals are easy to see. A clean first pass out of the zone is not. Next time you are at T-Mobile Arena or watching from the couch, try watching the two defensemen for a few shifts instead of the puck. You will see how much of the game starts with them.

Here is a quick way to think about what a defenseman does with the puck. He gets it behind his own net and has a second or two to find a forward. He stands at the blue line on the attack and decides whether to shoot or pass. He runs the power play from the top of the zone. Each of those plays can lead to an assist, even if he never scores. That is why the low assist number is the one worth a closer look.

There is also a money angle that any budget-minded person can understand. A hockey team has a fixed amount to spend, just like a household. Every dollar on one part of the roster is a dollar that cannot go somewhere else. When more than a fifth of the budget sits with three players, people are going to ask what they are getting for it. Vegas fans care about this team, so they are asking.

Background and History

Vegas forwards have always scored most of the points. That part is normal. Boehlke's season-by-season table shows forwards providing somewhere between 72.2 percent and 79.4 percent of the points in every season before this one. The low was 2020-21. The high was last season, at 79.4 percent. This year's 82.4 percent would be a new mark.

The best argument against panic comes from the team's own trophy case. In 2022-23, the season Vegas won the Stanley Cup, forwards provided 75.5 percent of the regular season points. In the playoffs that share went up to 79.8 percent. On that Cup run, Vegas defensemen scored just 9.1 percent of the team's goals. So far this season, they have scored 10.2 percent. Vegas has already shown it can win it all with a blue line that does not score much.

The difference is the price tag and the assists. This year's forwards have 78.0 percent of the assists, the highest share in the 10 seasons on Boehlke's table. In the Cup season that number was 68.9 percent. In other words, defensemen scoring few goals is not new. Defensemen setting up so few goals is what stands out.

The three big contracts were built over time. Theodore has been in Vegas since the team's first season, and Hanifin came over in a trade from Calgary in March 2024. Andersson arrived from Calgary on Jan. 18, 2026, in a deal that sent Zach Whitecloud and two conditional draft picks to the Flames. On July 1, Vegas signed Andersson to a seven-year, $59.5 million contract, which carries an $8.5 million cap hit. That contract runs for years, which is why the question is not going away soon.

The cost of Andersson also changed this year. When Vegas traded for him in January, Calgary agreed to keep paying half of what was left on his old contract. That help is gone now. His new deal counts in full against the cap, and it started this season. The cap did rise, from $95.5 million last season to $104 million this season, so every team has more room. Even so, the same three players still take up more than a fifth of the Vegas budget.

Here is how the forward share of Vegas points looks over the last five seasons, from Boehlke's table:

2026-27 (so far): 82.4 percent
2025-26: 79.4 percent
2024-25: 74.9 percent
2023-24: 74.9 percent
2022-23 (Stanley Cup season): 75.5 percent

Put together, the list shows a clear jump over the last two seasons. Forwards have taken on a bigger piece of the scoring, and the blue line has taken on less of it.

Black and white view from behind a team bench as hockey players watch the game from the boards

What Happens Next

Vegas is about to get a long look at home. The team plays five straight at T-Mobile Arena: Utah on Wednesday, Nov. 11, Nashville on Friday, Nov. 13, Vancouver on Sunday, Nov. 15, and then Dallas twice, on Tuesday, Nov. 17, and Thursday, Nov. 19. The team then heads out for road games in Winnipeg, Edmonton and San Jose before returning home to face Montreal on Nov. 28.

The most immediate issue is health. Hanifin left the third period in Buffalo with an apparent injury. We could not confirm his status for the Utah game when this was written, so check the team's injury report before you read too much into any lineup. If he misses time, the group will have to find points with one fewer of its top three.

The streak to watch is simple. According to the NHL.com scoring totals, Vegas defensemen still have only the 6 goals from the first 10 games. That means nine straight games now without a goal from the blue line. A goal or two on this homestand would quiet some of the talk. It would also give a real test of whether the goals-against number comes back down when the defense is involved on offense.

Keep the bigger picture in mind too. Vegas has won three straight, including the 4-1 game in Buffalo. The offense has been winning games even with the blue line this quiet. The real question is what happens in spring, when the games get tighter and every team's top scorers are checked harder. That is when a team needs points from every part of its lineup.

The math on a turnaround is not as scary as the headline makes it sound. Say the forwards stayed at their current 138 points. The defense would need about 7 more points to bring the forward share back to last season's 79.4 percent. It would need about 16 more to match the 75.5 percent from the Cup season. Forwards will keep scoring, of course, so the real target moves. But over a long season, a few good weeks from the blue line can change this number in a hurry.

Ryan's Take

I coach an 8U hockey team here in Las Vegas, and the first thing young players want to do is score. It takes years to learn that the kid who makes the quiet pass out of the corner is doing something just as important. So I would not judge these three defensemen on points alone. Defensemen kill penalties, block shots and take on the other team's best players, and none of that shows up in the points column.

What I do look at is the same thing I look at when I help someone buy a home: what are you paying for, and are you getting it? Buyers pay more for things you cannot see in the listing photos, like a newer roof or a solid foundation. That is often money well spent. But if you pay a premium for a feature, you should expect that feature to work. If the blue line is paid to help drive the attack, it is fair to want to see that on the score sheet.

Hockey is also one reason a lot of families here think about where they live. City National Arena in Summerlin and the rinks around the valley have become part of the weekly routine for many parents. That shows up in how they pick a neighborhood.

Young hockey players skate during a game at City National Arena in Las Vegas

What You Can Do

If you want to see this story play out for yourself, the next two weeks are a good time. All five games of the homestand are at T-Mobile Arena. Check the Golden Knights schedule on NHL.com for start times, and compare ticket prices before you buy, since a weeknight game can cost less than a weekend one.

While you are watching, keep a simple score. Count how many times a Vegas defenseman makes the pass that starts a scoring chance. Count how many of those long shots from the point actually get to the net. You can check each player's goals and assists on the team stats page at NHL.com after the game. By Nov. 19, you will have five more games to judge whether the 82.4 percent number is starting to come down.

You can also do the math at home. Add up the points for every defenseman on the stats page, then divide by the team's total points. Subtract that number from 100 and you have the forward share. It takes about two minutes, and it is a fun way to get a young hockey fan into the numbers behind the game.

If your kids have caught the hockey bug, ask about learn-to-play programs at a rink close to home. And if you are thinking about a move, it helps to bring up the rink early. A long drive to early practice is something a family feels all season, so it is worth mapping before you pick a neighborhood.

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

Ryan Rose | Real Broker, LLC | 702-747-5921 | ryan@rosehomeslv.com | rosehomeslv.com