Knights owner Bill Foley already wants more Stanley Cups

As everyone knows, unless they’ve been living in a cave for the past week, the Vegas Golden Knights have been crowned Stanley Cup champions for the 2023 edition.

The Knights made short work of the Florida Panthers in the final to win the first Stanley Cup in their history, six years after joining the NHL.

That’s quite a feat for such a young expansion team.

However, for team owner Bill Foley, this is just the beginning.

At a press conference yesterday, the 78-year-old said he was already looking forward to more Stanley Cups in the years to come.

Barely out of his team’s first conquest, the owner already wants more.

Foley explained that four years ago, when William Karlsson signed his eight-year deal with the Vegas Golden Knights, he told him he expected three Stanley Cup victories during his contract.

“We’re not done yet. When (William) Karlsson agreed to an eight-year contract, I told him I expected three Stanley Cups during his deal.” – Bill Foley

Nothing less.

In fact, Foley reminded Karlsson of this during the team photo with the Stanley Cup.

“[…] When we were taking the picture, I looked at him and said, “Okay, you got one. (But) do you remember what I told you?”” – Bill Foley

The Knights will have to win two more Stanley Cups in four years to meet the owner’s expectations, given that Karlsson has four seasons left on his eight-year contract.

It should also be noted that the team’s general manager, Kelly McCrimmon, stated at the same press conference that he was confident of being able to retain the current champion core.

In fact, he believes he’ll be able to do so more easily than previous champion teams.

That’s what we’ll see this summer, when the Golden Knights should have around $8 million available under the salary cap with Robin Lehner on the LTIR.

Players without contracts for next season include Adin Hill, Laurent Brossoit, Ivan Barbashev and Brett Howden.

Let’s see how Vegas handles it all.

In a gust

– A Johnathan Kovacevic 2.0 on the horizon?

– Will Smith compared to William Nylander, Ryan Leonard compared to Sam Bennett.

– Imagine Connor Hellebuyck in Edmonton.

– Anton Lundell’s development is going quite well.

– That’s right.