Big Solutions: The Big Guns for the Golden Knights must do more.

What was formerly seen as a minor downturn for the Vegas Golden Knights is most likely now a full-fledged slide. While the team’s season record of 14-5-4 is hardly depressing, winning just three of their last 11 games isn’t great, especially considering that they won 10 of their first 11 games.

To their credit, the veterans have shown no overt signs of fear or weakened self-esteem. Nicolas Roy said after the team’s 2-1 overtime loss against the Calgary Flames on Monday that it wasn’t their best effort, but it wasn’t their worst either. Following the team’s 5-4 shootout loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday, captain Mark Stone was eager to highlight the benefits of earning a point despite facing difficulties.

Though keeping an optimistic attitude is commendable, it ignores the obvious: Vegas’ offensive onslaught has stagnated, with the top six accounting for the majority of it. Ivan Barbashev’s lackluster debut was discussed last week, but the Golden Knights struggle to score goals and don’t have many players in the top six.

The team’s top-paid strikers need to step up, as evidenced by the fact that they have only scored two goals in their previous four games and that head coach Bruce Cassidy has emphasized the bottom six (in a good way).

Jack Eichel

Unsurprisingly, Jack Eichel has had the biggest impact on the team’s success out of all the Golden Knights. This season, the team has an 11-1-3 record in games when Eichel has scored a point. In contrast, the results of the games in which he hasn’t scored are only 3-4-1.

In that regard, the 27-year-old’s recent decline in offensive output may have had a greater impact on the Golden Knights than on any other player. Over the last three games, Eichel has only provided one secondary assist, logging 22 minutes of work in each of the two trips to Alberta. He has slowed down a bit from the point-per-game pace he set during the team’s early season success, with two points in his previous five games. Even though he has scored 21 points in 23 games, it is evident that his recent output has decreased.

Jonathan Marchessault

Although Barbashev has received most of the attention due to his poor start, Jonathan Marchessault, his linemate and the current Conn Smythe winner, has also been remarkably silent. Marchessault has only 14 points in 23 games this season, including five over his last 11 games. It’s unclear if this is due to a Stanley Cup hangover or something else.

Those numbers, while not bad, fall short of the bar he set for himself during the playoff run of the previous year. He participated in every one of the team’s 22 postseason games, although he only missed one game, finishing with a league-high 13 goals and 12 assists. Now that the explosive combination of Barbashev, Eichel, and Marchessault has long ago split up, each player is, to differing degrees, attempting to find their game.

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Chandler Stephenson

Chandler Stephenson is in new territory for the 2023–24 season. Initially, an upper-body injury was sustained during the Golden Knights’ 4-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on November 5. Although the quick forward was only out for four games as a result, that was the same number of games that Stephenson had missed in the two seasons prior.

Second, there hasn’t been much production lately. It’s possible that Stephenson’s problems—one assist and a minus-7 rating over his last seven games—are the result of an injury. When he was sent off during the team’s overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on November 18, it was clear that he wasn’t acting like himself. He had cross-checked Garnet Hathaway after the whistle.

Whatever the cause of his poor performance right now, Stephenson is still getting consistent ice time and a slot on the top line with Stone and Eichel. It is expected of the 29-year-old to produce more than what he has so far offered in a contract year as long as that keeps up.

Not all of the blame for the Golden Knights’ recent losing streak lies with the best players up front. While the blue line is currently coping with injuries to Alec Martinez and Shea Theodore, Logan Thompson is going through a slump of his own. Nevertheless, the $22.75 million foursome of Barbashev, Stephenson, Eichel, and Marchessault is signed. They are expected to do better, and now is the time for them to step up with the Los Angeles Kings and Vancouver Canucks gaining ground on them and the Edmonton Oilers starting to play well.