Viva, Las Vegas!
When the Vegas Golden Knights earned a spot into the Stanley Cup Finals, they became the second expansion team since 1960 to reach a championship series in their first season.
That’s expansion, as in NHL, NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball. The last expansion club to reach the championship series was the 1967-68 St. Louis Blues, although admittedly, there were only 12 teams in the NHL that year and eight earned playoff berths. This year, there are 31 NHL teams, so Vegas’ performance is much more impressive.
Not only that, Vegas Golden Knights Stanley Cup memorabilia is fast becoming popular among collectors. From autographed posters to patches, pucks and card sets, Knights’ collectible items are hot. Fanatics.com has been busy creating all kinds of Golden Knights Stanley Cup memorabilia and sales have been sizzling. Among the players who have been lined up to sign Stanley Cup team-signed items are Marc-Andre Fleury, William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault, James Neal, Tomas Tatar, Alex Tuch, Ryan Reaves, Reilly Smith, Erik Haula, Brayden Mcnabb, Nate Schmidt, David Perron, Deryk Engelland, Shea Theodore and Cody Eakin.
Here’s a look at some of the more popular and interesting Golden Knights memorabilia we found online.
Posters
Among the most popular Golden Knights collectibles have been the posters that were handed out to fans at home games during the inaugural season. They also served as a program of sorts, hence all the listings for “poster program” on eBay.
An Opening Night poster, autographed by 17 players, coach Gerard Gallant and General Manager George McPhee had a buy-it-now price of $1,459.99 on eBay. This poster is from the Golden Knights’ home opener on Oct. 10, 2017, when Vegas hosted the Arizona Coyotes.
Another poster from the home opener offers 18 signature and includes goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.
A white poster with the Golden Knights logo that measures 22 inches by 34 inches has 23 autographs, including Fleury, Gallant, McPhee, regular-season leading scorer William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault. That one was originally listed for $1,600, but the eBay seller decided to drop the price by 35 percent to $1,040.
One eBay seller is offering 14 different posters, and throws in an additional two posters, giving a collector 16 out of the Golden Knights’ game-day posters. Going one step better, another seller is offering all 41 posters — in mint condition — for a starting bid of $799.99 and a buy-it-now price of $1,099.99.
Posters sort of seem like a 1990s thing but the Knights have made them cool again. How popular are they? You can find over 400 listings on eBay right now and hundreds more that have sold just in the past few weeks.
Programs and yearbooks
Among the more popular items to own is the official 2018 Stanley Cup program.
Any program or yearbook from a first-year club can be valuable, but the Golden Knights have ramped up the desirability of owning such items because of their deep playoff run.
Pins
Collectible pins depicting Vegas’ run to the Stanley Cup are available at reasonable rates. The Western Conference finals pin, for example, start as low as $12.49 for a buy-it-now purchase. There are also pins available online for the Golden Knights’ first-round series against the Los Angeles Kings, and the second-round series against the San Jose Sharks.
Western Conference champion dangler-style pins have already popped up on eBay, and one heralding Vegas’ appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals is being offered in a pre-sale. The actual pin won’t be available until May 28, but by then the Golden Knights will be playing against either the Lightning or the Washington Capitals.
Other pin offerings include a team lapel pin, an inaugural season pin, a Pacific Division championship pin, and most points by an expansion team pin. One interesting pin lauds the Golden Knights for becoming the first expansion team to sweep a playoff series. The two brooms, crisscrossing in a pose normally reserved for hockey sticks, was a nice touch to commemorate a first-round sweep against the Kings.
Given Las Vegas’ reputation as the gambling mecca of the United States, it is not surprising that one pin is a knockoff of the famous “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign.
Pucks
Hockey pucks have traditionally been a go-to item for collectors, and Vegas collectors have plenty to choose from. The Knights sold commemorative pucks at home games and offered warmup-used pucks to fans.
Already on the market are pucks that showcase the Golden Knights’ first-round sweep over the Kings, and their second-round series against San Jose. A “lock up” puck shows the logos of the Golden Knights with the Stanley Cup, while the back sports an NHL shield and a hologram sticker.
Autographed pucks are in high demand, with many including inscriptions from milestone moments in the franchise’s first year. Marc-Andre Fleury signed pucks are especially popular. One puck signed by the Vegas goalie marks the franchise’s first victory, a 2-1 triumph at Dallas on Oct. 6, 2017. Fleury stopped 45 of 46 shots in that inaugural game. Still another autograph marks Fleury’s 400th victory, a 3-2 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on March 12, 2018.
Other signed milestones include the first hat trick in Vegas history, registered by Karlsson on Dec. 31, 2017, in a 6-3 victory against Toronto that capped off an 11-1-1 month and a 7-0-1 home record for December. Another puck signed by Karlsson bears the inscription “Wild Bill.” And one puck, signed by James Neal, has an additional inscription that symbolizes what Vegas players have been calling themselves all season — The Real Deal.
Several pucks for sale include autographs of player that contain inscription “Vegas Strong,” the slogan of encouragement after the United States’ deadliest mass shooting in history, which occurred outside the Mandalay Bay hotel on the Las Vegas Strip during a concert on Oct. 1, 2017.
Knights Hockey Cards and Sets
Upper Deck didn’t wait until the championship round to knock out some Golden Knights hockey card sets. They recently announced a boxed set chronicling the Knights’ inaugural season –with potential bonuses. The 50-card base set also has five randomly inserted “Golden Parallels.” Autographs are a possibility, showing up once in every 20 boxes. Autos include Fleury and James Neal. In addition to one card for every player on the roster, the set will have 15 highlight cards that play up the team’s biggest moments from its inaugural season.
The boxes go for $29.99 and can be pre-ordered here.
Earlier in the season, Upper Deck released a 20-card Inaugural Images set, and the farther the Golden Knights have advanced into the playoffs, the higher the demand by collectors.
Prices are ranging from $89.99 and up for unopened packs of the set. The cards were handed out through hobby shops as an Upper Deck promotion, so the limited supply has helped drive up the price.
Autographed Jerseys
You can find authentic signed Golden Knights jerseys from several players— and even the stars really aren’t that expensive compared to those on other marquee franchises in sports. They can be somewhat limited in quantity, so it’s probably best not to wait too long to grab them.
Tickets
The nice thing about postseason games is that the tickets themselves can be collectible items.
A good example is the commemorative ticket issued for the Western Conference finals between Vegas and Winnipeg. The black color really pops on these tickets too, so they are nice for display purposes.
One seller is offering commemorative tickets from all three rounds of the Western Conference playoffs. Karlsson is featured on the first-round ticket, Marchessault is featured on Round 2, and Smith is on the third-round ticket.
For fans of the regular season, ticket stubs can be purchased at reasonable prices.
Miscellaneous Knights Stuff
Among other items produced so far area Highland Mint Western Conference champions coin and several 15-inch by 17-inch collages, some with pieces of game-used pucks.
Bobbleheads have grown in popularity over the years, and it was inevitable that some members of the Vegas squad would have one, like Karlsson, Malcolm Subban, and even the team mascot, Chance.
If you’re a Vegas fan, snapping up some of these items are a no-brainer. Investors might step in to buy some of this memorabilia, too. After all, Las Vegas is a gambling town, and if a collector betting on the Golden Knights to win the Stanley Cup might enjoy quite a windfall if members of the Vegas squad are skating around the rink in mid-June hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup.