In their first season of existing, the Vegas Golden Knights surprised everybody, and won the Pacific division, but their Cinderella story ended when they lost in the Stanley Cup finals. Before we look at their team, here\’s some fast facts for the Vegas Golden Knights.
Head Coach: Gerard Gallant
General Manager: George McPhee
Arena: T-Mobile Arena
AHL Affiliate: Chicago Wolves
2017-18 record: 51-24-7 (109 points)
2017-18 placement: 1st
Division: Pacific
2017-18 goals leader: William Karlsson (43)
2017-18 assists leader: David Perron (50)
2017-18 points leader: William Karlsson (78)
2017-18 points leader (defensemen): Colin Miller (41)
Captain: None
Assistant Captains: Pierre-Edouard Bellmare, Deryk Engelland, Reilly Smith
2018 first round pick: None, selected Ivan Morozov 61st overall
Offseason additions: Max Pacioretty, Paul Stastny, Nick Holden, Dan Carr
Offseason subtractions: James Neal, David Perron, Tomas Tatar, Luca Sbisa, Nick Suzuki, Jason Garrison, Clayton Stoner
Forwards: James Neal and David Perron and Tomas Tatar are all out, and the only one to replace them is Max Pacioretty. Alex Tuch had a good rookie season. There is hope that Ryan Carpenter, Tomas Nosek and Ryan Reaves can step it up, and that Erik Haula can score nearly 30 goals again.
Forward lines:
Jonathan Marchessault – William Karlsson – Reilly Smith
Max Pacioretty – Paul Stastny – Alex Tuch
Tomas Nosek – Erik Haula – Ryan Carpenter
Pierre-Edouard Bellmare – Cody Eakin – Ryan Reaves
Other: Dan Carr, Oscar Lindberg, Will Carrier
Defensemen: Nate Schmidt\’s suspension will hurt. Shea Theodore had a good rookie season, and Colin Miler lead Vegas defensemen in points. The rest is a little shaky, as Brayden McNabb, Nick Holden and Deryk Engelland are aging. Nic Hague and Erik Brannstrom are still at least a year away.
Defensive pairs:
Shea Theodore – Colin Miller
Brayden McNabb – Deryk Engelland
Nick Holden – Jon Merrill
Other: Brad Hunt
Suspended: Nate Schmidt
Goalies: Marc-Andre Fleury showed that he was an all-star goalie. The early season goalie saga showed the team a lot about their backups. Malcolm Subban is first, Oscar Dansk is next.
Goalies:
Marc-Andre Fleury
Malcolm Subban
Other: Oscar Dansk
Predictions:
Top five scorers:
Jonathan Marchessault
William Karlsson
Max Pacioretty
Reilly Smith
Alex Tuch
Erik Haula
Playoffs: Yes
Division: 2nd
I think the Vegas Golden Knights will be eliminated in the second round of the playoffs.
CarterHud 