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Vegas Golden Knights First Half Report Cards: Forwards

ByRichard Cardinale|
LAS VEGAS, NV - DECEMBER 17: (L-R) Jonathan Marchessault #81 and Reilly Smith #19 of the Vegas Golden Knights celebrate after scoring a goal against the Florida Panthers during the game at T-Mobile Arena on December 17, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/NHLI via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - DECEMBER 17: (L-R) Jonathan Marchessault #81 and Reilly Smith #19 of the Vegas Golden Knights celebrate after scoring a goal against the Florida Panthers during the game at T-Mobile Arena on December 17, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/NHLI via Getty Images)
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A plethora of forwards stepped up and surprised many in the first-half for the Vegas Golden Knights.

The unbelievable story of the Vegas Golden Knights scoring depth is without a doubt one of the biggest strengths on the team. Golden Knights Head Coach Gerard Gallant rolls all four of his lines with no problems. When you have four complete lines that play that “hard work” style of play that Gallant preaches, you’re going to give teams fits. It’s one of the best luxuries to have in hockey.

Before the season started, Gallant emphasized they need a lot from their forward group to be competitive this year. Let’s just say they’re doing just that and more. Most of the forwards on the Golden Knights have already achieved their expectations for the year. The Knights are one of the best scoring groups in the entire NHL and who doesn’t love scoring?

Here’s how I’ll grade: Player performance, expectations coming into the season and the role the player serves. So without further ado, here are my grades for the forwards of the Vegas Golden Knights. Stefan Matteau and Ryan Carpenter get incomplete grades due to not reaching the minimum amount of games.

Jonathan Marchessault

LAS VEGAS, NV – JANUARY 2: Jonathan Marchessault #81 of the Vegas Golden Knights scores an empty net goal against the Nashville Predators during the game at T-Mobile Arena on January 2, 2018, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/NHLI via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV – JANUARY 2: Jonathan Marchessault #81 of the Vegas Golden Knights scores an empty net goal against the Nashville Predators during the game at T-Mobile Arena on January 2, 2018, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/NHLI via Getty Images)

Coming into the new season, I expected a down year from Jonathan Marchessault. I thought when he reached the 30-goal plateau in 2016-17, that it was just aberration. Instead, I was dead wrong about Marchessault, and I love the way he’s playing.

The Cap-Rouge, Quebec native is tearing it up for the expansion franchise. In 38 games played, he’s registered 16 goals, 24 assists, and 40 points which leads the team.  The significant improvement from last years stats is his plus/minus rating.

Last year, Marchessault played for a horrible Florida team, and he was a -21 while this year in Vegas he’s now a +17. A lot of that has to do with playing with linemates Reilly Smith and William Karlsson. The difference is night and day for the 27-year old forward.

Marchessault is locked in with the Golden Knights for the next six years following this season, and that should make any Vegas fan excited. He’s a special player for smaller forward, and he had a fantastic first half. There’s no reason to believe he can’t keep this up.

Grade: A+

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