Vegas Golden Knights Resign Goaltender Oscar Dansk

Goalie prospect re-ups with the Vegas Golden Knights for two more seasons.

The Vegas Golden Knights have three restricted free agents that are arbitration eligible. And it appears as all three will file for arbitration.  Those players being William Karlsson, Tomas Nosek, and Colin Miller.

All are critical pieces to the Golden Knights success. I suspect all three to be signed, sealed and ready for the 2018-19 season following their arbitration deals. However, the two could sign a contract and avoid arbitration altogether. In fact, the same thing just happened to one of the Golden Knights minor league restricted free agents.

On Friday, the Vegas Golden Knights and Oscar Dansk avoid arbitration and sign a two-year deal. With Dansk back in the fold for Vegas, he will be the one to challenge Malcolm Subban for the backup position in training camp. Can he possibly outshine Subban and steal the backup spot? Absolutely

Yes, the Stockholm, Sween native has a tiny sample size at the NHL level. It’s questionable if Dansk will ever sustain that success in the NHL ever again. Although, the Golden Knights have never lost with him in net.

In 2017-18, Dansk played four games and went 3-0-0 with a 1.78 GAA, a save percentage of .946% and one shutout. The shutout that Dansk posted is actually the first Golden Knights shutout in team history. So no matter what, Dansk will always have his stamp in Vegas hockey history.

Just when he was getting on a run at the NHL level, a lower-body injury against the New York Islanders shelved him for months. We never saw Dansk play for the Golden Knights after that game. He returned to action playing for the Golden Knights American Hockey League affiliate, the Chicago Wolves.

The 24-year old even impressed at the minor league level. Dansk played 20 games in the AHL and went 13-3-4 with a 2.44 GAA, a .918 SV% and one shutout.

After seeing Dansk play in 17-18, I can honestly tell you he was outrageously dependable in goal for the Golden Knights. Does he flop around in the crease when there’s a flurry of shots, yes, but he makes the initial save almost every time. Out of the five goaltenders that played in the Golden Knights inaugural season, Dansk is second in line behind Marc-Andre Fleury in the athleticism department.

The backup goaltending situation is a bit tricky for the Golden Knights. Dansk could beat out Subban in camp and the preseason but still not might make the team. It has nothing to do with their age as both are even in the same draft class as one another. But Subban is a more of a known commodity and has the inside track after logging a lot more NHL action than Dansk.

Subban has injured himself on multiple occasions during the 2017-18 campaign. It may have been bad luck, but Subban has an injury history even dating back to his days with the Boston Bruins organization. The Golden Knights should monitor his status going forward. An injury to one of the top two Golden Knights goalies is one way Dansk joins the main roster.

Next: Vegas Golden Knights: Tomas Tatar Will Have Expanded Role In 2018-19

All in all, the Vegas Golden Knights resigning Oscar Dansk was a no-brainer. Even if Dansk doesn’t make the team out of camp, he should still see some more NHL action at some point during the 2018-19 campaign.