Vegas Golden Knights: Alex Tuch Is Becoming An NHL Star

Alex Tuch extended his point streak to nine games during the Vegas Golden Knights triumph over the Chicago Blackhawks in overtime.

The Vegas Golden Knights needed a future piece to build off of in the expansion draft. General Manager George McPhee scouted hundreds to thousands of players before the team existed. Luckily for Vegas, McPhee found a diamond in the rough when it came time to pick from the Minnesota Wild.

The Golden Knights selected Erik Haula from the Wild in the expansion draft. And that wasn’t good enough for the veteran general manager. Vegas had the opportunity to choose Matt Dumba from Minnesota. However, the Wild decided to give the Golden Knights one of their top prospects to keep the top four defensemen. Little did Minnesota know that they would be giving up on the scoring enigma, Alex Tuch.

Tuch broke into the Golden Knights inaugural development camp and never looked back. The Syracuse, New York native, may have been sent to the Golden Knights minor league affiliate, the Chicago Wolves for the beginning of the campaign, but it did not take him long to get the call to Vegas.

Tuch finished his short stint with Wolves in 2017-18 with three goals, one assist and four points. Meanwhile, injuries occurred in Vegas, and the Vadim Shipachyov situation started to get ugly, The Golden Knights called up the then 21-year old, and he never looked back from there.

In his very first NHL game, Tuch scored his first NHL goal on the breakaway against the Boston Bruins. From that point on, he became one of the leagues most impressive first-year places in a great rookie class that includes players such as Clayton Keller, Mathew Barzel and Brock Boeser.

The promising young right winger finished his rookie season with 15 goals 22 assists and 37 points in 78 games played. Keep that scoring log in mind for later. Tuch played even more hockey during the Golden Knights improbable run in the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Though the team came up just short to their end goal, Tuch turned even more heads during the postseason.

Tuch ended his 2018 playoff run with six goals, four assists and ten points in 20 games played. Even though the stat line isn’t exactly groundbreaking, it’s how he got on the scoresheet. For example, his single rush in game one versus the San Jose Sharks was one of the best individual efforts throughout the 2018 postseason.

The former Boston College Eagle entered his sophomore year looking sharp in training camp, but unfortunately, an injury set him back and forced him to miss the teams first eight games of the 2018-19 campaign. Although, just like the Golden Knights, Tuch defied the odds, came back from a lower-body injury and has become a point per game player.

Tuch played most of his rookie year with Cody Eakin and Ryan Carpenter on the Golden Knights third line, not exactly the most offensive line that’s ever been assembled. But with Tuch’s offensive upside, he was due for a promotion and new linemates.

Head Coach Gerard Gallant put together the all-American trio of Tuch, Paul Stastny, and Max Pacioretty. Neither Stastny and Pacioretty have stayed healthy for most of the year, but when all the players are on the ice at the same time, they’re deadly.

Even while Stastny was out the first two months of the season., he has given Tuch a ton of information on how he could be a better player. The statistics further prove that Stastny’s chemistry with Tuch has gone farther than anyone could believe.

In 40 games played thus far, Tuch has notched 15 goals, 22 assists and 37 points in 2018-19. That’s right, Tuch has the exact same stat line as he did in his rookie year. Oh, and he leads all Golden Knights in points scored. Who says sophomore slumps exist?

To top it all off, Tuch set a franchise record in Chicago when the Golden Knights took on the Blackhawks at the United Center. His goal and assist extended his point streak to nine games which no other the Golden Knight has ever done.

All in all, Alex Tuch has all the makings of being an absolute rockstar in the city of Las Vegas. And he may be only a step or two away of becoming an NHL star. Tuch can extend his point streak to ten as the Vegas Golden Knights take on the Winnipeg Jets north of the border Tuesday night.