Vegas Golden Knights Report Card: Brayden McNabb
Brayden McNabb continued to show his importance to the Vegas Golden Knights with a glut of solid and gritty performances in 2018-19.
Brayden McNabb: Grade B+
We continue with our 2018-19 Vegas Golden Knights Report Cards today by turning the focus on Brayden McNabb, who continues to come on leaps and bounds.
His season
Brayden McNabb is your stereotypical stay-at-home defenseman and he allows Shea Theodore, his line mate for much of 2018-19, the freedom to jump up and join the play and contribute to the team offensively.
While Theodore loves to join the play and act almost as an offensive quarterback for the Golden Knights on the point, McNabb relishes the defensive side of the game and he thrives in his own zone.
McNabb has established himself as a reliable top-four defenseman for Vegas, providing a safety net when paired with a more offensive-minded blueliner like Theodore, Nate Schmidt or Colin Miller.
After being selected by the Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, the former Buffalo Sabres and LA Kings defenseman put up five goals and 10 assists for 15 points along with a plus/minus rating of +26 in what was a hugely successful debut season in Sin City.
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That continued in 2018-19 as McNabb flourished on the blueline, becoming the defensive rock that Vegas can rely on night in and night out.
Put it simply, McNabb is a no-thrills defenseman who will roll his sleeves up, get stuck in and do what’s required to win a game of hockey.
He’s more of an SUV than a Rolls Royce as in his play won’t always be elegant and sexy to the naked eye, but he will get the job done and be the engine that keeps on ticking for his team.
McNabb is solid, dependable and very low maintenance. He delivers exactly what it says on the tin and you need players like that if you are a team with aspirations of competing for a championship.
When it comes to assessing McNabb’s year with the Golden Knights, it is important to consider both the eye test and the stats.
In terms of the stats, a number of figures stand out. Starting on the offensive side, McNabb actually enjoyed better production this season than he did in 2017-18, tallying four goals and 12 assists for 16 points, including one game-winning goal.
He had a plus/minus rating of +11 and his core stats are also impressive. He had 139 blocked shots, dished out a crunching 200 hits and had 37 takeaways, seven more than he had the previous year.
Throw into the mixing pot the fact that McNabb also averaged on total 19:29 minutes of ice time a night, then that further underlines just how big a piece McNabb has become for this franchise.
His offensive stats are actually pretty good for a stay-at-home defenseman and they are bound to get better given that McNabb is entering his peak years and still has time to iron out any wrinkles and really fine-tune certain aspects of his game.
McNabb will never win any style points for the way he plays the game but his whole-hearted approach has become vital for how the Golden Knights go about their business and every roster needs a nonsense tough guy in the building.
He goes under the radar a lot but McNabb can move the puck extremely well, thus enabling a quick and smooth transition out of the zone which is crucial in the modern-day NHL.
Perhaps two of the plays that best epitomises McNabb’s 2018-19 campaign both came against the San Jose Sharks. This is where the eye test comes in.
Firstly, with Marc-Andre Fleury stranded out of the crease, McNabb dived full length to get his hulking frame in the way of Gustav Nyquist’s shot. Talk about putting your body on the line.
Then, the 28-year-old laid an absolute bone-shuddering hit on Joonas Donskoi to inject a spark of energy into the Knights, sending out a clear message to the Sharks in the process.
McNabb also had a plus/minus rating of +4 with one point in seven postseason games, logging a total of 23:17 minutes a game for Vegas.
All in all, McNabb morphed into one of the Vegas Golden Knights’ most instrumental and reliable figures in 2018-19, a player who did what he had to do in order to give his team a fighting chance every night.
And, should Deryk Engelland leave the team as an unrestricted free agent this offseason, then McNabb’s role will take on even more importance in 2019-20.
Why the grade
The only blemish on McNabb’s copybook in 2018-19 was his work on the penalty kill, given that he was on the ice for 8.2 of the short-handed goals scored against Vegas.
Granted, most of that was alongside Deryk Engelland who endured a gigantic dip in performance throughout the year.
Aside from that, McNabb carried out the tasks set to him with perfection as well as being able to put up decent offensive numbers for a player more known for his defensive prowess.
His increase in minutes during the postseason shows just how much trust Head Coach Gerard Gallant has in McNabb, and that faith is rewarded more often than not.
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McNabb is a calming presence for the Golden Knights and he can also be relied upon to drop the gloves and give his team a jolt of energy if needs be.
Every contender needs a player of McNabb’s ilk, someone who doesn’t demand or want the spotlight, instead opting to go about his business with minimal fuss.
McNabb keeps on getting better in a Vegas Golden Knights jersey and he will have to continue on that upward trend if the franchise is going to compete for a Stanley Cup in 2019-20.
The numbers
Games: 81
Goals: 4
Assists: 12
Points: 16
Game Winning Goal: 1
PIM: 52
ATOI: 19:29
Plus / Minus: 11
Hits: 200
Blocked Shots: 139
Takeaways: 37
Games (Playoffs): 7
Assists (Playoffs): 1
Points (Playoffs): 1
Plus / Minus (Playoffs): 4
ATOI (Playoffs): 23:17
Hits (Playoffs): 27
Blocked Shots (Playoffs): 18
Next Report Card: Jimmy Schuldt