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Vegas Golden Knights Report Card: Maxime Lagace

By Andrew Steele-Davis

RALEIGH, NC - FEBRUARY 01: Vegas Golden Knights Goalie Maxime Lagace (33) between the pipes during a game between the Las Vegas Golden Knights and the Carolina Hurricanes on February 1, 2019, at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, NC. (Photo by Greg Thompson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC - FEBRUARY 01: Vegas Golden Knights Goalie Maxime Lagace (33) between the pipes during a game between the Las Vegas Golden Knights and the Carolina Hurricanes on February 1, 2019, at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, NC. (Photo by Greg Thompson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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RALEIGH, NC – FEBRUARY 01: Vegas Golden Knights Goalie Maxime Lagace (33) between the pipes during a game between the Las Vegas Golden Knights and the Carolina Hurricanes on February 1, 2019, at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, NC. (Photo by Greg Thompson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC – FEBRUARY 01: Vegas Golden Knights Goalie Maxime Lagace (33) between the pipes during a game between the Las Vegas Golden Knights and the Carolina Hurricanes on February 1, 2019, at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, NC. (Photo by Greg Thompson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Maxime Lagace was here and then he wasn’t for the Vegas Golden Knights in 2018-19 as he made just the one outing.

Maxime Lagace: Ungraded

We plough on with our 2018-19 Vegas Golden Knights Report Cards today by taking a closer look at Maxime Lagace who, after getting an extended run in the NHL the year before, was used sparingly both in the big leagues and in the minors.

His Season

After being one of five goaltenders to be used by the Golden Knights in 2017-18 in what was an injury-ravaged season for players of that position, Maxime Lagace entered 2018-19 knowing that his chances would be limited should both Marc-Andre Fleury and Malcolm Subban remain healthy.

And it panned out that way exactly with Fleury being vintage Fleury for much of the year, while Subban did a solid job for the most part when called upon. The duo make a hugely effective goaltending tandem and Fleury, despite being 34-years-old, is still capable of handling the heavy load of an 82-game regular season schedule.

So, as a result, Lagace didn’t even come close to matching the 16 games he played in the year before, where he posted a 3.92 goals against average and a .867 save percentage during his sustained time inside the crease.

Instead, Lagace played just the one game for the Golden Knights last year, which came against the Carolina Hurricanes on Feb, 1, 2019. The 26-year-old put up a goals against average of 4.00 and a save percentage of .914 in a 5-2 loss for Vegas.

That proved to be Lagace’s final taste of NHL action for the Knights after he was swiftly sent back down to the minors with the Chicago Wolves, Vegas’ AHL affiliate. He had an okay year in the AHL but ultimately ended up as the backup to Oscar Dansk, who started the vast majority of games in the Wolves’ run to the Calder Cup Finals.

In 33 regular season games in the AHL, Lagace had a 2.43 goals against average and a .914 save percentage, while in the postseason he put up a 3.34 goals against average and a .865 save percentage in three games.

Lagace was behind Dansk on the depth chart and, after the Golden Knights drafted intriguing goalie Isaiah Saville with the 135th overall pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, Lagace was allowed to leave the organization as a restricted free agent, eventually signing with the Boston Bruins.

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