Vegas Golden Knights: The 3 biggest questions for 2019-20
Training camp is within touching distance now and expectations are once again sky-high for the Vegas Golden Knights heading into 2019-20.
After making a stunning run to the Stanley Cup Final in their magical inaugural year, the Vegas Golden Knights were expected to be a serious contender once again last season but they suffered a hugely disappointing exit to the San Jose Sharks in the First Round of the Playoffs.
However, that painful loss will need to be consigned to the record books and the slate wiped clean due to the fact that this team is in win-now mode and they can ill-afford to dwell on the past heading into this year where they are once again expected to win.
Many experts have the Golden Knights emerging as one of the top dogs in the Pacific Division and they are right to, given the abundance of riches the franchise has accumulated over the last two years. They have enough firepower to sink a small fleet of battleships in the top six alone, they have a couple of studs on the blueline and they boast a future Hall of Fame goalie in Marc-Andre Fleury.
They are a loaded team and they have a slew of high-end talent ready to make the leap to the NHL, headlined by two-way center Cody Glass and defenseman Nic Hague, with both players projected to morph into elite performers in the majors.
Plus, this franchise hasn’t hidden from the fact that they are determined to win at least one Stanley Cup sooner rather than later, making a string of aggressive moves after signing the likes of Mark Stone, Paul Stastny and Max Pacioretty to long-term deals to significantly strengthen what was already a strong core.
However, there are question marks hovering over this team and there are some obvious flaws which will need to be addressed if they are to taste ultimate glory this year.
NHL.com have been doing a ’31 IN 31′ series, breaking down and analysing each team ahead of 2019-20. It was the Golden Knights’ turn on Thursday and, if you are a Vegas fan, it is essential reading given that the experts over at NHL.com delve into a number of topics, including a Fantasy Preview, a Season Preview, Top Prospects and 3 questions facing the team.
We at Vegas Hockey Knight have decided to dissect the three burning questions that we think will face the franchise straight in the face throughout 2019-20, starting with an obvious one…
Who will provide secondary scoring for the Golden Knights?
We have written about this countless times throughout the course of the off-season, but it remains a relevant question – who will step up and provide the Vegas Golden Knights with the secondary scoring they so badly need in 2019-20?
It is no secret that the Knights have lacked production from the lower part of their lineup in the past two years, with the potent top line of Reilly Smith, William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault carrying most of the workload with a combined 381 points in the regular season in the last two seasons, in addition to 75 points between the three of them in the playoffs.
Another layer of firepower was added to the team in the latter part of 2018-19 after Mark Stone was put on a line with Max Pacioretty and Paul Stastny, with the trio forming perfect chemistry from the very get-go having combined for a total of 31 points (13 goals, 18 assists) in seven postseason contests.
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However, every successful team relies on consistent scoring from their bottom six and the Golden Knights will need the same from the lower half of their lineup if they are to embark on a deep postseason run and succeed in their ultimate mission of winning the Stanley Cup.
It will be something to keep an eye on throughout training camp and the preseason given that Vegas’ forward depth took an almighty battering this summer, losing valuable role players in Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Ryan Carpenter to free agency, in addition to shedding Erik Haula and Nikita Gusev off the roster after trading the duo to the Caroline Hurricanes and New Jersey Devils respectively.
And, although Gusev never played a game for the Knights, his talent and potential is there for all to see given his scoring exploits in Russia and based on the fact that he’s projected to tally roughly 57 points (21 goals, 36 assists) in the NHL should he replicate around 80 percent of his production in the KHL.
That is a lot of firepower to part company with and, as a result, the Golden Knights will need the likes of Brandon Pirri and Tomas Nosek to step up to the plate and become consistent scorers in bottom six roles. Cody Eakin, who carved out career-highs in goals (22) and points (41) last year, will also need to chip in, while Alex Tuch will be a dangerous weapon on the third line coming off a career-best 52 point season.
If the Golden Knights can get consistent production from the likes of Tuch, Eakin, Pirri,Nosek, Valentin Zykov, Nicolas Roy and maybe even Cody Glass, then that will greatly boost their chances of having a successful season and a deep postseason run, but it is arguably the biggest question mark hovering over the team heading into 2019-20.
How will Vegas manage Marc-Andre Fleury’s workload?
Despite being 34-years-old and the fact he’ll celebrate his 35th birthday in November, Marc-Andre Fleury has still got it and he isn’t showing any signs of slowing down just yet. But, should the Vegas Golden Knights start to manage his workload more carefully in 2019-20?
There is no doubt that some thought Fleury would start to regress when he was selected by the Knights in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, but he’s proved to be vintage Fleury in Sin City and he played a vital role in the team’s stunning run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2017.
He was at the peak of his powers at times in 2018-19 too, although he has missed time in each of the last two years due to injuries. That is only natural for a veteran, especially for someone in the ilk of Fleury who has got a lot of tread on the tyre.
He played 61 games last year, starting all of them, posting a record of 35-21-5 and putting up a 2.51 Goals Against Average and a .913 Save Percentage, in addition to finishing the season with eight shutouts. Fleury also had a 2.70 GAA and a .909 Sv% in the postseason with one shutout.
Fleury was shaky at time in the playoffs against the San Jose Sharks, including letting in a soft Tomas Hertl double overtime winner in Game 6 of the Western Conference First Round tilt, with Fleury looking surprised by the shot.
However, we all know that when Fleury is at the peak of his powers he is still one of the best goalies in the game, and that was backed up recently by the NHL Network who named the 34-year-old as the sixth best netminder currently in the NHL.
He’s still got a couple of years of good hockey left in him at least but there is a school of thought that the veteran should have his workload reduced somewhat in the regular season this year. There is some merit to that given that it would ensure Fleury would be well-rested heading into the postseason.
And the Golden Knights have options now. Not only do they have Malcolm Subban at their disposal, they also acquired Garret Sparks in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs earlier in the off-season and, even though he endured a tough ride in the NHL last year with a 3.15 GAA and a .902 Sv%, there is some talent there and he could benefit from playing out of the intense media bubble that is the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Make no mistake about it, Fleury is still the Golden Knights’ leading man and he will be a key figure for the franchise throughout 2019-20. But, if Subban and Sparks can take on more responsibility between them, then that could lead to a fresher and more revitalised Marc-Andre Fleury in the postseason, which will only pay dividends for Vegas.
Will Vegas roll out a new top line?
Since entering the NHL in 2017, the Golden Knights’ offense has been spearheaded by one of the best lines in hockey. Reilly Smith, William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault have been a match made in heaven, combining for 381 regular points in the last two years, in addition to 75 points in the postseason.
Vegas’ top guns have delivered time and time again and, even though individually all three endured slight down years in terms of production in 2018-19, they bring other qualities to the table and all are about to hit their prime and all three are locked down under contract long-term.
However, there is a possibility that Smith, Karlsson and Marchessault may not be the top dogs for Vegas in 2019-20. Shocking I know but it may not be a bad thing. It could be a huge plus, in-fact.
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That is because the Golden Knights have another beast of a top line in the making in Max Pacioretty, Paul Stastny and Mark Stone. The trio were lethal when put on a line together in the latter stages of 2018-19, accumulating 27 points in 11 games down the stretch before elevating their play to a whole other level in the playoffs, racking up 31 points (13 goals, 18 assists) in seven games.
So, will they form the new top line for the Vegas Golden Knights this year? For starters, Pacioretty, Stastny and Stone are all elite and proven performers in the NHL and they do deserve top minutes night in and night out. Plus, although it is a small sample size, the damage they caused together last year proves that they should be rolled out as the tone-setters for this team.
Also, there is an added benefit to bumping that trio up to the top line. It would give Smith, Karlsson and Marchessault more opportunity as a second line to go up against less superior talent and, therefore, have a chance to restore their numbers to what they were back in 2017-18.
Either way, the Vegas Golden Knights will roll out two star-studded and offensively loaded lines throughout 2018-19, and that could be the final piece in the puzzle in terms of their quest to win a Stanley Cup.
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Rolling out a top six that boasts enough firepower to sink a small fleet of battleships could wreak havoc in the NHL on a night-to-night basis, and it would given the Golden Knights a significant edge over a lot of teams in the Pacific Division.
So, whether or not Pacioretty, Stastny and Stone start 2019-20 as the official top line for the Knights, that top six unit will be one of the most potent in the NHL and it could be enough to fire this franchise towards a deep postseason run.