Vegas Golden Knights: The fun and games start now

The Vegas Golden Knights’ long quest for the 2019 Stanley Cup and history begins now.

Although the Vegas Golden Knights won’t officially report for Training Camp until late next week, the NHL as a whole is getting ready to return to work and the battle to reign supreme and lift the greatest prize in all of sports begins in earnest today.

Following what was a long off-season dominated by salary cap talk, it will be a relief to get back down to the nitty gritty of proper hockey action and there will be lots to digest over the coming weeks with October hurtling into full sight already.

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For starters, we will get to see the stars of the future when 2019 Rookie Camp opens this Thursday, and the Anaheim Rookie Faceoff tournament this weekend will be vital for the likes of forward Cody Glass and defenseman Nic Hague, who are among the franchise’s most prized prospects gunning for roster spots this year.

That will then lead us nicely into Training Camp on Thur, Sep, 12 with the first day usually entailing a litany of medicals and other such conditioning tests. The following day will see the class of 2019-20 hit the ice for the very first time and all eyes will be on who skates with who and which rookie defenseman impresses the most.

Vegas’ slate of seven preseason games get underway on Sun, Sep, 15 when the Arizona Coyotes visit the T-Mobile Arena and, although exhibition games are what they are, it will be an exciting occasion for Golden Knights fans who will get to see their team in action for the very first time since losing that heartbreaking playoff series to the San Jose Sharks back in April.

It will also give those of us who cover the team an early look at potential line combinations, matchups and there are some key roles still to be nailed down, including who will play on the third-line with Cody Eakin and Alex Tuch, in addition to the fascinating battle for the final roster spot on the blueline that will be left to five high-end rookies to slug it out.

So, there is plenty at stake heading into training camp but one thing we already know is that this roster is built to win right now and they should be one of the more elite teams in the NHL this year. They are absolutely stacked offensively, they boast one of the deadliest top six units in the league and they should be able to rely on more secondary scoring in 2019-20 given that Alex Tuch, who reached the 52-point plateau for the first time in his career last year, will be starting the year on the third line.

The Knights ranked 14th in the NHL last year in terms of Goals For Per Game, scoring on average 3.00 goals per game. That should increase in 2019-20 given that they will have a full year of Max Pacioretty, Paul Stastny and Mark Stone on the same line, which should also help to ease some of the pressure on Reilly Smith, William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault to produce the goods.

There is also plenty of talent on the blueline with Shea Theodore fast morphing into a bonafide star in the NHL. He broke out with 12 goals and 25 assists for 37 points in 79 games in 2018-19, in addition to nine power play points and high numbers in a variety of metrics.

Nate Schmidt also proved his worth to this franchise last year and he and Theodore will form the backbone of this defensive core, while Jon Merrill and Brayden McNabb should continue to improve and contribute to a unit that was stingy in 2018-19, boasting a Goals Against Per Game average of 2.78. Throw into the mixing pot that they will be joined by a stud rookie then this defense should operate at a high level throughout this year.

And let’s not forget the fact that the Golden Knights boast a future Hall of Fame goalie in Marc-Andre Fleury who can still reach the peak of his powers, while he will be supported by a backup cast of Malcolm Subban and Garret Sparks.

Franchise Owner Bill Foley has also revealed that there will be salary cap space available for the team to bolster their roster at the Trade Deadline, and that could give Head Coach Gerard Gallant more potent weapons at his disposal heading into the postseason.

But let’s trace our steps back to the present day and the hard work that lies ahead for this Vegas Golden Knights team. Training camp will be an opportunity for this roster as it is currently constituted to set the tone and lay the foundations for what they hope to achieve as a collective unit this year.

History is still there to be made and it is staring this franchise in the face. However, they have all the pieces in place to meet the high expectations that aren’t usually reserved for a third-year expansion team, and they should be a hell of a lot of fun to watch throughout 2019-20.

September is here, the NHL is back to work and the Vegas Golden Knights are ready for the heat of battle.

Let the fun and games begin.