The race is well and truly underway for a Vegas Golden Knights rookie to win a roster spot and there could be a surprise contender emerging from the pack.
Christmas has come early with hockey now back and the Vegas Golden Knights had the honor of opening up the NHL’s preseason slate, beating the Arizona Coyotes 6-2 in an entertaining game at the T-Mobile Arena, highlighted by Max Pacioretty‘s four point night which included a hat trick.
However, arguably the biggest storyline to come out of Sunday’s exhibition game was the absolute slugfest raging on between the handful of rookie blueliners hoping to crack the opening night roster and make the gigantic leap to the majors.
It is an intriguing battle and one that will be fought for the duration of the preseason, which is testament to the abundance of riches the Golden Knights have in their farm system when it comes to high-end rookie defensemen.
Jimmy Schuldt is seen as the frontrunner for a roster spot but Nic Hague is right behind him, while Zach Whitecloud enjoyed a strong Rookie Camp and appears to tick all the boxes Vegas Head Coach Gerard Gallant looks for in a stay-at-home defenseman.
Jake Bischoff is also in contention as is Dylan Coghlan and the biggest takeaway from yesterday’s victory against the Coyotes was the performance of Coghlan, who was without doubt the pick of the rookie blueliners and that leads us to the following question – is Dylan Coghlan a dark horse in the battle for a roster spot?
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It certainly appears as such going by the evidence served up on Sunday with Coghlan excelling, logging 19:23 of ice time and also getting a chance to impress on the power play, racking up 3:22 minutes of man advantage time. The 21-year-old recorded a plus/minus rating of +3, had two shots on goal and also got some time on the penalty kill too.
But his most impressive moment came in the second period when he was freed in the offensive zone by Cody Glass’ clever pass, before unleashing a shot on goal which led to Max Pacioretty tucking home the rebound and completing his hat trick.
That particular play highlighted Coghlan’s ability to transition out of the zone and join the offense, and you couldn’t help but be impressed with his overall showing against the Coyotes. He was given an opportunity and he grabbed it with both hands, and he’ll have further chance to hammer home his case for why he should be on the opening night roster on Tuesday when the Golden Knights hit the road to take on the Colorado Avalanche in their second preseason game.
He was the standout performer among the rookie defensemen with Jake Bischoff finishing with a plus/minus rating of +2, although both Jimmy Schuldt and Zach Whitecloud were less convincing with plus/minus ratings of -2 and -1 respectively.
Granted, we are only one game into a seven game preseason schedule and there is still a lot of hockey to be played before the regular season gets underway on Oct, 2, but Coghlan is doing everything asked of him and, at the end of the day, the defenseman who proves he is best equipped to make the jump to the NHL will win the job come opening night.
And Dylan Coghlan is winning that particular race at the moment and he could be sprinting over the finish line if he’s able to maintain his performance from Sunday against the Arizona Coyotes for the rest of the preseason. But, whatever happens, the Vegas Golden Knights can be safe in the knowledge that they have another stud blueliner in the pipeline that looks set to make an impact in the NHL, whether it is this season or later down the line.