Vegas Golden Knights: Training Camp roster is trimmed down

Cuts are part of the daily diet during Training Camp and the Vegas Golden Knights have now trimmed the fat from their 53-man roster.

After sending goaltenders Jordan Kooy and Jiri Patera back to their junior teams last week, the Vegas Golden Knights have now made another round of cuts as the preseason continues to roll on and the 2019-20 regular season draws ever closer.

The 53-man 2019 Training Camp roster has now been reduced from 53 to 47 and that will continue to be reduced over the next week or so as the Golden Knights begin to cement their opening night roster for the 2019-20 season curtain raiser against the San Jose Sharks at T-Mobile Arena on Oct, 2.

It isn’t too much of a surprise looking at the latest batch of names that have been reassigned from the Vegas Golden Knights Training Camp, with all of the players cut at least a year or two away from being ready to make the leap to the majors.

So, on that note, the following players have been cut and have rejoined their junior teams for 2019-20:

• Mason Primeau (F)
• Connor Corcoran (D)
• Xavier Bouchard (D)
• Kaedan Korczak (D)

As already mentioned, none of the six players cut by the Vegas Golden Knights so far were going to get anywhere near the Golden Knights roster this year, and it is fair to suggest that most if not all of them are at least a couple of years away from cracking the big leagues.

The only one of the seven that may have a chance to compete for a roster spot next year is defenseman Kaedan Korczak, who impressed hugely in both Rookie Camp and during the early stages of Training Camp.

The 41st overall pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, Korczak is a natural shutdown defenseman who thrives when playing a physical game and, although he won’t put up much offensive production, he will do a solid job in his own zone and he is projected to morph into a top four blueliner in the NHL eventually.

Korczak will play for the Kelowna Rockets in the WHL in 2019-20 and the other three players cut this week will ply their trade for the following junior teams:

• Mason Primeau – North Bay Battalion (OHL)
• Xavier Bouchard – Baie-Comeau Drakkar (QMJHL)
• Connor Corcoran – Windsor Spitfires (OHL)

Primeau, Bouchard and Corcoran will now get the chance to further develop in junior hockey and they will get another chance to impress the Vegas coaching staff at next year’s Rookie Camp, where all three should be more-rounded hockey players.

And the mission for Korzak this year with the Kelowna Rockets will be continue to learn his craft, polish his skills and iron out any kinks in his game ahead of next year’s Development Camp, where he will have a real opportunity to battle for a roster spot with the Golden Knights.

Training Camp is getting to a really fascinating point now with the Vegas Golden Knights getting closer to working out the shape their opening night roster will take, and it is going to be really interesting to see what rookies are fighting for a roster spot until the very end.