Vegas Golden Knights: Analyzing brutal start to the regular season
Vegas Golden Knights hockey is officially a week away from returning and we are literally all in for it.
After a long off-season followed by a competitive Training Camp and a surprisingly enjoyable preseason so far, we are more than ready for the Vegas Golden Knights to get the 2019-20 NHL regular season underway on Oct, 2 against the San Jose Sharks.
However, given we are so close to the return of proper hockey now, we took a look at the schedule and those first two weeks in October looks absolutely brutal. Let us repeat; absolutely brutal.
The Knights open the regular season with a back-to-back double header against the San Jose Sharks, before taking on last year’s Stanley Cup finalist in the Boston Bruins, a road game against Phil Kessel and the Arizona Coyotes before returning home to take on the Calgary Flames.
Now, there are other tough games on the slate in October, including matchups against the Nashville Predators and the Colorado Avalanche, but we thought we would focus on that opening two weeks for now given how tough it looks.
We will be doing a deeper dive on the October schedule in full next week but, for now, we are going to take a brief look at the opening two week slate for the Vegas Golden Knights…
1. San Jose Sharks – Oct, 2 & Oct, 4
The Vegas Golden Knights open their 2019-20 regular season at the T-Mobile Arena against bitter rivals the San Jose Sharks before heading to the SAP Center two days later, and it is the perfect matchup in which to open the new year.
We don’t need to repeat what happened between the two teams in the postseason last year given we’ve covered it countless times already, but there is plenty of animosity between these two franchises and, with points on the line, sparks are going to fly.
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The Golden Knights have enjoyed a decent preseason so far and they look set to carry some momentum into the regular season. Plus, with the first game of this back-to-back double-header being Vegas’ home opener, they will want to put on a show for their fans at what will be a packed T-Mobile Arena.
However, the Sharks will be a contender again this year despite losing key pieces such as Joe Pavelski during the off-season. They did bring back the likes of Erik Karlsson and Joe Thornton, though, and they also have a deep roster where a number of their role players can do damage.
Both games are going to be physical slugfests and look out for Ryan Reaves and Evander Kane dropping the gloves at least twice over the course of the two matchups. They really don’t like each other and they will be looking for any excuse to lay a beating on each other.
Tomas Hertl had his fingerprints all over the Knights in the postseason and he’ll be one to keep an eye on next week too, as will Logan Couture who will be wearing the “C” on his jersey for the first time.
Despite having an aging roster, this Sharks team is still loaded and talented and they pose an extremely tough start to 2019-20 for the Golden Knights, who will no doubt be satisfied if they are able to split the back-to-back.
2. Boston Bruins – Oct, 8
The Boston Bruins are a very good hockey team and there is a reason why they made a deep run to the Stanley Cup Final last year.
For starters, they boast one of the best lines in all of hockey with Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak having combined for 260 points in the regular season in 2018-19, and they have the ability to absolutely destroy teams.
They can also boast a loaded, deep roster with players who can both provide secondary scoring and a physical punch, including the likes of Charlie Coyle, Sean Kuraly and Chris Wagner, while they also added Brett Ritchie in the off-season.
The Bruins are stacked on the blueline and have recently signed Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo to new deals, while Zdeno Chara never seems to age and can still lay the body on with a bone-crushing hit. Torey Krug is an under-rated defenseman while Boston can rely on solid goaltending between Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak.
Boston combine speed, skill, pace and pure power to deadly affect and they have the capability to roll over teams with ease and at will. They can beat up on teams and they will be a good early test for the Golden Knights.
Not to mention the fact that the Bruins will be keen to show that they aren’t suffering from a Stanley Cup hangover after being dominated by the St. Louis Blues in the Stanley Cup roster.
They are a stupidly talented team and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Boston embark on another lengthy cup run for the second successive year.
3. Arizona Coyotes – Oct, 10
The Coyotes just missed out on the playoffs last year and they responded to that disappointment by going out and securing one of the purest elite scorers in the NHL by trading for Phil Kessel from the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Kessel’s sell-by-date had clearly expired in Pittsburgh but he comes to Arizona having already shared a relationship with Head Coach Rick Tocchet and that could prove instrumental to ensuring this trade is a home run.
Kessel, jokes aside, is still a quality player in the NHL and he managed to put up 82 points (27 goals, 55 assists) in 82 games for the Penguins last year, despite reportedly not being happy with the team all season.
That kind of production could be the difference when it comes to bridging the postseason gap for the Coyotes, who are well-known for their slumping starts. They aren’t the most talented team but they will battle and compete hard under Tocchet, and they do boast a stud on the blueline in captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
Tocchet will make sure his team is well-organized, stick to task and carry out their jobs and the Golden Knights are going to have to be prepared to win the puck battles first before they start to assert their authority on the game.
It is a tough second road trip of the year for Vegas and they are going to have to contain Kessel who will no doubt be looking to get off to an explosive start with his new team and prove his doubters wrong once again.
4. Calgary Flames – Oct, 12
The Vegas Golden Knights will round off an extremely tough opening two week slate by hosting the Calgary Flames, who finished 1st in both the Pacific Division and in the Western Conference in 2018-19.
When you can boast a high-end talent in Johnny “Hockey” Gaudreau on your roster, then you are always going to have a chance to contend and the Flames have done a good job of surrounding their superstar forward with other potent weapons in recent years.
Matthew Tkachuk today signed a new deal and he enjoyed a breakout year in 2018-19 with 34 goals and 43 assists for 77 points, while he can also hit like an absolute train and provide a spark for his team with his physical play.
Sean Monahan tallied 82 points (34 goals, 48 assists), Elias Lindholm had 27 goals and 51 assists 78 points and defenseman Mark Giordano absolutely exploded offensively 17 goals and 57 assists for 74 points.
In addition, the Flames added a significant physical presence to their roster this off-season by trading James Neal for Milan Lucic in a straight swap and the latter will certainly help to protect the likes of Gaudreau and Lindholm.
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This team has lots of depth, even more talent and they should be considered contenders for the Pacific Division again. They could arguably be Vegas’ biggest competitor for the Division crown and this will be an intriguing early divisional matchup between these two franchises.
Overall, the Vegas Golden Knights couldn’t have asked for a tougher start to the 2019-20 regular season but, if they can navigate those opening two weeks, then that will tell us a lot about the makeup of this roster as it is currently constituted.