Hockey is officially back tonight and the Vegas Golden Knights are currently preparing for their 2019-20 season opener against the San Jose Sharks at T-Mobile Arena.
We’re back and ready to get down to business and so are the Vegas Golden Knights who are about to pull the curtain back on their third year as an NHL franchise. The first two years have been an absolute rollercoaster, and there is no reason to think that this season will be any different.
Boasting a stacked roster and an abundance of firepower throughout the lineup, in addition to a future Hall of Famer goalie in Marc-Andre Fleury, the Golden Knights are a serious contender for the Stanley Cup and 2019-20 could be their year.
Although they are an expansion team about to enter only their third year of existence in the NHL, big things are expected of Vegas and rightly so when you look at some of the star power they have in that roster, starting with Fleury and including the likes of Shea Theodore, Max Pacioretty, Paul Stastny and Mark Stone.
A First Round Playoff exit simply won’t do this year and many experts are projecting the Knights to embark on a deep postseason run and potentially lift Lord Stanley.
This time of year is all about crazy projections so, with a few hours left until the puck drops for the first time in 2019-20, we thought we would share some of our bold (maybe not so bold) predictions with you…
1. Cody Glass to stick around and be a contender for Calder Trophy
Let’s start with a medium hot take by predicting that, not only will rookie phenom Cody Glass stick around in the NHL, but he will also excel above and beyond anyone’s wildest imagination and finish high up in the voting for the Calder Trophy, maybe even winning it.
Glass will make his NHL debut tonight after producing a strong Training Camp and then going on to impress in the preseason with his elite playmaking ability and capability to see the open ice. It is a well deserved honor for the two-way forward who has proven time and time again that he’s ready to make the leap to the majors after dominating in both junior hockey and in the AHL with the Chicago Wolves.
However, only as recently as Monday did it appear that Glass could have begun the year in the minors with the Wolves after struggling at times in the preseason finale against the San Jose Sharks, but upper-body injuries to Alex Tuch and Cody Eakin swung open the door once more.
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And, it couldn’t have worked out any better for Glass who will now get his first taste of the NHL while centering a second line also featuring Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone. Not bad company to keep at all this early in your career.
Having two of the best forwards in the NHL, and one of the best pure snipers when it comes to Pacioretty, will only help to increase Glass’ chances of taking the NHL by storm and, if he can get off to a strong start, then it could lead to a full-time job in the majors even when Eakin and Tuch do return.
Having watched him in the preseason, we don’t think it is a stretch at all that Glass will make the second line center role his own and, with two elite wings either side of him, go on and register 40-50 points in his rookie year, putting him firmly into consideration for the Calder Trophy.
He may not win it due to the rich class of rookie talent entering the league this year with Jack Hughes, Kaapo Kakko and Cale Makar leading that group, but getting some votes and finishing with anywhere between 40-50 points in the NHL would represent one hell of a home run of a debut year for Cody Glass.