Vegas Golden Knights: Bischoff called up, Subban day-to-day

There has been some notable roster news to digest today as the Vegas Golden Knights prepare for a weekend double header.

After dropping their second consecutive game on Thursday thanks to a 4-1 loss at the Arizona Coyotes, the Vegas Golden Knights are now switching their attention to this weekend where they will go toe-to-toe with two Pacific Division rivals.

The Calgary Flames will be the guests at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday (7:00 p.m. PT), and the Knights will then hit the road on Sunday to take on the LA Kings (7:00 p.m. PT).

It is a huge weekend for the Golden Knights who are now 2-2-0 to begin the 2019-20 NHL regular season and, with two Pacific Division matchups over the next few days, they can’t afford to drop another pair of games.

So, as a result, the coaching staff have decided to shake things up a bit by making some roster moves. Rookie defenseman Jake Bischoff, who featured heavily throughout the preseason for the Knights, has been recalled from the Chicago Wolves of the AHL.

As a result, Jimmy Schuldt, who has been a healthy scratch for all four of the Golden Knights’ regular season games so far, has been assigned to the AHL with the Chicago Wolves.

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Bischoff could make his NHL debut this weekend given that the Vegas blueline has been shaky in the last two games, giving up a glut of giveaways and breakaways, and rookie Nic Hague or veteran Nick Holden are probably the most likely candidates to come out of the lineup.

Nicolas Roy, who was acquired from the Knights during the off-season as part of the trade that sent forward Erik Haula to the Carolina Hurricanes, has also been reassigned to the Chicago Wolves.

Roy has also been a healthy scratch for all four of Vegas’ games so far this year, and he will now get a chance to show what he can do with Chicago in the AHL, which could lead to a return to the NHL later in the season.

And there will be one more roster transaction before the matchup against the Flames, too, with backup goalie Malcolm Subban currently rated as day-to-day after sustaining an unspecified injury during the 4-1 loss to the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday.

Subban was sensational in the first period, stopping 12 of the 14 shots he faced and pulling off some superb saves.

But, with Subban day-to-day, that leaves the door open for another goalie within the Vegas organization to get an opportunity in the NHL, and it is likely that one of Garret Sparks or Oscar Dansk will get called up from the AHL this weekend.

Both Sparks and Dansk impressed in the preseason for the Golden Knights and, with Marc-Andre Fleury likely to get the start against Calgary on Saturday, either Dansk or Sparks could make their 2019-20 season debut against the LA Kings on Sunday.

There could also be a season debut for Cody Eakin, who has been out with an upper body injury suffered in the preseason finale against the San Jose Sharks last month.

Eakin has been back practicing with the team and even made the trip to Arizona on Thursday, so it seems to be only a matter of time until the veteran forward suits up for the Golden Knights for the first time this year.

And it will be a welcome boost for Vegas who have struggled when it comes to secondary scoring this year, particularly in the losses to the Boston Bruins and the Arizona Coyotes. No member of the bottom six forward unit has contributed a point in the last two games, and that has led to the Golden Knights’ struggles in the last two outings.

Eakin should help to spark the secondary scoring into life given that he achieved career-highs in goals (22) and points (41) last year, while he also recorded 19 assists in 78 regular season games.

Should Eakin slot back into the lineup against either the Flames or the Kings, it is likely that Paul Stastny will be bumped back up to the second line with rookie phenom Cody Glass potentially slotting in on the third line as a wing with either Valentin Zykov or Brandon Pirri going to the press box given their struggles in the last two games.

However the lineup shakes out this weekend, the Vegas Golden Knights need a spark of energy to get them back on the right track and back to winning ways, and Cody Eakin could be the man to give them that spark.