Vegas Golden Knights: This year should be Engelland’s last

Deryk Engelland will go down as the first face of the franchise for the Vegas Golden Knights, but there could be a tough decision for both parties looming.

Parting ways with a player who will be forever woven in the tapestry of the Vegas Golden Knights won’t be easy, but the discussion over Engelland’s future with this team is one that needs to be had.

Selected in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, Engelland was the perfect player at the perfect time for the Vegas Golden Knights given his relationship with the city of Las Vegas.

He was a longtime native and had played for the Las Vegas Wranglers earlier in his career, so it made sense to build a roster around the veteran defenseman.

We all know the story by now about Engelland’s impact on both this franchise and the wider community, so we don’t have to rehash every single detail.

But what we will say is that it wasn’t a surprise when the Golden Knights signed Engelland to a new one-year, bonus-laden contract back in the off-season, although it didn’t make much sense from a team perspective.

Because, and despite his importance in the locker room as a glue guy and as a leader, Engelland is in the twilight of his career and his best days are arguably behind him.

We mean that in the nicest possible way, of course, but it is only natural someone at 37-years-old begins to regress and embarks on a downward spiral.

And, while we saw signs of that happening last year, it is fair to suggest that Engelland has completely fallen off a cliff this season.

He was a healthy scratch for two straight games before coming back in against the Washington Capitals on Saturday, but added rest didn’t do the veteran any favors in the two outings he had over the weekend.

Engelland had one giveaway in the loss to the Capitals while he was a -1 in the shocking 3-2 defeat to the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday.

Through 17 games Engelland has two assists for two points with 18 penalty minutes and a plus/minus rating of +2, but his CF% is 46.2 in 18:12 of average total ice time.

He has coughed up six giveaways and he’s been on the ice for 18 of the 47 goals the Golden Knights have allowed.

And, it is fair to attribute a lot of Engelland’s struggles this year to his role with the 37-year-old being paired with a rookie – either Nic Hague or Jake Bischoff – for much of the season.

Vegas has struggled when it comes to getting the puck out of their own zone this year, and a lot of their troubles in the defensive zone stemmed down to Engelland and Hague, who have both been guilty of making mistakes that have led to goals.

Engelland’s new contract came with the thought that his role would be reduced this year, although still an important one as an on-ice mentor to one of the Knights’ plethora of rookie blueliners.

However, that hasn’t exactly panned out so far and there is another damming trend that is working against Engelland right now.

It is no secret that the defenseman is an absolute stud on the penalty kill, and that is probably a big factor behind why he wasn’t removed from the lineup a lot earlier than he was.

However, in the two games Engelland was sat in the press box, the Golden Knights went 7-for-7 on the penalty kill before Auston Matthews converted on the power play for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Granted, the Vegas blueline hasn’t exactly been vintage this year but there seemed to be more balance to the defensive pairings in Engelland’s absence.

And that leads to a difficult but logical conclusion that this should probably be Deryk Engelland’s final year in the NHL.

Of course, he could play elsewhere but given that he has made it clear in the past he doesn’t see himself playing for anyone else at this stage of his career, it seems likely he will retire if he’s not given a new contract.

And the Golden Knights would be foolish to give Engelland a new deal at this stage. This is a business after all and this blueline is in need of a radical makeover.

The Knights will have the cap space to go out and recruit a stud defenseman next off-season, while rookies in the ilk of Jake Bischoff and Nic Hague will have a year of NHL hockey under their belt by next summer.

As a result, it wouldn’t be feasible or logical to bring Engelland back, especially given the way this season has panned out so far.

However, that doesn’t mean it has to be the end. Given his impact on this organization and in the Las Vegas community, it would make perfect sense for this franchise to offer Engelland a coaching role.

He could maybe cut his teeth as a coach in the minors with Vegas’ AHL affiliate the Chicago Wolves, or he could take on either a scouting role or a job in the front office alongside General Manager Kelly McCrimmon.

Either way, it would be fitting for Deryk Engelland to embark on the next step of his journey with the franchise that helped to resurrect his hockey career.

And it would also give the Knights a chance to give back to a player who has meant so much to this franchise since it entered the National Hockey League.

But, at this moment in time anyway, it appears likely that Deryk Engelland’s playing career with the Vegas Golden Knights is nearing its climax.