Vegas Golden Knights: All-Star vote, Eakin’s injury and more

There are three Vegas Golden Knights players who are in the running to be named Captain of the Pacific Division at the 2020 All-Star game, while Cody Eakin has suffered another setback in his frustrating season.

It is that time again when we take a quick dive into the latest going-ons revolving around the Vegas Golden Knights, and we’ll start with this…

Voting now open for 2020 All-Star Game

Thanksgiving was over in a hurry so it won’t be long until the 2020 All-Star Game in St. Louis is upon us.

And the NHL are now getting ready for those festivities after opening the voting to allow fans to decide who the four captains will be at the event.

Each division will have a captain and the Vegas Golden Knights have three contenders when it comes to leading the charge for the Pacific Division:

• Marc-Andre Fleury
• Mark Stone
• William Karlsson

Now, in all likelihood, Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid will once again accumulate the most votes to become the Captain of the Pacific Division, although you have to be in it to win it as they say.

It would be neat to see a couple of Golden Knights at the All-Star Game, though, and if I had to bet I would say that Fleury and Stone are both strong contenders to represent the franchise in St. Louis, as is Max Pacioretty who currently leads the team in points with 25 (nine goals, 16 assists).

The 2020 All-Star Game in St. Louis will take place from Jan. 24 – Jan. 25 and will consist of a three-game tournament played in a three-on-three format, which is heaven to all hockey fans, and the NHL All-Star Skills competition which is always fun to watch.

Voting for the 2020 All-Star Game Captains will conclude at 11:59 p.m. ET on Friday, Dec. 20, and you can vote for either Fleury, Stone or Karlsson here. 

Eakin week-to-week

Vegas Golden Knights forward Cody Eakin is out with an upper-body injury and will be week-to-week according to Head Coach Gerard Gallant.

Eakin took an elbow to the head from Arizona Coyotes forward Brad Richardson on Friday during Vegas’ 2-1 win in a shootout, and Eakin left the game shortly after.

It was a hit right along the boards too and there is every chance that it could be concussion-related, although we shouldn’t speculate too much at this point.

But, what we do know is that Eakin will almost certainly miss this week’s road trip on the East Coast, which means that rookie Cody Glass is likely to slot in on the third line.

It is another setback for Eakin who has endured a frustrating season so far with just seven points (three goals, four assists) in 24 games with a plus/minus rating of -6.

Emergency Call-ups

The Vegas Golden Knights executed two emergency call-ups at the weekend as goalie Garret Sparks was recalled from the AHL, as was bottom six forward Nicolas Roy.

Roy is an obvious one given Cody Eakin’s status and he’ll get another chance to impress in the National Hockey League, while Sparks’ recall seems to signal that Marc-Andre Fleury is not yet ready to return to the team.

Fleury is currently away from the team on personal leave following the extremely sad passing of his father.

Vegas Head Coach Gerard Gallant spoke to the media on Sunday and indicated that Fleury could be back with the team this week, so it is a possibility that the goalie could be available for the final game of this road trip against the New York Islanders on Thursday.

Vegas’ big day out

Road trips are always fun and it certainly seemed like the Vegas Golden Knights had a blast in The Big Apple on Sunday.

After their game against Arizona on Friday, the Golden Knights flew out to New York and had an off day on Saturday, where the players were given the freedom to have a look around and act like tourists.

Black Friday shopping seemed to be the common trend among the players, and you can hear what they all did by watching the clip above.

But, in all seriousness, road trips like the one the Knights are on this week can be ideal for team bonding, and this could be just what this team needs to get their season rolling.