Vegas Golden Knights: Three players who need to step it up after bye week
We are on the other side of the All-Star break now which means that the business part of the year is here for the Vegas Golden Knights.
Entrenched in an ultra-competitive five-horse race for the Pacific Division, the Vegas Golden Knights face a defining few months as they bid to live up to their status as a contender.
About to enter the second-half of the 2019-20 regular season with a disappointing 25-20-7 record, the Golden Knights need to find their identity as a team and fast.
They certainly need to add the magic ingredient that is consistency to their game, while certain players need to step up to the plate.
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And that leads us on to the main objective of this article.
While the likes of Max Pacioretty, Mark Stone, Reilly Smith and Shea Theodore have been lights out this year, too many players have performed well below expectations.
While superstars of course exist in the NHL, hockey is ultimately a team game and you aren’t going to taste success if a handful of players aren’t pulling their weight.
Poor goaltending will also sink a team and, as has often been the case this year, the Golden Knights are not getting elite play from the men between the pipes.
A lack of secondary scoring coupled with a bucketload of mistakes and turnovers on the blueline has combined for a perfect storm of error-laden performances by a team that was supposed to be at the peak of its powers and ready to really contend for the Stanley Cup.
However, there is a hell of a lot of work to be done if the Vegas Golden Knights are going to unlock their potential and enjoy a deep postseason run.
And certain players will also need to enjoy a resurgence down the stretch, so we picked out three in particular that need to really step it up for the Knights…
1. Alex Tuch
There were lofty expectations for Alex Tuch coming into this year following what was a breakout season for the forward in 2018-19.
Tuch, who was acquired by the Vegas Golden Knights from the Minnesota Wild in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, broke out in a big way last year with 52 points (20 goals, 32 assists) in 74 regular season games, setting career-highs in a number of categories.
It was a tantalizing glimpse of the potential Tuch boasts, potential he showed in flashes during his rookie year in 2017-18 as he tallied 37 points (15 goals, 22 assists) for the Knights.
So, as a result, Tuch was expected to be an offensive juggernaut for Vegas this season and drive secondary scoring from the third line.
However, an upper-body injury sustained in the preseason for the third consecutive year derailed Tuch, who has never quite recovered since.
Another upper-body injury hindered the forward further, and both ailments really set the tone for what has been a miserable year for Tuch so far.
Through 35 games, the wing has recorded just six goals and seven assists for 13 points, with five of those coming on the power play.
Tuch is also a -11 on the year while he has a shooting percentage of 8.3 in 14:31 minutes of average total ice time.
Tuch’s CF% of 52.3 is actually impressive but the overall body of work is a serious disappointment, especially when you consider what the forward achieved last year.
Granted, playing with a flurry of linemates on that problem-plagued third-line hasn’t helped Tuch’s cause, nor has the play of those he has often been out on the ice with.
However, it is important to let bygones be bygones and Tuch must now focus on coming back after the bye week fresh and firing on all cylinders.
Secondary scoring, or a lack thereof, has been a huge bugaboo all year but that problem would certainly be eradicated if Alex Tuch can settle into a groove and rediscover the recipe that made him such an offensive juggernaut last year.
2. Nate Schmidt
Very much Mr. Reliable for the Vegas Golden Knights, Nate Schmidt has been anything but that for the Vegas Golden Knights this year.
After returning from a 20 game suspension for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program, Schmidt recovered to carve out an impressive 2018-19 season.
However, this year has been a struggle for the defenseman and his down year has been part of what is a much bigger problem on the blueline.
Shea Theodore is currently the only consistent standout of the defensemen on the Vegas roster, which means he is carrying the bulk of the load with his colleagues not quite pulling their weight.
That includes Schmidt who is a -1 in 40 games with four goals and 17 assists for 21 points in 21:36 minutes of total average ice time this year.
His game has been ravaged by a plethora of costly turnovers and giveaways while the 28-year-old has also been a detriment when it comes to Vegas’ transition game.
It is hard to pinpoint exactly why Schmidt is having such a down year, but one thing is clear and that’s the fact that he will need to drastically improve down the stretch.
It looks likely that the Golden Knights will try to acquire another defenseman at the Trade Deadline, which would certainly helps Schmidt’s cause and help to ease the pressure on him.
But only Schmidt can change his fortunes on the ice and the defenseman needs to put it all together sooner rather than later.
When Nate Schmidt goes the Vegas Golden Knights tend to go too and they will need one of their best blueliners to rediscover his game ahead of what is a tough stretch of games.
3. Marc-Andre Fleury
When the Vegas Golden Knights pulled off a masterstroke by selecting Marc-Andre Fleury from the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, some experts felt as though the future Hall of Famer was on the decline.
However, the goalie has been enjoying a resurgence in the desert with the Knights, propelling them to the Stanley Cup Final in 2017 and then another postseason appearance last year.
Fleury has continued to come up big for his team this year too, making a plethora of huge saves including THAT stop against the Toronto Maple Leafs to absolutely rob Nic Petan.
But, it hasn’t quite been an all-conquering year for the netminder who is enduring somewhat of a slump and a down year.
His numbers have dipped somewhat this year but it is important to note that the loss of his father in November would no doubt have taken a mental toll on Fleury, as it would on anyone.
Fleury’s Save Percentage has dipped below .900 at times this year but, again, it is worth keeping in mind that he has been left out to dry by his defense on countless occasions.
Currently carrying a 19-12-4 record with a 2.86 Goals Against Average and a .907 Save Percentage, Fleury decided to skip the 2020 NHL All-Star Game in order to recharge his batteries.
Golden Knights going through turmoil for first time. dark. Next
Hopefully that decision will result in a revitalized Marc-Andre Fleury down the stretch and, if that is the case, then the Vegas Golden Knights will have every chance in the world to succeed in the postseason.
Because, after all, you can’t win a championship without elite goaltending and that is just fact.