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Vegas Golden Knights: Karlsson’s impressive return, other takeaways

By Andrew Steele-Davis

SAINT PAUL, MN - FEBRUARY 11: Paul Stastny #26 of the Vegas Golden Knights defends Mikko Koivu #9 of the Minnesota Wild during the game at the Xcel Energy Center on February 11, 2019 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)
SAINT PAUL, MN - FEBRUARY 11: Paul Stastny #26 of the Vegas Golden Knights defends Mikko Koivu #9 of the Minnesota Wild during the game at the Xcel Energy Center on February 11, 2019 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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SAINT PAUL, MN – FEBRUARY 11: Jared Spurgeon #46 of the Minnesota Wild defends Max Pacioretty #67 of the Vegas Golden Knights during the game at the Xcel Energy Center on February 11, 2019 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)
SAINT PAUL, MN – FEBRUARY 11: Jared Spurgeon #46 of the Minnesota Wild defends Max Pacioretty #67 of the Vegas Golden Knights during the game at the Xcel Energy Center on February 11, 2019 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images) /

3. Fresh voices needed

With nine games behind the bench for Peter DeBoer, one thing is clear: the problems that plague this team aren’t related to the coaching staff.

It is becoming apparent that this disappointment of a year is firmly on the players and something is clearly not right.

They aren’t meshing as well as they should be and the roster isn’t as strong as maybe we all thought it was.

After all, and we’ve covered this in-depth, the front office sacrificed depth in the off-season in order to lock up their core, and that is coming back to hurt them now.

But there are some real fundamental flaws on this roster, including on the blueline and the lack of secondary scoring, and General Manager Kelly McCrimmon will need to be active at the Trade Deadline.

This team desperately needs a puck-moving defenseman and a solid scoring wing that can slot in on the third-line.

The Golden Knights could also probably do with some fresh faces and a new voice or two in that locker room.

After all, things can become stale quickly and maybe that group of players need someone to come in and shake things up, without upsetting the applecart too much.

dark. Next. Vegas crumble in ugly, toothless loss to Wild

It has become abundantly clear, though, that the Vegas Golden Knights need to do something to try and establish an identity and get this thing back on track, and maybe acquiring one or two key pieces at the Trade Deadline will help to achieve that.

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