Vegas Golden Knights: Ghule could be an intriguing selection at No. 29

Kaiden Guhle could be a perfect fit for the Vegas Golden Knights.

It is Draft Day everyone and the Vegas Golden Knights will pick 29th overall in Round One of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.

We are only a few hours away from proceedings getting underway virtually, so we thought we would give you a last minute lowdown on some prospects that could be available to the Golden Knights at the end of the First Round.

Predicting what will happen in any Draft outside of the top few picks isn’t an exact science, and it is even more of a crapshoot this year given how loaded this year’s class is.

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What we do know, however, is that Golden Knights General Manager Kelly McCrimmon has made it clear that his team will pick the best player available, and there will be lots of talent to choose from with the No. 29 overall pick.

Vegas opted to take high-end offensive talent in 2017 (Cody Glass, No. 6 overall) and in 2019 (Peyton Krebs, No. 17 overall), while we have predicted that the Knights will take center Hendrix Lapierre with the No. 29 overall pick in this year’s Draft.

However, there are a glut of high-end to elite defensemen available and one in particular could tick a lot of boxes for the Golden Knights.

Step forward Kaiden Guhle.

Rated as a legit NHL prospect by The Athletic, Guhle is projected to go 16th overall to the Montreal Canadiens in their final Mock Draft.

However, there are reports that the Canadiens could trade their First Round pick and, due to the amount of talent available, Guhle could slide late in the First Round.

If that’s the case then Vegas should be ready to pounce if the defenseman is still there when they go on the clock with the No. 29 overall pick.

Coming in at 6-foot-3 and 187 pounds, Guhle is a physical specimen, he boasts good skating ability and he’ll be able to battle hard in the dirty areas.

While there are more talented offensive defensemen available in this class, Guhle has a high ceiling and he boasts the intangibles and the attributes needed to morph into a very, very good stay-at-home defenseman.

He loves to play the body and Guhle should delight the Vegas crowd at T-Mobile Arena given his preference for finishing his checks with force.

And, while not a creative force, Guhle did record 40 points (11 G, 29 A) for the Prince Albert Raiders in 2019-20, and he has proven that he can activate off the rush and join the second-wave of attack.

He boasts a high hockey IQ and can make a pass so, while he won’t be a high-end producer, he won’t need to be with the Golden Knights with Shea Theodore on the roster and Dylan Coghlan on the rise.

Plus, Guhle will be well-known to the Golden Knights given that he plays in the WHL and, with General Manager Kelly McCrimmon’s connection to that league, he and his team should have done their homework on the left-shot.

Overall, the Vegas Golden Knights would be gaining a high-end skater in Kaiden Guhle who is an absolute menace in his own zone, and he would be very good value with the No. 29 overall pick.