Last season saw an interesting change for Vegas Golden Knights prospect Joe Fleming. He transitioned from being a defenseman to a forward, which is extremely rare in the realm of hockey. It's like a goaltender suddenly becoming a center, which happens as often as the Toronto Maple Leafs winning the Stanley Cup in the 21st century.
Anyway, Fleming makes this transition and gets much more mileage with the Silver Knights. He plays 60 games in 2025-26, scoring four goals and 10 assists. Believe it or not, those numbers get fairly close to his 2023-24 campaign with the Savannah Ghost Pirates, Here, he scored three goals and 18 assists with the former Golden Knights' ECHL affiliate.
But the jack-of-all-trades ventures into the 2026-27 season, looking to add more. He wants to become the gritty lower-line player that the Silver Knights need, giving them plenty of mileage for the top guys.
So what better way to do that than by working on some things? That way, he can help out Henderson and move them closer to winning the Calder Cup. He won't be on the Golden Knights this season, so it's best to change things up and go all out on your hockey journey. Let's get to know the Swiss Army Knife and see what he can do and work on.
Getting to know Joe Fleming on the Henderson Silver Knights
The first thing that you should know about Joe Fleming is that he gets in trouble. A lot. The new-ish forward had 158 penalty minutes last season with the Silver Knights. He almost doubled his total from a season ago, when he amassed 88 penalty minutes with Henderson.
With this, you're getting a hard-hitting player who still carries his defenseman style to the Silver Knights. Fleming isn't afraid to get involved in the play and will even stick up for his teammates when they've been wronged. That alone makes him a valuable asset on the lower units, giving them more juice and grind-it-out ability.
This should also erase the expectation that he'll score in bunches. The most points he's scored in his career is 27 with the Sherbrooke Phoenix of the QMJHL (five goals and 22 assists) in 2022-23. While he can move the puck and find open scoring opportunities, Fleming doesn't score too many goals. Mind you, those five goals are also a career-high for the Golden Knights prospect.
While he's found a niche as a lower-line punisher, it doesn't hurt to take the next step offensively. That'll mean getting more involved in the attack and learning to hone your shot. Granted, the former defenseman is learning to shed his former blue line tendencies, which can be difficult.
Still, the scrappy Silver Knights star knows that it'll take time to grow. He's learning how to handle his new role and is taking baby steps in improving his game. If he can take yet another step in 2026-27 with Henderson, that'll do wonders for the Silver Knights regarding the Calder Cup and building on last season.
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