The Vegas Golden Knights received some great news on Wednesday. Tomas Hertl, aka the Ambassador for "Fun Must Be Always" joined the team in practice. He wore a no-contact jersey with the club and skated around.
The Prague native has been essential to the Golden Knights' power play throughout the season. He scored 14 power play goals (franchise record) and gave Vegas a big-bodied threat in the slot. Overall, he has 31 goals and 28 assists in 2024-25, making him one of the most reliable goal-scorers.
Before his injury during March 23's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, he scored four goals in his last two games. He had eight goals and five assists during March, capping off a 10-2-2 month for Vegas. That included two hat tricks, one against the Detroit Red Wings (March 22) and the other against the Los Angeles Kings (March 9).
There are many reasons why this is terrific news. Aside from being a power play essential (league-best, too!) for the Golden Knights, he's shown that he can be a nightmare matchup for opponents. How can you cover and defend a 6'3" player in the slot who can simply turn away from you?
That's a tall task for anyone playing in the NHL. But being a size mismatch isn't the only reason why Las Vegas should be excited. Other things are at stake for the Vegas Golden Knights, including the Pacific Division.
Getting Tomas Hertl back as a reinforcement is huge for the Vegas Golden Knights
Heading into Wednesday, the Los Angeles Kings were five points behind the Golden Knights. The Kings have five more home games left this season as well. Sure, that consists of three games against the Edmonton Oilers and Colorado Avalanche combined. However, having a record of 28-4-4 at Crypto.com Arena makes life easier for Los Angeles.
As for Vegas? Well, they have three games left at T-Mobile Arena. They also play at Calgary twice and Vancouver twice, giving them a tougher test than imagined. It's been mentioned numerous times how important home-ice advantage is here. That's especially true with both the Golden Knights and Kings dominating at their respective venues.
There's also a massive difference between facing either the St. Louis Blues or Minnesota Wild in the first round and the Oilers. As Edmonton showed on Tuesday, they're a team that can't be taken lightly. They're also looking to make an unprecedented run at the Pacific Division, too (seven points behind Vegas).
So why not bring back Tomas Hertl for the stretch run and finish strong? Having the league's best power play (no joke, they're at 30.6% this season) is mainly because of his presence up front. Now, Mark Stone can find his guy in the slot and deliver pucks to Hertl. Just keep swimmin'.
Returning to practice in a red no-contact jersey might not seem like much for the Golden Knights. That's especially true when that player's still out for the rest of the week. However, it means much more when it's one of your best players. He makes a colossal difference between winning the Stanley Cup and being eliminated in the first round. As a wise man once said, "Fun Must Be Always."