If there’s one team I can’t say a lot of negative things about, it’s the Vegas Golden Knights. They’ve been red-hot all season, with Jack Eichel looking like a true Hart Trophy contender. Through 36 games before Tuesday’s slate of contests, Eichel has just 10 goals but a ridiculous 48 points, and he could just be getting warmed up.
He’s light years ahead of players like Ivan Barbashev, Shea Theodore, and Mark Stone (all of whom have 30 points). And yeah, if all three of those players picked up their games just a little, the Knights would more than be in business.
But there’s another name I’d rather see pick up the pace and enjoy a red-hot second half to the 2024-25 season. And yeah, you might laugh at this one since this player has been spectacular in many areas of the game to date, but there’s still room for improvement.
The player in question is our power play guru, Tomas Hertl, who has just 24 points in 36 contests. Of those 24 points, he’s driven 10 of them home for goals, with an eye-popping seven of them occurring on the power play.
Tomas Hertl can be even more productive for the Golden Knights
Note, that I’m not attempting to bash Hertl here, whose power play prowess is a major reason the Knights are playing sound hockey. I’ll also note that Hertl’s won 58.6 percent of his faceoffs, and defensively, he’s been landing plenty of body checks and blocked shots.
Still, his on-ice shooting percentage at even strength is another story, hovering at just 7.1 percent. And that’s what I’d like to see pick up.
No, Hertl doesn’t necessarily need to start scoring more goals at even strength, as there isn’t, nor should there be, a single Knights fan out there who will complain about what he’s done on the power play. But if he can be on the ice for between 10 and 11 percent of his team’s goals at even strength? Oh, you know the Knights will be hard to stop as they look to take back the Stanley Cup.
While Hertl’s been an impressive player all season and, really, since he debuted for the Knights, he hasn’t reached his ceiling. So, what will Hertl look like when that ceiling’s been reached? That’s the burning question he’ll need to answer.