Way-too-early Vegas Golden Knights starting forward combinations
Do you remember playing with Legos as a child? The playset allowed young people to use their imagination and create incredible buildings, airplanes, and other engineering marvels. It didn't matter if the blocks were different colors on the structure. The only thing that mattered was the creativity behind the structure, building that young mind for a bright future.
That same creativity comes with building opening night line combinations, whether it's adding Mark Stone to the first line with Jack Eichel or bumping up William Karlsson to the second. Vegas Golden Knights fans get to have fun as a child again, crafting their dream lineups as they see fit. But this year will look different from last season, making the lineup construction tougher to manage.
How so? Familiar faces are no longer with the organization, starting with a couple of "Original Misfits." The most notable is Jonathan Marchessault, where Golden Knights fans already know the story. The undrafted winger makes a name for himself on the new franchise, winning a Conn Smythe in the process. He doesn't come to terms on a new deal and heads to Nashville to hopefully guest-star in the Grand Ole Opry.
The other is William Carrier, who didn't have as grand of an exit as Marchessault. Instead, his story has him going to the Carolina Hurricanes on a six-year, $2 million AAV deal. Hopefully, Carrier will catch some North Carolina-Duke basketball games during his time in the Tar Heel State.
Still, the Golden Knights will have a drastically different lineup from last season, with other names like Chandler Stephenson and Michael Amadio gone. Let's have some fun with building the team's lineup for the season opener and move onto next season. After all, there's no point in dwelling in the past.
Line 1
Ivan Barbashev-Jack Eichel-Mark Stone
The Jack Eichel-Ivan Barbashev pairing is obvious, for the Russian forward was acquired to compliment the former second-overall pick. According to Natural Stat Trick, the duo played 668:09 of ice time together last season (63 games), with the Vegas Golden Knights scoring 36 goals with the duo together. Vegas allowed 23 goals with the pair on the top line in 2023-24. Overall, they've been great together, easily setting up offensive plays.
However, there's a notable face missing on that line. As mentioned, Jonathan Marchessault is no longer a Golden Knight, leaving a void. The team suddenly doesn't have reliable scoring, specifically on the wing. Plenty of names could be placed on that unit, including newly-acquired Alexander Holtz and the youthful Brendan Brisson.
But why not put the Captain on the first line with Eichel and Barbashev? Mark Stone has experience playing with Eichel, playing a total of 556:37 (81 games) with the former second-overall pick since 2021-22. Having a seasoned veteran like Stone here gives the Golden Knights the edge experience-wise, making them more offensively well-rounded.