Want to hear a joke, dear reader? This one will surely make you slap your knees. Are you ready?
The Vegas Golden Knights power play.
That's it. That's the joke. A unit whose best campaign came in 2019-20 (22%) hasn't mustered much historically. That doesn't bode well for a team that lost Jonathan Marchessault to the Nashville Predators. Suddenly, the Golden Knights are down their best sniper and have cheaper replacements. Victor Olofsson, anyone?
The alternatives don't inspire much confidence in a fanbase looking to get better in the unit. Sure, some shiny new pieces like Noah Hanifin and Tomas Hertl are ready to go a whole season. But losing key names like Marchessault and Chandler Stephenson doesn't help the cause. Instead, it decimates the unit, leaving fans to wonder if there's any meat left.
So why should Golden Knights fans be confident about the unit for the upcoming season? For one, a couple of names made the special teams group better. Names like Jack Eichel and William Karlsson come to mind, along with other mainstays like Mark Stone. These players will return to the club in 2024-25, giving them some bite. Promising players like Alexander Holtz should also boost the team in this regard.
Still, let's look back at last season and see the three best players on the unit. These superstars gave the power play some punch, providing a small spark of hope for the beleaguered unit. While one of these stars have left the building, there are two who'll make the team strong. With that, here are the three man advantage merchants who were no joke last season.
Jack Eichel
Jack Eichel was the team leader in power play goals last season, scoring 11 times on the man advantage. He also had 11 assists on the unit, good for second on the Vegas Golden Knights (Shea Theodore led the team with 13). All of this came in 63 games, with the former second-overall pick missing time with a lower-body injury.
Overall, Eichel had 31 goals and 37 assists in that timespan, averaging 1.08 points a game. When he was acquired, he was meant to be the game-changing center and offensive centerpiece the Golden Knights desperately needed. After trying to find that centerpiece with names like Max Pacioretty, it seems Vegas has struck "Gold" with the former Buffalo Sabres star.
Next season offers the superstar center the chance to grow within the unit. With new pieces in Hanifin and Hertl ready to join the unit, the Golden Knights have plenty of reason to be optimistic for next season (or not, depending on who you ask). The unit should be better if Eichel can stay healthy for the full (or most of) 82 games next season.