Parker Wotherspoon has had a Vegas residency to forget so far. The former Penguins defenseman doesn't have a single point in six games. In fact, he has -0.3 point shares (-0.1 offensive point shares and -0.2 defensive point shares) to start the season, making him an albatross for the Vegas Golden Knights.
To make matters worse, the Golden Knights confirmed that the defenseman is out on a week-to-week basis with an upper-body injury. That means no road trip for the defenseman. It'll also mean that it's Dylan Coghlan time for the Golden Knights.
Parker Wotherspoon is out week-to-week with an upper-body injury, per VGK.
— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) October 12, 2026
Last season, the defenseman had three goals and 27 assists with the Penguins, making him a surprising puck-moving player. He was also great at hitting people (162 hits last season) and blocking shots (112 blocked shots last season). But this year has been a completely different story for the former Boston Bruin.
He only has five blocked shots and five hits in six games with the Golden Knights. Aside from not having a single point, he also has only five shots on goal to start the season. Overall, it has been an absolute disaster for the newest Golden Knight in every sense.
Can Dylan Coghlan step up in his absence? Can he provide a sudden goal-scoring spurt as he did against the Minnesota Wild on March 10, 2021? More importantly, what does losing Wotherspoon mean for the Golden Knights? Get the whiteboard out because it's time to look at the X's and O's.
What losing Parker Wotherspoon means for the Vegas Golden Knights
As mentioned, the Golden Knights are losing a good two-way defenseman on a week-to-week basis. You have a player who blocks shots, delivers hits on the lower units, and can distribute the puck. He even chipped in 26 takeaways for Pittsburgh. However, there's more than meets the eye for his production.
Last season, only 12 of Wotherspoon's assists were primary. His shot selection also left plenty to be desired with a Corsi of 47% and a Fenwick of 46%. While he looked underrated and fantastic for the Penguins, the underlying stats pointed towards a major correction a season later.
That's exactly what the Golden Knights got with Wotherspoon so far. The defenseman hasn't done much with the two-way game and only has two takeaways. In turn, it's led to some fans being disappointed. In fact, it's led to some fans being glad that Coghlan is stepping in.
There's a good reason for that, too. The softball hero has stepped up in key spots, whether it's in the regular season or the Western Conference Final. He's played responsible defense and is terrific in taking away space. If he has a strong campaign in Wotherspoon's absence, that's great news for a Golden Knights team suddenly dealing with injuries.
In the meantime, Vegas must cope with another player going down. First, it was Victor Olofsson with an undisclosed injury. Now? It's Wotherspoon that went down. I guess that explains why Ville Heinola stepped into the picture.
Add us as a preferred source on Google