Forward Line Chemistry In Much Better Place Than Last Year

As the playoffs grow nearer and nearer, finding chemistry amongst the forward lines becomes paramount.

Last season, the Golden Knights claimed to have had the most talented roster in franchise history, but they struggled to generate offense in the postseason. A big reason for that was consistency.

In the deciding Game 7, VGK iced a roster that included three forward lines that had not played a single game together in the regular season. Injuries to Mark Stone, Chandler Stephenson, and William Carrier, coupled with the addition of Tomas Hertl (who was also injured at the time) and Anthony Mantha left Bruce Cassidy with a mishmash of forwards that didn’t come together quite in time.

This year, the Golden Knights should enter the postseason in a much better place. While there have been injuries to individual forwards at different times, including Hertl’s absence from the lineup recently, they haven’t had to juggle the lines as often as down the stretch last year. With 11 games to go, this year’s group has six lines that have played at least 10 games together and another 13 that have skated together for at least five. Some of them are Vegas’ most important trios too.

Games Started Together
31 – Barbashev-Eichel-Stone
16 – Pearson-Roy-Kolesar
12 – Olofsson-Hertl-Dorofeyev
11 – Hertl-Roy-Kolesar
11 – Saad-Hertl-Dorofeyev
10 – Howden-Hertl-Dorofeyev

The three most consistent lines this season could all be used in the first round of the postseason. This is, of course, if the team remains healthy over the final three weeks of the season.

Even a single piece missing from the top-six can often force a shuffle that impacts the entire lineup. Even then, the group of forwards the Golden Knights will bring into the postseason have a lot of chemistry together as pairs.

18 different center/wing pairs have played at least 10 games together which should offer Cassidy a wide range of options in finding the perfect set of 12 on April 20th.

Games Started Together
54 – Barbashev-Eichel
50 – Eichel-Stone
49 – Roy-Kolesar
48 – Roy-Kolesar
35 – Hertl-Dorofeyev
23 – Pearson-Roy
23 – Howden-Karlsson
17 – Pearson-Schwindt
17 – Schwindt-Holtz
16 – Olofsson-Hertl
16 – Howden-Kolesar
14 – Karlsson-Holtz
14 – Karlsson-Dorofeyev
13 – Howden-Hertl
12 – Dorofeyev-Hertl
11 – Hertl-Roy
11 – Saad-Hertl
11 – Hertl-Karlsson

This is a massive difference from last year’s team. No matter what the 2024-25 Golden Knights face between now and the end of June, there will still be plenty of options to create lines that have played lots of hockey together.

Finally, compare this to what VGK’s potential first round options are facing. Edmonton is without Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and their deadline acquisition Trent Frederic has yet to play. Minnesota is without Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Marcus Foligno and have been shuffling lines since they acquired Gustav Nyquist, Justin Brazeau, and Vinnie Hinostroza. And the St. Louis Blues are going to try and add prospect Jimmy Snuggerud to the mix in the next few days.

It’s never going to be perfect, and the Golden Knights will face challenges over the next few weeks before the postseason arrives, but no matter what crops up, they’re going to be in a much better position to succeed this year than they were in 2024. In many ways, it kind of resembles 2023…