This season, diehard VGK fan and legendary combat sports columnist Kevin Iole will be delivering columns a few times a month on Sundays. Kevin’s back today to take a look at a position of depth, one that’s been notoriously thin in years past.
There’s nothing golden so far, particularly in the 2022 portion of the season, about the Vegas Golden Knights. Given the way they’re going, they’re perhaps best referred to as the Vegas Mediocre Knights.
Vegas has played 22 games in 2022 and gone 9-9-4. As playoff races heat up, the Golden Knights are all of a sudden at least a teeny weeny tiny bit in the Shane Wright Sweepstakes.
Forget about Wright for the moment, because this franchise will be shaken to its foundation if it misses the playoffs. I dare say if that unlikely eventuality comes about, none of the threesome of George McPhee, Kelly McCrimmon, or Pete DeBoer will hold the same jobs at the start of next season.
With that said, here are a series of thoughts and observations about the Knights at this stage:
• The Knights can’t score. The injury-ravaged group of 12 forwards that DeBoer iced in Friday’s 5-4 win in Anaheim had combined to score 36 goals in 22 games in the calendar year 2022.
The nominal first line of Jack Eichel (2), Nic Roy (3), and Evgenii Dadonov (2) has seven, which includes the two Roy scored in the second period Friday to end a 15-game goal-less drought.
If you eliminate ‘The Misfit Line,’ which has 16 goals in 2022, the other nine forwards Vegas dressed have 20 in 22 games. That’s not good enough to get it done.
Dadonov is the worst culprit of all, because he’s being paid the staggering sum of $5 million to score, which he isn’t doing.
• McCrimmon has maneuvered himself into salary cap hell and won’t be able to do much at the deadline unless he makes dollar-for-dollar trades. But despite what I noted above, if we assumed that McCrimmon could make deals and wasn’t handicapped by the cap, my belief is that the team’s No. 1 need is a defensive defenseman.
Even when (if?) Alec Martinez comes back — and he’s so badly missed — this team’s makeup is such that a shot-blocker/penalty-killer type is still a huge need. Vegas’ defense needs another shutdown guy in the worst way.
• We can’t rip McCrimmon for trading draft picks, because he’s done so in an effort to put the finishing touches on a talented team and turn it from a Cup contender to a champion.
But we can rip him for some of the deals he made. The move to send second and third picks out to acquire Mattias Janmark at last year’s deadline looks highly dubious.
And if he wants to get a team to take Dadonov’s $5 million contract off his hands, he’s going to likely have to throw in a high pick and perhaps even a prospect.
Trading Nick Holden and a third rounder for Dadonov last year looks worse every game Dadonov goes without a goal. And it’s looking like he’s going to cost them another high pick to get rid of him.
The Knights haven’t had years to build their farm system like other franchises because this is only their fifth season. And they’ve not only traded picks, they’ve traded guys they themselves drafted.
And now they’ll have to trade more picks to get someone to take our bad contracts off our hands.
Yuk.
• Robin Lehner was the team’s best player in, oh, the first six weeks. He’s been hurt a lot since then, but when he’s played, he hasn’t been good enough.
Is he good enough that a team could win a Cup with him in net? I believe so, based on how he played in the Bubble in 2020. He showed an ability to carry a team then.
But the Knights need to get Lehner fixed, and quick.
• The power play is a mess, and while Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone would help it immensely, assistant coach Steve Spott’s work with it has been, well, spotty.
A team with the offensive talent this one has should not be 22nd in a 32-team league in power play percentage. Vegas’ power play is operating nearly 11 percentage points worse than Toronto’s, which leads the league with a nearly 29-percent connect rate.
• William Karlsson is having the worst season of his Vegas career, which hurts because he’s costing the team $5.9 million against the cap. He’s not even as reliable defensively as he once was and his offense has largely dried up.
He’s scoring at a Keegan Kolesar-type rate, and that’s not enough for a guy who is on the No. 2 line and gets as much power-play time as Karlsson.
If they’d have even hinted at thinking of trading him in Seasons 1 through 4, I’d have lost my mind. Now, well, maybe not so much. I’d really worry about breaking up The Misfits Line, but the Knights don’t have the luxury of carrying $6 million players who are just OK.
I’m not advocating trading him, but depending upon the deal, I wouldn’t scream bloody murder, either.
• Chandler Stephenson needs to go back to playing center. He doesn’t fit on Eichel’s right wing. That’s obvious.
Let’s assume that on Game 1 of the playoffs all are healthy and none of them have been traded, these are the lines I’d use:
Pacioretty-Eichel-Stone
Marchessault-Karlsson-Smith
Stephenson-Roy-Dadonov
Janmark-Howden-Patrick
In that group, you’re giving more favorable matchups to Stephenson as a third-line center and Janmark as a fourth-line winger. A second and a third was too much to give up for Janmark, but playing on a fourth line, he’s a guy who could contribute. Plus, he’ll be playing for a contract, and that no doubt will impact his effort/performance.
• Healthy, I do believe this team as presently constituted is a Cup contender. But it’s not one of the top three or four as it was when the season started.
Colorado and Calgary are the class of the West, with the Knights a significant step below them. The East is going to be brutal to get through, and Tampa, Carolina, Florida, Pittsburgh, and Toronto are all capable of winning it. In the West, it’s Colorado, Calgary, a healthy Vegas, and maybe St. Louis and Minnesota, but I’m not sold those last two.
But if this team doesn’t win it this year, McPhee and McCrimmon are going to face a massive rebuild in the summer. Smith, Janmark, and Ben Hutton are UFAs, and Howden, Kolesar, Roy, and Nic Hague are RFAs and will take a good bit of money to re-sign.
The contracts of Stone and Pietrangelo aren’t going to age well, and you wonder if we’re already seeing the first hints of that now. Pacioretty will be going into the final year of his deal next year.
So Cup or not, the VGK may look massively different in October than they do at the end of the playoffs.
**You can find all of Kevin’s tremendous boxing and MMA work at Yahoo Sports here.**
FG
Great article. Given the comments on Pacioretty and Janmark’s injury, I would expect them to be out the month of March. McNabb likely has a wrist or forearm fracture given the nature of injury and the way he left the ice. He would be out six weeks until mid April. Stone is unknown at this time, but an undiagnosed back injury that has affected his performance this year brings short and long term concerns. Martinez likely has facial nerve injury from his laceration, and has not returned, and again there are short and long term potential implications. All these injuries may preclude return prior to the trade deadline, making any significant trades unlikely.
If they can tread water and beat the bad teams this month, perhaps they can maintain a playoff position by the end of the season.
However, there are significant cap concerns for next season, and they need to unload a $5 million contract (Tataronov or Martinez or Karlsson) just to sign the RFAs. And they likely need to unload another $5million. And that likely means no new contract for Reilly Smith and the end of the Misfit line, and the closing of the Cup window. The real cost of acquiring of Jack Eichel is still TBD. It is right to hold the front office’s feet to the fire.
THE hockey GOD
TO FG and only FG
–>I agree, into purgatory for franchise whether they win the cup or do not.
Daryl
But what about me????
Bill Gay
Sons are San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Duck fans so beating them is a win for us.
THE hockey GOD
Nice Article IOLE
“Given the way they’re going, they’re perhaps best referred to as the Vegas Mediocre Knights.” Some people are leaning towards the Regina PVs.
“none of the threesome of George McPhee, Kelly McCrimmon, or Pete DeBoer will hold the same jobs at the start of next season. ” HEADS WILL ROLL – Major Hofstetter.
“The East is going to be brutal to get through” hope they all beat the crap out of each other and leave easy pickings for team coming out of the WEST. It’s been known to happen.
“Pacioretty will be going into the final year of his deal next year.” he and / or Stone will be first to go. Both damaged goods.
Henderson One
The Author failed to recognize that in the past two seasons both Patches and Stone choked in the playoffs. This will probably continue. Also the weakness in goal is apparent. I would not consider the VGK a contender for the Stanley Cup.
THE hockey GOD
@One and no one else, but one.
if that was the case , then he would have stated it
Daryl
Of course….
Richie-Rich
I have to agree 100%. We need Martinez and another solid defenseman who is not only great on D, but can lay the leather if necessary as well. I can think of no better rental at this point than Chara! He’s big and an outstanding defenseman. No one is going to challenge us physically on the ice with his presence! A better defense will certainly help our mediocre goaltending win more games.
Galdom
Kevin Iole is a genius because basically everything he said in this article is what I have been saying and that makes him a genius. ROTFL. Brought up that Karlsson is scoring on a Keegan Kolesar type pace which I said. Yet most people don’t have a problem with that while he is making 5.9 million and Kolesar is making 750,000. They just affectionately clump him in as a misfit and give him a free pass.
He also brought up that Lehner’s game is off which I have been saying but also correctly said that Lehner is capable in the playoffs because he has done it in the past just like he did in the bubble. He doesn’t do the moronic thing that 80% of people do which think that goaltending is the biggest problem.
He also correctly states the biggest problem on the team which is that they can’t score. Holy smokes. It’s almost as if I wrote the article. Ha ha ha
THE hockey GOD
Iole also “correctly states” that Galdom is a genius !!
Galdom
Ha ha ha
Mark
As a member of the dumbest, most hillbilly drunken fan base, I think the season has been good. Consider all the injures, Covid, etc..Yes, disappointed at times but this team fights. We beat Anaheim without Stone, Patches, Martinez, those guys are stalwarts when healthy. I remain optimistic. This season, like no other, is really a mystery. That’s just one drunken inbred hillbilly thoughts.
THE hockey GOD
clg vs col
Edward Foley
Certainly the injury list has hampered the Knights but I suspect something else is missing on the team. And that is personality and cohesiveness. How do you replace the locker room Fleury and Reaves or even Eakin and Tuch. They all had spirit. It’s like McCrimmon said we don’t want anyone with any personality. And what a bunch of duds we have while teams like the Rangers are sparkling. All my favorites are gone. What. Go Knights Go or Go McCrimmon Go!
THE hockey GOD
Vegas Golden Knights
3m ·
Ben Hutton has signed a two-year contract extension with the Golden Knights!!!!
trade
yes, and his cap hit will be only $850k
he has been better than a few of the current dmen this season. a good signing.
Blitz
That is a great signing and a good price! Hutton has been a hell of alot more solid *on defense* than most of these guys. Cogs is going away IMO, his ship has sailed. Hague is ok, but I don’t like a guy of his size that isn’t tough. He should be throwing dudes around but he isn’t, he is supposedly an offensive guy and is slow…great. I see Hutton as the #6 or maybe even higher going forward and plays well with Petra or can even tow Cogs around on pair 3. I am a big Hutton fan. He never panics when under pressure to get the puck moving out of the d zone. Clears the crease ok. Plays tough, plays at home, passes well. I think his offensive game is good enough and because we don’t need more offensive wing defensemen for F’s sake.
WAR HUTTON!!!
Daryl
I agree…
Blitz
Can’t agree with the great article talk. Most of it is obvious to true fans, so i wil just take that part and say maybe it is useful for the casual fan.
However the absolute stinker part of this article is the line combos etc. Here is the line combo he would run with:
Pacioretty-Eichel-Stone
Marchessault-Karlsson-Smith
Stephenson-Roy-Dadonov
Janmark-Howden-Patrick
The first thing he said is that Stephenson is a better center than wing, but then puts him on the L3 wing with Roy as center. So now our L1 center for the last season and a half isn’t good enough to replace Roy on L3. Then Carrier, I guess, got demoted and Patrick is filling his space as a wing. Who is Patrick again and what has he done? Stone on Eichels line is probably worth the experiment to see what happens, but I just don’t feel like Stone and Eichel are a good pair together 5×5. Both are great players, no question. I said it yesterday. I don’t think this team, right now, has the players it needs to take advantage of Eichel and Stone. We need shooters with both. Time to load the catapult up with Dadinov, light him on fire, and watch him fly. Then maybe load it up with other guys too. This team is hot garbage. Change it or become the Vegas Golden Sharks.
Galdom
Blitz, I think he meant to put Stephenson at 3rd line center and Roy on the left wing. Just a typo.
You don’t like his lines but what are yours.
Karlsson thinks he is back on the Columbus Blue Jackets and can’t score anymore. I have demoted him to the third line. Stephenson is my second line center, he has slowed down but atleast has a pulse. I’m doing anything I can to remove Dadonov from the roster as I don’t want him around next year. If the misfit line can use a time machine and have Smith and Karlsson be what they used to be then I wouldn’t have split them up. Even if Dadonov is not traded I can’t have him or Patrick in the lineup because they just make me nauseous.
Pacioretty – Eichel – Smith
Marchessault – Stephenson – Stone
Carrier – Karlsson – Roy
Janmark – Howden – Kolesar
Blitz
I started to write lines, but then was bored of my post and moved on. My attention span sucks. 🙂 Perhaps you are right about the typos which would make sense. I don’t mind your lines above, but still have a thing for the misfits. The way they played against the Sharts is magic, like they know where each other are, at all times. However, yeah Bill, and sometimes even the whole line aren’t producing where they need to be. I feel like to get potential out of L1-L3 you have to move some guys out. We need shooters. Who do you move is the biggest question and for whom?? Even your L3 has zero shooters and Carrier doesn’t have the scoring and will bring the line down in that regard. L1 and L2 are better though. The team is full of guys that don’t fit, but aren’t terrible. Roy and Steph both are ok centers, but neither excels at wing. One probably has to go for a better wing. Of course that is assuming Howden is a lock for L4 center.
Pacioretty – Eichel – XXX1
XXX2 – Stephenson – Stone
Marchessault– Karlsson – Smith
Carrier – Howden – Kolesar/Amadio
Gone: Dadinov, Roy, Janmark, Patrick to hopefully bring in XXX1, XXX2 who are not super high dollar, but more character players.
Really there are too many variables to play the trade game in a short post, and is it this year before the playoffs, after the playoffs, next year?? All different cap issues and situations. Head spinning.
If I can’t do some trading and have to keep our current roaster for this year, say playoffs w/ the LTIR cheat, then let’s go with:
Pacioretty – Eichel – Roy
Dadinov – Stephenson – Stone
Marchessault– Karlsson – Smith
Carrier/Howden/Kolesar/Amadio/Janmark/Patrick
I still hate it, we need to sell of some pieces and get role players.
JoeInHendo
Us VGK fans who have followed our team from day 1 are frustrated because we HAD a Stanley Cup Championship caliber team from day 1. The impatience of Foley and Co. didn’t give the team enough time to learn and adapt before management started tweaking it and destroying its chemistry. Once Gallant was fired it really accelerated this team’s decline into mediocrity. Should have stayed the course and did whatever it took to keep as many original “Misfits” on the team as possible. It’s rare to see 4 solid lines and a goalie like VGK had those first couple seasons, they probably could have grabbed the SC that 3rd season if they were just given the chance. The massive drama in season 3 was avoidable and the damage done was mostly self-inflicted, though not by the players. Watching the Kraken makes it that much more frustrating to know how special our first couple VGK teams really were…..and management pissed them away. Us fans knew what we had, it’s just so baffling that Foley didn’t. Now we have DeBoer taking us backwards (sadly, and not surprisingly, his trademark). It feels as if The Emperor and Darth Vader we’re hired by the Rebellion to destroy it from the inside. I completely agree that if VGK misses the playoffs this year, DeBoer and McCrimmon should to be fired the minute the regular season ends.
Howard
Joeinhendo is spot on accurate. Because of the impatience here, VGK with a couple years will be Perennial ‘cellar dwellers’ for many years to come.
Jim White
Great analysis..spot on…can’t wait for the axe to fall on McCrimmon….
LeAnna koca
Ummm definitely something I’ve noticed! Being impatient was a mistake.
Daryl
Anyone know what a group of Pandas are called????
An embarrassment
Galdom
Ha
Blitz
I had to look it up. That is pretty funny.
Daryl
Someone at work told me that… Not talking about hockey just weird names for different groups of animals. I couldn’t help myself but to put it on here
Blitz
LOL even better.
Howard
This writer here doesn’t know jack squat about The NHL when he says RL carried the team in the 2020 bubble. Other things he says also indicate yet another so-called sports writer who doesn’t understand Hockey.
Daryl
As I said on one of his previous articles Iole is nothing more than a casual VGK fan, just like most on here. He is allowed to write articles on VGK because of what his actual job is.
As for this article, I actually agree with almost every thing he said. Yeah the comment about RL is a little funny
Howard
RL gave up multiple soft goals in the 2020 bubble, especially against Dallas. While certainly I would not blame RL for VGK loss, the guy simply rarely EVER STEALS A GAME. Robin is not that type of tender. The main problem with VGK is its front office.
1. They failed to make key re-signings after SCF in 2018
2. They failed to show patience and threw away multiple draft picks that would have made them a contender for 2 decades or more.
3. They outbid themselves to re sign MAF, thus putting themselves in a poor position made worse by outbidding themselves against on RL.
4. They hastily fired a good coach to bring in a well-known GIMMICK coach whose every team he’s coached past 3 years ends up horrible (mainly because of injuries based on PDB over insistence for players to block every shot).
There’s a lot more – for instance, they could have made a run at Denault but instead, went after Dadan-a-suck-ov – another over pay waste of money.
I consider Mc-idiot the biggest problem VGK has. He’s arrogant and stupid – bad combo to have if you want to contend for The Cup.
Daryl
I said it way back when but I really wish they made a push for Staal
Galdom
Can you imagine them losing to Ottawa at home after Ottawa just got spanked by Arizona last night? I don’t think they will lose but I certainly can’t rule it out with the lack of passion this group has. Remember when we were a heavy team especially at home and other teams hated coming here?
They should win today but it’ll be like watching figure skating show, the ice capades.
Blitz
AZ is on a little mini run right now. They have beat DAL, VGK, COL, and OTT in the last 6. I would take that kind of a run at this point. LOL That said vegas has to win the next 3 games against beatable teams. Losing to trash teams is no longer an option in this season, we need points and desperation.
Tim
Any way you slice it we have problems. Average goaltending, Getting old, can’t score, weak defense, gave away to many draft picks, that covers most of it.
Galdom
Sad
JoeInHendo
I think because of the masterful job Foley did bringing the NHL here to the Vegas Valley, and how a horrible tragedy created an instant bond between VGK and its fans that goes way beyond sports, many of us were blinded to the fact that Foley is a great business person, but not so much a great sports team owner (so far). I’m seeing a bit of Jerry Jones in him, just without the constant media attention (no, I’m not a Cowboys fan whatsoever). Hiring yes-man managers and coaches and casting off Gallant who wore his passion for everything hockey on his sleeve and may have stood up to Foley. Now DeBoer is to Foley what Mike McCarthy is to Jones (both coaches don’t rock the boat, obviously don’t know how to coach, and are taking their teams backwards). Except Jones hires talented players and pays too much to keep them, whereas Foley releases talented players without even offering them new contracts or extensions (David Perrone anyone?) then overpays to bring in other players who don’t mesh or perform. Out of our original “Misfits” that were only 3 games away from bringing home the SC, we have what, like 4 left on our team after only 4 full seasons? Owner impatience mixed with ego, then sprinkle in incompetence at general manager, then add in timid, non-coaches equals the recipe for disaster we’re currently tasting in this shit sandwich that is the current state of VGK. I’ll forever be grateful to Foley for bringing our Knights here, and I’ll always be a huge fan, but dammit man, get back to what made VGK so great and then be hands-off.
the REAL TS- REALLY.
Damn right, Joe. Vgk has been flush in funds, but NOT in Hockey Sense. A championship team doesn’t appear overnight. Takes time and patience. Mgmt had none of it, it seems. That’s Vegas for you…gotta have the Trophy NOW, No matter the cost. Boy, is it costing us now….
Barney
Getting an early start on tonight’s game…
It’s the goalies fault
It’s Dadonov ‘s fault
Daryl
Wrong, it’s Krebs fault
Mike StG
I think it worthwhile to provide some context to the discussion.
On Karlsson: the comparison to Kolesar’s offensive output is deceiving. He has played 14 fewer games than KK and some runway for getting back into form after his injury should be factored in. His PPG is .51, KK is .33. His line also gets the toughest defensive assignments every game. That said, he’s on a 82 game pace of 40+ points and that’s NOT good enough for his role.
On the notion Vegas just gutted the Year One team trying to buy the Cup:
– During Yrs 1 & 2 Vegas resigned Haula, Marchy and Fleury, Theodore, Miller, Schmidt, Karlsson and Tuch. The only impact players that were not resigned after Yr 1 were Perron and Neal. Neal wanted 5 yrs – how did that work out for Calgary? At the time I thought they should keep Perron, and I suspect there was more behind his going back to St Louis than anyone is willing to admit. I distinctly recall that when he came back from the late season concussion he was yanked from the roster early in the playoffs for at least a few games. I think there was an issue with Gallant. They had resigned Haula but his season ended early in Yr 2 with the horrific injury he suffered. It seems that they weren’t confident he would ever be the same player so they traded him for Roy at the end of Yr 2.
– In the off-season before Yr 2 they brought in Patch to replace Neal and Stastny to upgrade the middle, which would probably have been successful if not for Payl being injured early in the season in Buffalo, ironically when Eichel fell on the back of his outstretched leg, and he missed nearly half the year. Yes, they traded him going in to the last yr of his contract, but that was due to need for cap space resulting from the Petro deal. FTR, the addition of Patch & Pauly would likely have been a good upgrade to the 2nd line in Yr 2 were it not for the injury.
– It’s not reasonable to expect Karlsson to be a perennial 40 or 30 goal scorer after scoring only 6 goals in a year on his previous team. His shooting percentage in Yr 1 was not sustainable. So the additions of Patch & Stone made sense as the opportunities in Yr 2 center arose.
– It also did not stand to reason that players could maintain the intensity of playing over their heads & ability endlessly. Even Marchy said during Yr1 that “teams have better players than we do so we have to play harder than them every night”. It also became evident that Vegas’s success in their ‘playing fast’ was being adopted by other teams with more skilled players, and that would eventually negate their advantage. So, it was necessary for the team to upgrade their talent at key positions.
– Colin Miller was traded after Yr 2, and Gallant’s comments about him during the SJS playoff series indicated some personnel issues there. Bellemare’s contract expired at the end of Yr 2 and it’s uncertain whether he went to the Avs simply for better money.
– It seems to me that at least some of GMKM’s moves were a result of – or not supported by – actions of Gallant. He didn’t play Tatar much in Yr 1 playoffs, he benched Perron and Miller at critical playoff moments, he didn’t play Gusev after the FO brought him over just prior to Yr 2 playoffs. He seemed to be committed to playing Eakin at 2C or 3C regardless of his lack of offensive ability, even pushing Haula to wing in early Yr 2 before the injury. As much as I liked GG I can see why they might have moved on from him.
So, my view is that after the Yr 2 playoff loss they started to look hard at making more substantial changes to the team. After that they traded Miller, let Bellemare walk, traded Eakin, followed by trading Schmidt, Stastny, Reaves and finally Fleury as they reshaped the team to give them what they believed to be a better chance to win. In doing so, they basically sacrificed the team’s bond and internal cohesion, and the joy of the game seems gone in their play. That’s painfully obvious watching the team now. Oh, they’re still a very good team, especially if they ever get healthy. But what if that never happens (as Ken insightfully has wondered aloud)?
Whether they can somehow pull together a team that can regain at least some of those elements by the playoffs is a big question. But I think it’s almost certain that the FO will make moves at TD to replace those players lost for the season due to injury, in the hopes they can gel in time for the team to go on a successful postseason run. That would be a tall order considering some of the juggernaut teams out there.
Tim
Supposedly we have the fourth easiest schedule left with is nerve raking because we always play dow to the competition. Lets assume Calgary takes first then between Edmonton, L.A, Anaheim, and us pick two. I’ll say one thing if we are the last team in Colorado will go ballistic when one plays eight. I’m kind of hoping that happens to those arrogant son-of-a-bitches.For whatever reason they pull the Jesus Christ card and think they can walk on water. I’d just laugh my ass off if we dumped them in the first round.
Hdbiker7851
The reality of the situation is very simple. They are not a team but a group of individuals- many of which are way over paid – with really no cohesiveness for many reasons. Aquiring all these “high splash” additions did nothing but waste dollars that could have been better used. They have shown you can’t buy the Cup regardless how much money you spend as the attitude essential for winning can’t be purchased. Maybe the fact that Foley wasn’t as knowledge about hockey and surrounded himself with people he believed were is a problem. Who k owns at this point but don’t be shocked if they don’t even make the playoffs. Sad state of affairs
Jim White
I agree..the VGK are like a watch, assembled with the wrong sized gears..some touch, some don’t..the result is hit or miss, mostly miss
Vic
Flames and AVs last night (3/5)……Top quality playoff type game with backup goalies for most of the game after Kuemper was pulled. The relentless speed, hits and desire were wonderful to watch. Let’s be realistic, the VGK aren’t anywhere near the same level as those two teams for many reasons. It’s obvious the team is in a death spiral. If the walking wounded return, there is some hope of a playoff run, but not expecting much. To quote Bruce Hornsby…..”There’s gonna be some changes made.”
Richie-Rich
You can bet Colorado is one of the clubs seeking the services of Fleury. Now, that would be something!
THE hockey GOD
AVS have too many “hot heads” on their team, seems like mckinnon is a real hot head according to the canadian announcers. And we all know the guy they got from Toronto is a real hot head, piece of work.
Vic
Went to my first live VGK game since year one. The noise level was double what it was year one mainly from the endless pounding drumbeat, yelling and screaming by the PA guy, and then the rap music treat throughout. The most annoying thing to hear is the PA guy screaming…”The VGK are on the Power Play” when a minute of the PP is already gone, and the boys can’t get it across the blue line. Sad state of affairs.
THE hockey GOD
@Vic
yes VIC fake hockey experience, if it weren’t for the loud noise “theatrics” there would be no noise at all. Real NHL fans are laughing at this joke of a venue.
I can’t tell you how many “back east” and LA KINGS hockey fans I take to games and they just laugh and shake their heads.
At least Regina fans will know how to cheer, and won’t need a drummer or girl freezing her butt off in mini skirt to tell them how to do it. (Or some big clown in a lizard costume). Maybe they will have a Scarecrow , like one from Farmer’s Boy as a mascot ?
Can’t wait to go to MLB game in VEGAS, hope they don’t all “golden knights” it up and make it unwatchable.
THE hockey GOD
scuttlebutt says 67 may return tonight – jessie G on twitter
Galdom
67 is back.
Dadonov demoted to the fourth line
Pacioretty–Eichel–Roy
Marchessault–Karlsson–Smith
Carrier–Stephenson–Amadio
Dadonov–Howden–Kolesar
Hague–Pietrangelo
Theodore–Whitecloud
Hutton–Coghlan
George L.
Comparing Karlsson (200 foot player) to Kolesar (25 foot player) is absolutely ridiculous. Complete nonsense.
When Karlsson is in on the power play or kill he’s solid.
At the end of the Ducks game he kept the Ducks from passing by disrupting the flow.
Getting rid of him based solely on scoring is shortsighted and absurd.
Oh wait, that means he’s leaving.
Pull the pin on this hand grenade of a team.
Galdom
You fucking people don’t read everything. Everyone reads a quarter what is written and then starts commenting. all I said was in the past 34 games they produced exactly the same amount of offence. THATS IT!!!!!
34 GP 5G 7A 12PTS
THATS FUCKING IT!!!!
Nobody said the Kolesar is a better 200 foot player. Nobody said Kolesar is better defensively.
Who said that????
The only thing that I said was that in the past 34 games they produced the exact same offence which to me is not acceptable when one of them makes 5.9 million and the other one makes league minimum 750,000.
Of course Karlsson is far more talented and better. Of course the trend of Karlsson’s horrible contributions on our fence won’t continue forever.
But it is a fact that in spite of Karlsson playing more minutes and getting more power-play time then Kolesar his offence has been that of a fourth line player in the past 34 games.
Galdom
George L, did you just say the Karlsson is solid on the power play. He has three power-play points all season.
THREE
THREE
THREE total power-play points all season.
Daryl
Instead of being called the Golden Knights they should be called the Golden Girls!!
Sorry, I couldn’t help myself
Galdom
I absolutely love that show though. God bless Betty White.
Harris Umar
no no you all are missing the point Theodore the Pendejo is YOUR WORST defensemen on the team he creates neutral defensive zone turnovers resulting in opponents scoring all the time and if you guys want to trade somebody get rid of Pendejo, Dadonov, and Janmark
Jim White
Theo may not be the worst D man on our team, but his play has taken a major step down this year…its one thing to play and enjoy the game, but too many smiles after a turnover makes me wonder….