Five days into Golden Knights training camp, the biggest theme has been clear: this is a shorter runway, and nobody in Vegas is pretending otherwise.
Head coach Ryan Craig has been hammering that point for days. With fewer preseason games on the schedule, fringe players have less time to prove they belong, and the veterans only get two preseason appearances before the games start to matter for real. Mark Stone sounds fine with that setup.
“For me, personally, I’m excited with the way the camp is [this year]. I find that [training camps] drag on a little too much,” said Golden Knights captain Mark Stone on Thursday.
“I want to play right away; I want to play the important games. The first [preseason game] is to get your feet wet, but now, let’s get going.
That’s better for us.”
There’s only so much you can learn from preseason games that don’t count, but between the drills, scrimmages and the first few days of action, a few things are already starting to take shape.
The clearest one: the Howden-Karlsson-Marner line looks like it never took a break.
William Karlsson spent most of last season battling different injuries, but when he came back in Game 1 of the second round of the playoffs, he wasted no time reminding everyone how important he is. By Game 3, John Tortorella had him centered between Brett Howden and Mitch Marner, and that trio turned into the backbone of the team’s run to the Stanley Cup Final.
They’ve started camp together, and Craig sounds like he intends to keep them there. That makes sense. The chemistry is obvious, the reads are quick, and they look like a group that already knows exactly where the others are going to be.
I really, really like his chances.
Another name making a strong early case is Connelly. Both Craig and general manager Kelly McCrimmon have said he gets the first look at the open third-line spot. He’s been skating with Tomáš Hertl and Victor Olofsson since camp opened, and by all signs he’s checking the boxes the staff wants to see.
There’s also a meaningful little clue in the roster decisions. Connelly is not going with the group to San Jose tonight, which could actually help his case. The Golden Knights sent only two veteran players to their second preseason game, Marc Gatcomb and Braeden Bowman, and Connelly staying back for more work with the main group looks like a positive sign.
The one area that may not travel as smoothly into the season is the top power play unit. On paper, it still looks loaded, but the setup is not quite the same without Pavel Dorofeyev. Shea Theodore is back up top as the quarterback, and the rest of the group looks familiar enough.
The issue is the shot profile. Without Dorofeyev on the right side, Jack Eichel no longer has a left-handed one-time option in the right circle. Mitch Marner slides into that spot now, but he’s not a player who usually leans on the one-timer, and in this case he wouldn’t have that same look anyway.
That doesn’t mean the unit is short on talent. Eichel, Marner, Theodore, Stone and Tomáš Hertl are all elite players, and Hertl has put up 14 and 13 power-play goals over the last two seasons. Stone remains one of the best players below the goal line, too, coming off a career-high nine power-play goals and 27 power-play points.
Still, replacing Dorofeyev’s team-leading 20 power-play goals is no small task. That missing one-time threat changes the shape of the whole unit, and the Golden Knights will have to figure out how to make up for it as camp moves along.
In Other News...
Golden Knights Camp Cut Puts One Roster Logjam In Focus
The Golden Knights have trimmed their camp roster to 28 players, and the latest round of cuts says as much about the teams depth as it does about the players heading out the door. Several players were assigned to Hendersons training camp or moved to other teams, while the NHL group still features the kind of established core Vegas has come to lean on, with Jack Eichel, Mark Stone and Mitch Marner all in the mix as the season gets closer.
Among the more notable moves was Carl Lindboms assignment to the Silver Knights, a decision shaped less by what he did wrong than by how crowded the goaltending picture has become. Lindbom has put up strong numbers in previous stops, but Vegas is weighing the need for more NHL-level experience against a roster squeeze that leaves little room for every promising young player to stay in the big camp for long. [Read more 🡒]
Golden Knights Camp Battle Just Got More Interesting After San Jose Win
The Golden Knights picked up a 2-1 preseason win over the Sharks in a shootout, and a few of the newer faces gave the staff something to chew on afterward. Carter Hart turned aside 28 shots and finished with a .966 save percentage, while defenseman Juho Piiparinen added his own case for more attention with a key defensive stop in a game that stayed tight throughout.
For a roster still being sorted out in camp, nights like this matter less for the final score than for the impressions they leave behind. Vegas still has more tune-up work ahead with games against the Utah Mammoth and another meeting with San Jose, and those next chances will offer a better read on who keeps pushing into the conversation as the preseason rolls on. [Read more 🡒]
Golden Knights Are Sending A Clear Message About Trevor Connelly
Trevor Connelly has already made the early part of camp interesting for the Golden Knights, because the top prospect did more than simply stick around through the first round of roster cuts. He is expected to get into an upcoming game, and the way Vegas has handled him suggests this is about more than a token look.
Connelly has also been placed on the second power play unit with veteran players, a sign the organization wants to keep challenging him while also building him toward a larger role. After a strong season with the Henderson Silver Knights, he remains one of the higher-upside names in the system, and Vegas is making it clear it sees him as a player worth developing into a real contributor. [Read more 🡒]