LAS VEGAS — Perspective can be everything. Look no further than the
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Cassidy maintained throughout camp that the lineups were subject to change. But he has kept Eichel with Kessel on a line that also has Reilly Smith. Chandler Stephenson is anchoring a line that has Marchessault and Stone on the wings. William Karlsson is the centerpiece of the third line, while homegrown players such as Paul Cotter keep adding to the belief the Golden Knights could have more bottom-six forward depth than most realize.
Alec Martinez, Brayden McNabb, Alex Pietrangelo and Shea Theodore are all back. So is Zach Whitecloud. Nicolas Hague remains on injured reserve. But there is depth in the form of Ben Hutton and others they can call up from the AHL. And similar to the situation with Cotter, there are homegrown talents the Golden Knights believe they can trust when called upon.
“I think there are probably a lot of teams in the NHL that look around the room and they have a lot of depth and a lot of good players and a lot of nice pieces,” Eichel said. “They feel like they can be competitive every year, but it’s about how you put it together. It’s about how your team jells. You gotta stay healthy. It’s important to do that. Obviously, as we found out last year. You need a lot of good things to go your way.”
Like, say, maybe goaltending?
The situation surrounding Laurent Brossoit, Michael Hutchinson, Logan Thompson and Hill comes with its own set of questions. Brossoit is still recovering from offseason hip surgery with the thought he could return at a later date. Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon recently said the team will carry three goaltenders to start the regular season.
“I’d say [goaltending] and the power play are what people are talking about here,” Cassidy said. “But the goaltenders and how we have handled it? We’ve discussed it with all of them who are here, including LB, who’s hurt: ‘This is probably the best opportunity you are going to have to be a No. 1 goaltender in the National Hockey League.'”
Cassidy explained to the group the Golden Knights did not lose Lehner and replace him with someone who has previously been a No. 1 elsewhere. They have told all four goaltenders that there is a competition and that they are the ones who will determine what happens next.
Does one of them emerge as the outright No. 1? Or could Cassidy be inclined to use a tandem approach? The way Cassidy views it, that all depends on how his goaltenders respond to what is in front of them.
“I don’t think it’s the issue everyone makes it out to be, but I understand why,” Cassidy said. “When you are not playing, how do you look at a team? You look at them on paper because you cannot look at them any other way. But games are not won on paper.”
So far, the Golden Knights have started the season 4-2. Thompson has started four games and Hill two. It’s a tandem that has stopped 92.9% of combined shots faced while posting a collective 2.17 goals-against average.
Eichel has seven points — three goals and four assists — while Kessel has just one assist. Stone has a goal and four assists to start the season while playing the sort of relentless hockey that has made him a Selke candidate in recent years.
Again, it all goes back to perspective.
Those who are optimistic will point out how it is a better start than last season, when the Golden Knights lost four of their first five games. That same crowd will say winning three straight games at the start of last season could have made a difference in the fight to reach the postseason only to miss out.
Skeptics will counter by saying a team’s identity is something that could be determined by American Thanksgiving at the earliest. That has become the de facto demarcation point for teams that are either playoff-bound or thinking about the draft. That group will also say while the four wins are nice, two of them have come against a potential lottery challenger in the Chicago Blackhawks and the Seattle Kraken, a team that was in the lottery last season.
But for now? Anything seems possible.
“Guys are on the same page, and everyone understands what our goal is and what it’s going to take to get there and the type of commitment and buy-in that we need,” Eichel said. “For us, it is important to stick together as a group, continue to jell, come together, and then when it comes time to do it on the ice, you have to out-compete who you’re playing against. I think that we are a confident group and we can win any hockey game [on] any night.”
