Vegas Golden Knights head coach Ryan Craig has been saying for days that a shortened preseason means more urgency. Fringe players have less time to make their case for the few available spots. Veterans only play in two preseason games now, so they have less time to get their touches.
The Golden Knights veterans prefer a shorter preseason.
“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.”
It’s hard to evaluate certain players based on their performance in meaningless preseason games. Still, after five days of camp and preseason action— everyone had Sunday off— there have been enough drills and scrimmages to draw some conclusions from.
Here are my biggest takeaways through five days of camp.
1. The Howden–Karlsson–Marner line looks to be picking up right where they left off
William Karlsson spent the majority of last season dealing with various injuries. However, when he finally returned in Game 1 of the second round of the playoffs, he immediately reminded everyone just how valuable he is to the Golden Knights lineup. By Game 3, John Tortorella put him between Brett Howden and Mitch Marner, and that line became the cornerstone of the team’s run to the Stanley Cup Final.
In the end, that line played 13 games together before Karlsson suffered a broken wrist. But in those 13 games, all three players put up excellent numbers. Marner led the way with seven goals and 20 points. Howden scored nine goals and provided three assists, and Karlsson scored three goals and nine points after missing exactly six months with a lower-body injury.
That line began training camp together, and head coach Ryan Craig sounds like he plans to keep it that way. And why wouldn’t he? They all read off of each other like they’ve been playing together for years. And if the training camp drills are anything to go off of, they’re going to pick up right where they left off.
2. Trevor Connelly looks like a safe bet to make the Opening Night roster
Trevor Connelly, the first-round pick of the Golden Knights back in 2024, has been the story of camp.
Last year, Connelly was over a point-per-game in his first full season playing professional hockey. At just 19, he played 46 games and scored 14 goals and 49 points in a league made up mostly of players who are significantly older, bigger, and stronger than him. Now, he has his sights set on making the step up to the NHL.
I really, really like his chances.
Both head coach Ryan Craig and general manager Kelly McCrimmon have said that Connelly gets the first crack at the vacant spot on the third line. He’s been on a line with Tomáš Hertl and Victor Olofsson since the start of training camp, and he seems to be passing every test that the coaching staff throws at him.
Connelly isn’t in the group heading to San Jose tonight, which actually bodes well for his chances of making the roster. The Golden Knights only sent two veteran players to their second preseason game– Marc Gatcomb and Braeden Bowman– so Connelly staying home to get more reps in with the big squad is probably a good sign.
3. The top power play unit probably won’t replicate last year’s success
On paper, this year’s top power play unit looks stacked. It’s almost identical to last year’s PP1 with one notable difference: without Pavel Dorofeyev, Shea Theodore moves back up to quarterback the top unit.
There’s one problem with that. Without Dorofeyev, Jack Eichel, one of the best playmakers in the league, no longer has a left-handed one-time option in the right circle. Mitch Marner replaces Dorofeyev in the right circle, and he’s a player who rarely defaults to ripping a one-timer. Now, even if he wanted to, he physically couldn’t.
Is this the end of the world? No. Eichel, Marner, Theodore, Mark Stone, and Tomáš Hertl are all world-class players. Hertl has scored 14 and 13 power-play goals in the last two seasons, respectively. And no one is better below the goal line than Stone, who posted a career-high nine power-play goals and 27 power-play points.
Losing that lethal one-time option is going to be a hard pill for the Golden Knights to swallow, and only time will tell how they go about replacing Dorofeyev’s team-leading 20 power-play goals.
