The Vegas Golden Knights power play clicked at just 20.2% in the 2023-24 season and will look to improve despite losing key members on their first and second units.
The Vegas Golden Knights power play clicked at just 20.2% in the 2023-24 season and will look to improve despite losing key members on their first and second units.
In the first round of the playoffs, the Golden Knights first power play unit consisted of Jack Eichel, Jonathan Marchessault/Chandler Stephenson, Mark Stone, Tomas Hertl and Noah Hanifin. The team converted on 25% of their power play opportunities which was the fourth-best in the playoffs.
Without Marchessault and Stephenson on the power play, the Golden Knights will be missing two key contributors but their offseason additions may help with that.
The additions of Victor Olofsson and Alexander Holtz and calling up Brendan Brisson should improve the overall power play due to each player's ability to one-time the puck.
The Golden Knights could throw out a first unit that has Eichel and Olofsson on the half-wall to be the main shooting options with Hertl and Stone controlling the front of the net and the bumper position. Hanifin can quarterback the power play and pose as a shot threat alongside his distribution duties.
The second unit would have the two youngsters as the main shooting options. Holtz and Brisson line up across from each other on the half wall looking to shoot whenever the opportunity presents itself. William Karlsson can position himself in the bumper spot with either Ivan Barbashev or Pavel Dorofeyev providing a net-front presence. Shea Theodore or Alex Pietrangelo have lots of experience quarterbacking a top unit and could provide the veteran on-ice leadership Holtz and Brisson need.
The second unit could also have both Theodore and Pietrangelo possibly removing Barbashev or Dorofeyev.
It's been mentioned countless times but the Golden Knights have evidently lost a lot of their scoring and depth on the front-end. Adding players with high ceilings could help but they'll need improvements from players on the roster as well. One way Eichel, Stone and Hertl can affect a game is by producing a highly efficient power play.
The Golden Knights can minimize the effects of losing key players this offseason by improving their power play.
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