The Knights saw many changes to their roster this off-season. As the moves around the NHL come to a stand still, we take a look at what the Knights opening night roster may look like come October.
It may not be August yet but the dog days of the NHL off-season has arrived. After a flurry of activity prior to the NHL draft last month and the free agent frenzy that took place on July 1st, player movement around the NHL has slowed dramatically.
While some of the remaining NHL free agents will find a home over the next few weeks and teams signing their own RFA's, the news as a whole around the league will be slow. What better time than to project what the Golden Knight's lineup may look like when they hit the ice this October for their season opener.
The Golden Knights experienced big changes this off-season so far, and not all of them good. The Knight lost star forward and leading goal scorer last season Jonathan Marchessault to the Nashville Predators in free agency. The team also lost important center in Chandler Stephenson to the Seattle Kraken. Aside from those top six players, the Knights also saw Michaeal Amadio, William Carrier, Anthony Mantha and Alec Martinez walk out the door in free agency as well.
While replacing those players was a difficult task, the Knights took a flier on former Buffalo Sabre Victor Olofsson on a one-year prove it deal to try and replace some of the goal scoring the team lost in Marchessault and Stephenson's exits. The team also acquired 22 year-old forward Alexander Holtz in a draft day trade that also brought goaltender Akira Schmid to Vegas in exchange for Paul Cotter.
The Golden Knights are projected to go into this coming season with $1.3M of cap space with goaltender Robin Lehner on LTIR. Barring any free agent signings or surprise trades you can expect the Golden Knight's depth chart to look something like this:
Barbashev-Eichel-Olofsson
Brisson-Hertl-Stone
Dorofeyev-Karlsson-Holtz
Howden-Roy-Kolesar
Hanifin-Pietrangelo
McNabb-Theodore
Hague-Whitecloud
Hill
Samsonov
The tinkering of those lines could change of course, as head coach Bruce Cassidy will have plenty of time to evaluate players in training came come September. For now though, this is likely is starting cast of 20 players. We'll see if GM Kelly McCrimmon has any shrewd moves up his sleeve until then.