Golden Knights training camp: What are the 4 most interesting storylines?

After a long summer, Golden Knights training camp is nearly here. The rookies will be on the ice at City National Arena this Thursday, squeezing in some brief prep before heading to El Segundo, Calif., for the 2024 Rookie Faceoff tournament.

Shortly after that, the veterans will join them on the ice for what should be one of the most interesting Vegas training camps. With several key pieces leaving via free agency this past July, there are more opportunities available than usual for this club. Advertisement In past years, the camp position battles have been for the seventh defenseman spot, or a bottom-six forward slot.



Not this time. There are major roles needing to be filled, with plenty of young players and newcomers hoping they’ll be the ones to step in. Here are the most interesting storylines to follow heading into Golden Knights training camp.

Who will play on Jack Eichel ’s wing? Being Eichel’s primary winger is an incredibly valuable job. Over his last five full seasons (not counting 2020-21 and 2021-22, because he missed the majority of those seasons with a neck injury), the winger who spent the most time on Eichel’s wing has averaged 31.8 goals per season.

* Evander Kane scored 20 goals with Eichel in 2017-18 after being traded to Buffalo midway through the season, but scored at a 27-goal pace during his time with the Sabres. Eichel’s elite patience and vision regularly put his linemates in great positions to score. He has already helped two different players (Marchessault and Skinner) to their first-ever 40-goal seasons.

Ivan Barbashev averaged 0.19 goals per game over his first seven NHL seasons in St. Louis, and that has risen to 0.

24 over the last two years in Vegas (mostly alongside Eichel). When Marchessault signed with Nashville in free agency, it left a golden opportunity for Vegas’ remaining forwards. The question is, who will coach Bruce Cassidy opt to play with Eichel and Barbashev? Cassidy has typically spread his talent deeper throughout the lineup over the last two seasons in Vegas, but he has gone with a more top-heavy approach in the past (think of Boston ’s “perfection line” of Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand ).

He could go that route this season with the Golden Knights and put captain Mark Stone alongside Eichel on the top line. Over the last two seasons, Stone and Eichel have shared the ice for 522 minutes of even-strength ice time. Over that span, Vegas has outscored opponents 37-18 and held a commanding 59.

04 percent expected goal share. Those are excellent numbers, and there’s no doubt Stone and Eichel could be great together. Similar to how Stone worked with Chandler Stephenson , he regularly creates turnovers and transitions them into rush attacks the other way with clever passes through the neutral zone to a speedy centerman.

Advertisement The downside to this approach is that it would leave almost no proven scorers on the wing for the second and third lines. Based on that, it seems unlikely Cassidy goes this direction, so who are the other candidates? “I think that we’ve got some forwards on the wings that are ready to take on more responsibility and bigger roles,” general manager Kelly McCrimmon said on July 1. “We’ve got some younger people that I think are going to get better looks for opportunities to play, and that’s a little bit of the transition when some players move on from an organization.

” Pavel Dorofeyev is a potential answer. The 23-year-old Russian doesn’t have elite puck skills, but has scored an impressive 20 goals in his first 67 NHL games. He has accomplished that mostly by digging pucks out of the front of the net, which could clash with fellow Russian winger Barbashev’s role on that top line.

Cassidy is likely looking for more of a shooter than a net-front presence, but they are expecting a progression for Dorofeyev. “We expect, in the case of Pavel, (for him) to continue to blossom in the opportunity that he’s going to now have on our team,” McCrimmon said. It could be Victor Olofsson , who signed a one-year deal with Vegas this summer worth $1.

075 million. The 29-year-old is coming off his worst NHL season, scoring only seven goals in 51 games last year for Buffalo, but has a history with Eichel. The two played nearly 900 minutes of even-strength ice time together over three seasons with the Sabres (2018-21), and during that span, Oloffsson scored 20 goals on assists from Eichel.

He excels away from the puck, finding soft spots in the defensive coverage, and has a good shot. He scored 28 goals with the Sabres in 2022-23, so he could have an offensive ceiling high enough to play on Vegas’ top line. Advertisement Other potential options are Alexander Holtz and Brendan Brisson , which brings us to our next storyline for camp.

Is Brisson ready for the NHL? Drafted with the No. 29 overall pick in 2020, Brisson is Vegas’ only first-round pick remaining in the system outside of Trevor Connelly , whom the Golden Knights just picked in June. Brisson played 15 games in the NHL last season, registering two goals and six assists, and will be looking for an impressive training camp to cement his place as a full-time NHL player.

Stylistically, Brisson is a great fit. He has good hockey sense and a blistering one-timer from the right circle. The question is, will he be strong enough along the boards and defensively to play the type of crucial minutes asked of Eichel’s line? He’ll be 23 in October and he’s one of six skaters taken in the first round of the 2020 draft who has yet to reach 20 NHL games played.

That’s mostly because of a log-jam of talented wingers above him in Vegas, but that’s no longer the case. If Brisson can take the next step and prove himself as a scoring threat at the NHL level, it would go a long way toward answering Vegas’ offensive questions for 2024-25. Will Nicolas Roy play higher up the lineup? In the past, when the Golden Knights have needed a winger with offensive skill due to injuries to top-six skaters, they’ve often turned to Roy.

He’s clearly an excellent fourth-line center, but he’s also shown some ability to play with more offensive-minded players. Roy has scored double-digit goals in each of the last three seasons but has yet to reach the 20-goal mark. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Cassidy gives him a chance to grab one of the top-six spots on the wing, whether that’s next to Eichel or Tomas Hertl .

Part of the thought process here is the fact that Vegas signed veteran forward Zach Aston-Reese in free agency. Aston-Reese’s contract was only for one year and $775,000, and it’s a two-way deal so he could be destined for the Henderson Silver Knights, but he does have the skill set to play on the fourth line if needed. He’s served as a defensive specialist over his seven-year NHL career, starting only 31.

4 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone. Aston-Reese played only seven games for the Red Wings last season — spending most of his time in the AHL — but if Roy finds chemistry with one of the top lines in camp, he could be in contention to replace Roy on the fourth line. Advertisement Which six defenseman will be on the ice for opening night? While the forward lines are experiencing lots of turnover this offseason, the defensive core will look mostly the same from last season.

Vegas did lose veteran Alec Martinez to Chicago in free agency, but returns Alex Pietrangelo , Noah Hanifin , Shea Theodore , Brayden McNabb , Nicolas Hague , Zach Whitecloud , Ben Hutton and Kaedan Korczak . There appears to be a clear-cut top-six, which doesn’t include Hutton and Korczak. Hutton served as the seventh defenseman last season, playing in only 41 games (and one playoff appearance).

Korczak spent quite a bit of time in the AHL, playing only 26 games for Vegas. However, a comment by McCrimmon in July suggests that could change for 2024-25. “Kaedan Korczak will be a full-time NHL player this year,” McCrimmon said.

“Based on what we saw from his time with our team last year, he’s more than ready to step into an NHL lineup.” This feels like a natural progression for Korczak, who was drafted in the second round in 2019 and has played three seasons in the AHL. The 23-year-old has good positioning away from the puck, and is calm and collected with it.

After signing a two-year deal as a restricted free agent this summer, Korczak is no longer exempt from waivers, so sending him to the AHL isn’t an option. The only question now is whether he’ll be a healthy scratch or if he can fight his way into the top-six. Cassidy did scratch both Hague and Whitecloud at times toward the end of last season, and while both enter camp with a decided edge over Korczak and Hutton for the last spots on the blue line, it’s in the range of outcomes that one plays their way into the lineup for the Oct.

9 opener. (Photo of Jack Eichel: Steph Chambers / Getty Images).