Projecting the Vegas Golden Knights' Opening Night Roster

We're now less than four weeks from the start of the NHL season. Teams are finalizing their rosters and signing their RFAs, and players are arriving for training camps. The Vegas Golden Knights have a lot of pressure on them and are truly in "win now" mode. After back-to-back appearances in the Final 4 of the NHL Playoffs, the next step for the Knights is to go one step further and win their franchise's first Stanley Cup. That is made more difficult by a shoulder injury to Alex Tuch, which required surgery and will leave him on LTIR until late January at the earliest. That leaves a big hole on Vegas' third line that some newly acquired players will be expected to fill. Let's see what the Knights' forward group looks like without Tuch in the mix:

Max Pacioretty - Chandler Stephenson - Mark Stone

Jonathan Marchessault - William Karlsson - Reilly Smith

Mattias Janmark - Peyton Krebs - Evgenii Dadonov

Will Carrier - Nolan Patrick - Nicolas Roy

Brett Howden

Sven Baertschi

Keegan Kolesar

The Knights are still seriously lacking in their depth down the middle. Karlsson is undoubtedly their best centre, but the line of him, Marchessault, and Reilly has been so successful that it seem foolish to break them up. With Tuch out, the spot at 3rd-line centre is suddenly up for grabs. Peyton Krebs, who the Knights hope will one day develop into their top centre, is certainly a favourite for that spot, and fans should expect to see him in the lineup for game 1 of the season. However, clearly wanting some insurance at that position, the Knights traded Cody Glass for Nolan Patrick this summer, and although Patrick remains an RFA at the time of writing Vegas is hopeful that he can fill in at 3C (or possibly 1C) should Krebs require more seasoning in the AHL. Patrick was drafted 2nd overall in 2017, and that pedigree alone shows he has the potential to climb the Knights' lineup. Don't count out Sven Baertschi either. He's had concussion issues in the past but was a reliable middle-6 forward for the Canucks not too long ago. After a year of recovery, a bounce back from him is certainly possible.

On defence, Vegas still possess one of the best cores in the NHL:

Alec Martinez - Alex Pietrangelo

Brayden McNabb - Shea Theodore

Nicolas Hague - Zach Whitecloud

Dylan Coghlan

Kaedan Korczak

Jake Bischoff

Vegas is weaker on the left side than the right, but their right side is so strong it more than makes up the difference. Not to disparage Alec Martinez, who has flourished under the Knights' system, but the 2LD and 3LD spots could be improved upon through their development system, and that's really the only option given the Knights' available cap space. Speaking of, while Dylan Coghlan still needs a new contract, he played well as a fill-in last season while Martinez dealt with an injury and could make his way back into the Knights' lineup on a more permanent basis with some strong play in pre-season. Similarly, while Kaedan Korczak still looks a bit raw for full-time NHL duties, he has the potential to surprise some people should he get a chance at a roster spot. 

In net, Vegas got a lot weaker by subtracting last season's Vezina Trophy winner, but they still have one of the top goalies in the league. The issue is the support behind him:

Robin Lehner

Laurent Brossoit

Logan Thompson

Leher is an excellent goaltender, and while injuries have followed him throughout his career, when healthy he can easily be a top 5 goalie in the league. Brossoit is not as much of a sure thing. He had some issues when playing for the Oilers (although the team in front of him wasn't great either), then seemed to have broken out once he signed with the Winnipeg Jets. However, that first season proved to be an outlier, and he regressed heavily in the two years that followed. Brossoit can back up Lehner and likely pull his weight, but should Lehner suffer another injury the Knights would do well to find a better candidate for the starter's net while he recovers. In comes Logan Thompson, who put up stellar numbers in the AHL last year (23GP, 1.96GAA, .943sv%, 2SO). Thompson is 24-years old, and his time to break in to the NHL could come at any moment. If Vegas has to choose between him and Brossoit to play a large chunk of games, expect Thompson to get the nod first.

What do you think of this lineup for Vegas, and what would you change? 

Photo credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports