Golden Knights Get Disappointing Update on Tomas Hertl's Timeline

He was the hottest player in town when he went crashing into the end boards at high speed just over a week ago. Now an update on Tomas Hertl's timeline for the Vegas Golden Knights reveals that an imminent return is not in the offing.

Cassidy says Tomas Hertl will not be available this week, does not have an update beyond that.
— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) March 31, 2025

Head coach Bruce Cassidy says that Hertl will not be available this week due to his upper-body injury, which would likely take him out of four more games: a two-game homestand on Tuesday and Thursday against the Edmonton Oilers and Winnipeg Jets, and then a two-gamer on the road Saturday and Sunday against the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks.

He suffered the injury when he rammed into the boards shoulder first on this shove by 6'3" Tampa Bay defenseman Emil Lilleberg:

A cheap shot on the hottest player on the VGK roster, and maybe the entire NHL when Tomas Hertl went to the locker room after this shove into the boards. #VegasBorn pic.twitter.com/mOReURsAmQ
— Chris Maathuis (@sports8) March 24, 2025

Hertl has missed three games since then, and there's no specific timeline on when he'll be able to return. He had scored 11 goals in his previous 15 games, including two hat tricks over the course of seven contests.

The Knights have nine games left in the regular season, with the playoffs set to face off in less than three weeks.

Hertl is tied for the team lead in goals with 31, in 70 games this season.

The team is tops in the Pacific Division with 98 points, and a pretty healthy seven-point lead on the second-place LA Kings.