Knights return to the ice with clock ticking

LAS VEGAS — Time.

It’s the one commodity all sports teams embrace and fear simultaneously. There’s a finite amount for preparation and should you fall behind, it could give you a longer off-season to contemplate what went wrong.

If you’re the Vegas Golden Knights, you didn’t get a lot of time to regroup after losing in the Stanley Cup Final. And when you go through the changes the Knights went through following the loss in six games to the champion Carolina Hurricanes, it’s going to put a premium on using the days wisely as the organization gets ready for its 10th NHL season on Sept. 29.

Ten years? How can it be?

Fortunately, the team’s decision to elevate Ryan Craig to head coach helps shave off some days (weeks?) in terms of getting acclimated. The 44-year-old has been with the organization since the inaugural season, has his name on the Stanley Cup from being a member of Bruce Cassidy’s staff in 2023 and has spent the last three seasons as head coach of the AHL Henderson Silver Knights. Unlike John Tortorella, the man Craig replaced, he won’t have to try to remember his players’ names. He knows them all. Or at least the vast majority of them from having coached them before.

The transition will be smoother than you’d normally see when teams change coaches. And given the fact the preseason, which begins Saturday in Ontario Calif., against the Kings is only four games long, Craig’s knowledge of the roster becomes more valuable.

But he has a healthy roster to begin training camp though Trevor Connelly’s status is still up in the air after he got hit from behind last Saturday in the Rookie Challenge game against Utah and didn’t play the following day vs. Colorado. Connelly, who was Vegas’ first-round draft pick in 2024 and has spent the last two years playing for Craig in Henderson, figured to get a long look over the four-game preseason. And with the Knights needing to figure out a way to replace Pavel Dorofeyev’s 37 goals from last season after trading him to the Rangers, they’re going to need heightened offensive contributions from virtually everyone to make up the difference.

That means more goals from Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner. More red lamps from Mark Stone, Tomas Hertl, Ivan Barbashev and William Karlsson. Consistent scoring from Brett Howden and perhaps Braeden Bowman.

It may also mean getting more offense from the defense. Rasmus Andersson signed a seven-year, $59.5 million extension at the start of free agency in July to stay a Golden Knight and he showed signs of providing more offense from the blue line while Tortorella was in charge. Obviously, Shea Theodore and Noah Hanifin are candidates to find the back of the net with more regularity.

And if what Craig has been saying holds true, Adin Hill will get his time in the crease back after being a spectator during the entire playoffs. It should help Carter Hart from wearing down.

Stone recently signed a two-year extension with an average annual value of $9 million. Bowman got a six-year extension with an AAV of $4.3 million. So general manager Kelly McCrimmon kept busy getting the roster set as training camp neared. He also brought back veteran winger Victor Olafsson, who played for the Knights two years ago and spent last season with Colorado and Calgary.

So while the core of the team is intact, it’s also a year older. Health, which always seems to be a point of contention with the Knights, figures again, particularly with two additional games to the regular-season schedule.

Are they deep enough to withstand an injury to a key player for an extended period? Karlsson got hurt in November and didn’t return until the second round of the playoffs. Stone has missed time in each of his last seven years. Only two players on this year’s roster — Hertl and Barbashev — played all 82 games last year, though Marner played in 81.

So with all that in mind, here are some things to keep an eye on as camp gets underway at City National Arena. And remember, there’s not a lot of time to get ready. But you already knew that.

Is Ryan Craig ready to be an NHL head coach?  

The organization saw something in him early on when he was working for Gerard Gallant and have watched him grow as a coach. The Silver Knights got better in each of Craig’s three seasons and that all of Cassidy’s and Tortorella’s staff were retained with the exception of Joel Ward, who was named as Craig’s replacement in Henderson. Ward was replaced by former NHLer Mark Letestu. It shows the faith McCrimmon has in Craig and will surround him with seasoned hockey minds who believe in the Knights’ system and culture.

Craig’s persona is somewhat buttoned down. He saves his voice for the locker room. That he knows Stone, the team’s captain as well as he does will help in developing communication with the players.

But despite his longevity in the organization, Craig also knows he better win and win big. Gallant went to the Stanley Cup Final. He was gone less than two years later. Pete DeBoer went to the conference finals. His injury riddled team missed making the playoffs on the final weekend the year after and he was let go. Cassidy won the Cup and he was cut loose in late March. Tortorella took Vegas to the Cup Final and was not retained.

Can Adin Hill bounce back?

McCrimmon did not shop for a goaltender in the offseason. That means he’s going to ride with Hart and hope Hill can stay healthy and regain his Stanley Cup winning form of 2023.

Hill’s numbers from last year weren’t good. In 27 appearances, he had a goals-against average of 3.04 and a save percentage of .871. He knows that’s got to improve if he is going to see the ice.

He may also face more odd-man rushes as Craig wants his defense to activate more in the attack. How he handles those situations may well determine his worth. He’s also making $6.1 million. If the Knights want to move on from him, it may not be easy to find a buyer.

Keep an eye on Carl Lindbom. He’s the goalie of the future for Vegas and at 23 years old and that he’s signed through 2029, his development and working with Burke will be critical this season. He played eight games in the NHL last year going 2-4-2 and he has a taste of the big time.

Who fills the Dorofeyev void?

Every VGK fan has been asking that question since the trade to the Rangers in June. The logical answer is have Eichel and Marner shoot more and pass less.

The problem with that is both are elite at distributing the puck to their teammates. And while this likely needs to be a collaborative effort, someone’s got to get people like Stone, Barbashev, Howden, Bowman and Olofsson the puck. So while it’s easy to implore No. 9 and No. 93 to pull the trigger more frequently, you don’t want to stifle the other parts of their game.

I’d like to think Hertl and Karlsson could up their goal-scoring totals. But I still can’t put that late-season slump Hertl endured from when he went goal-less from March 6 to Game 4 of the second round of the playoffs against Anaheim out of my mind. He also turns 33 in November, which doesn’t necessarily make him over the hill but he’s no spring chicken either at this point.

Karlsson? He’s still trying to replicate that inaugural season in Vegas which was his best as an NHLer with 43 goals. He’s had injury issues the last couple of years and he turns 34 in January. For the Knights, the hope is he can get back to three years ago when Karlsson scored 30 goals. That’s a number that would help fill the Dorofeyev void.