Bottom six forward group may be key to Knights' success

LAS VEGAS — The Ryan Craig Era begins Tuesday night as the Vegas Golden Knights open their 10th NHL season.

How successful his tenure is could well depend on some guys who have limited experience at this level.

We know Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner will produce offensively and that when Mark Stone is healthy, the captain will put up very good numbers. They’re the mainstays of Vegas’ top two lines.

But when the puck drops at T-Mobile Arena against Chicago, keep an eye on the bottom six forwards. They could prove the difference between a good season and perhaps a championship one.

It’s going to be Trevor Connelly’s debut as the Knights’ first-round pick from 2024 made it to Vegas. Braeden Bowman, who was called up from Henderson of the AHL last year and wielded a hot stick briefly during his NHL time, also earned a spot with the Golden Knights.

Both are looking to contribute offensively and will benefit from playing with veteran centers — Connelly on the third line with Tomas Hertl, Bowman with Nic Dowd on the fourth unit. Rounding out the lines are Victor Olofsson on the third line and Marc Gatcomb on the fourth.

“I look at all four lines the same way,” Craig said Monday at City National Arena following the final preparation for the season opener. “I think all of our lines are 200-foot lines and all have an element of offense.”

Perhaps. But the reality is all lines are not created equal. Dowd is not Eichel. Hertl isn’t Marner. They will have to take charge when their particular line is on the ice and drive their linemates.

“You want to give them a chance to have success but you’re also trying to play as a unit and make sure you’re doing your job together,” Dowd said. “Bow (Bowman) did some good things last year and he’s a big strong guy. Gat (Gatcomb) is fast and can win puck battles. So potentially, we have the makings of a pretty good line.

“We’ve only played one game together but I thought we competed well, was responsible in our own end, created pressure in the other team’s end and tried to make some plays offensively. I thought it was a good start.”

Craig agreed.

“It’s a bit of a reset line for us,” he said after last year’s fourth-line trio of Colton Sissons, Keegan Kolesar and Cole Smith all departed after the Knights came up short in the Stanley Cup Final against Carolina. “But I thought for a first time together, Dowd’s line did a lot of good things.”

The potential is there for them to be more than just an “identity line.” Dowd has 89 career goals in the NHL. Bowman had eight tallies in 54 games with Vegas last season and Gatcomb, who came over from the New York Islanders, has 11 goals in 88 NHL games over parts of two seasons.  

“We all know how to put the puck in the net,” Dowd said.

Hertl said he’d like to find the net more after scoring 24 goals last season. He had 32 the year before. Playing with two fast skaters in Connelly and Victor Olofsson, who scored 13 goals last year playing for Colorado and Calgary but has 118 career goals in the NHL could mean more success for Hertl.

Remember, Vegas traded away its leading goal scorer, Pavel Dorofeyev, and his 37 goals from last year went to the Rangers with him. So everyone will be asked to score a little more to try and make up the void left by Dorofeyev’s departure to New York.

“We’ll see,” Hertl said. “I think we could be a very good line. We’ve only been together a short time but I think we could be very good together.”

Connelly will have a lot of eyes on him and understandably so. He becomes the first VGK first-round pick to play on opening night in the NHL since Cody Glass in 2019 against San Jose. Glass was Vegas’ first of three first-round picks in 2017 at No. 6 overall.

Glass scored his first NHL goal that night. Perhaps there’ll be a deja vu moment for Connelly?

“He should be proud of what he’s accomplished,” Craig said of Connelly, who skated for Craig the past two seasons in AHL Henderson with the Silver Knights. “Trevor’s a sponge. He wants to succeed. Our job as coaches is to put him in a position to succeed.”

The Blackhawks, who missed the playoffs last season and had the second-worst record in the Western Conference with just 72 points, will begin the season without their captain and star player Connor Bedard, who is recovering from left shoulder surgery after getting injured while doing off-season training. He is due back in November.

Vegas is healthy. Whether it can stay that way over 84 games will be a challenge. The abbreviated preseason worked to the benefit in that regard and with a new coach and its core group back, expectations as always, are high.

“It’s Game 1,” Craig said. “It’s a long journey that we are excited about.”