Brad Hunt named as Golden Knights’ nominee for Masterton award

Brad Hunt’s love for hockey always has been great and his road to the NHL hasn’t always been smooth.

Which made the 29-year-old defenseman the ideal candidate to represent the Golden Knights for the 2018 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.

Hunt was selected by the Las Vegas chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association as the Knights’ representative for the Masterton Trophy, which goes to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. The award was created in 1968 after Masterton died Jan. 15, 1968 following a head injury sustained while playing for the Minnesota North Stars.

Each of the 31 teams has a nominee on the ballot. The winner will be announced at the NHL Awards Show in Las Vegas in June.

“It’s an honor to be nominated,” said Hunt, who has three goals and 18 points in 41 games for the Knights. “Obviously the dream is to be in the NHL and I spent a lot of the years in the American League, but I learned through those years, too. It wasn’t like it was a burden to be down there. You take it as a learning curve and you go from there. And I’ve been fortunate enough to play with great people, great players and have great coaches. Without those guys, I’m not here right now.”

Hunt has played for Edmonton (2013-16) along with Chicago, St. Louis and Nashville in 2016-17. He was signed by the Knights as a free agent July 1.

Engelland returns

Defenseman Deryk Engelland practiced Tuesday and is expected to be in the lineup Wednesday when the Knights host Arizona.

“I’m feeling good,” said Engelland, who was held out of the lineup in the Knights’ home-and-home series with Colorado. “I’m better today and I’m good to go.”

Forward Oscar Lindberg skated without restriction Tuesday and coach Gerard Gallant said Lindberg, who suffered an upper-body injury Feb. 26 against Los Angeles and has missed the last 14 games, is close to returning to the lineup.

Forward Reilly Smith and defenseman Luca Sbisa both skated prior to practice Tuesday. But Gallant had no update for either’s return except to say he believed Smith will be back before the playoffs.

Face shield didn’t help

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare’s left eye was black and blue after taking a stick to the face from the Avalanche’s Tyson Jost in the second period Monday. Bellemare wound up getting two stitches and returned to the game. But he said his visor wasn’t much help.

“He caught me under it,” Bellemare said. “The only way I could have prevented it was if I was wearing a full-face shield.”

Bellemare said he will wear a larger visor Wednesday against Arizona to protect his face.

More Golden Knights: Follow all of our Golden Knights coverage online at reviewjournal.com/GoldenKnights and @HockeyinVegas on Twitter.

Contact Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow @stevecarprj on Twitter.