What could Knights’ lineup look like next season with Marner on board?
Mitch Marner won’t take the ice with the Golden Knights for another two-plus months, which gives the team plenty of time to think about where he’ll fit in the lineup.
The Knights are running things back for the most part after earning the third-most points in the NHL (110) last season and winning their division for the fourth time in eight years. But the club acquired another star forward in Marner, and traded center Nicolas Roy to the Toronto Maple Leafs to do so.
The Knights also dealt defenseman Nic Hague to the Nashville Predators and got two players back in center Colton Sissons and defenseman Jeremy Lauzon.
The two moves will have ripple effects up front and on the blue line. Here’s how the Knights depth chart looks after the first three days of NHL free agency:
Forwards
Ivan Barbashev — Jack Eichel — Mitch Marner
Brandon Saad — Tomas Hertl — Pavel Dorofeyev
Reilly Smith — William Karlsson — Mark Stone
Brett Howden — Colton Sissons — Keegan Kolesar
This is an impressive group.
Marner and center Jack Eichel would be a nightmare for opponents to deal with offensively and defensively. Eichel, 28, scored a career high 94 points last season and finished fifth in the voting for the Selke Trophy for best defensive forward.
Marner, 28, is coming off a career-high 102 points and received Selke Trophy votes for the seventh consecutive year.
“(Eichel’s) obviously an exceptional player,” Marner said. “I’m very excited to start working with him and trying to figure out the chemistry quickly and get that rolling.”
The Knights also brought back left wings Reilly Smith and Brandon Saad this offseason on one-year, $2 million deals.
Smith, an Original Misfit, looked like he never left after being reacquired prior to the trade deadline and reuniting with center William Karlsson. The 34-year-old finished with 11 points in 21 games with the Knights.
“Reilly, for me, fit back in like a glove when he got back to Vegas,” general manager Kelly McCrimmon said. “He surpassed my expectations when he got back here.”
Smith, who has played right wing most of his two stints with the Knights, could move to the left side with Marner in the fold. That would allow him and Karlsson to play with captain Mark Stone. Coach Bruce Cassidy began training camp last year with Karlsson and Stone on a line together before a lower-body injury forced Karlsson to miss the first nine games of the season.
Sissons, 31, could take Roy’s old spot on the fourth line, though Howden can play in in the middle as well.
Defensemen
Brayden McNabb — Shea Theodore
Noah Hanifin — Zach Whitecloud
Jeremy Lauzon — Kaedan Korczak
Things look much different here than they did a year ago.
Alex Pietrangelo’s playing career might be over due to a hip injury, and he will begin the season on long-term injured reserve. His absence will leave a huge void on the ice and in the locker room.
Shea Theodore and Noah Hanifin will be two players tasked with taking on more responsibility.
“With (Hanifin), I think we’re going to be a huge part of the group going forward,” Theodore said in May. “We’re going to have to step up leadership-wise on the ice, try to drive more offense. We’re both big-minute players going forward.”
Whitecloud, 28, will likely move up the lineup with Pietrangelo out. He has been a fixture on the Knights’ third pair with Hague for years, but he played well with Hanifin last season.
The Knights outscored opponents 22-13 at five-on-five with Whitecloud and Hanifin on the ice, according to the website Natural Stat Trick.
Kaedan Korczak also now has the opportunity to be a lineup regular. The Knights showed their faith in the 24-year-old by giving him a four-year, $13 million extension Wednesday. Korczak had 10 assists in 40 games last season.
He’ll likely be paired with Lauzon, one of the NHL’s most physical defenseman. The 28-year-old, who is listed at 6-foot-3, 225 pounds, has the eighth-most hits in the league over the last three seasons.
Goaltenders
Adin Hill
Akira Schmid
The Knights’ net still belongs to Hill, who signed a six-year, $37.5 million extension in March. The 29-year-old made a career-high 50 starts last season.
Hill will have a new backup, with Schmid replacing Ilya Samsonov. Schmid, 25, spent most of last season in Henderson but excelled in his NHL opportunities, going 2-0-1 with a .934 save percentage with the Knights. He impressed enough to be the team’s backup goalie in the playoffs.
Samsonov, 28, was 16-9-4 with an .891 save percentage his first season with the Knights. He’s an unrestricted free agent and remains unsigned as of Thursday afternoon.
Carl Lindbom, the Knights’ top goalie prospect, should get some opportunities in training camp to prove he’s ready to make the step up to the NHL in the near future.
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.