Knights send top prospect to AHL, face other roster decisions

Paul Cotter said he had “a little fire” raging inside him as time ticked away at T-Mobile Arena.

The Golden Knights scratched and clawed Thursday to erase a 3-0 deficit against the Colorado Avalanche and were tied 3-3 late into the third period. Cotter knew it was one of his final chances to make his case for a spot in the opening-night lineup. He also knew he wasn’t having his best game.

So when he saw Avalanche defenseman Bowen Byram track down a loose puck in the Colorado end, he started skating what he called “Mach 4” to try to make a play.

Cotter caught up to Byram, crunched him along the wall, created a turnover and then scored the winning goal four seconds later. Center Chandler Stephenson’s words for his 23-year-old linemate? “Zero to hero.”

Cotter will get one more chance to show he deserves to play in the Knights’ opener during Saturday’s preseason finale at the Los Angeles Kings. He’s not the only player with something at stake, as the team still has decisions to make.

“I wasn’t too happy with how I was playing, and pucks weren’t finding my way,” Cotter said. “Obviously, it’s a big camp for a lot of guys, so I wanted to make sure I made an impact.”

The Knights began Friday with 26 players on their roster, three more than the NHL maximum. They need to be at 23 for Tuesday’s opener against the Seattle Kraken at T-Mobile Arena.

The team made one transaction in the morning, sending 2020 first-round pick Brendan Brisson to Henderson. The 21-year-old forward showed growth in his second training camp but will get more seasoning with the Silver Knights.

“Hopefully (he’ll) be a driving force down there,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Every team goes through injuries, so maybe he’s the first guy up. He certainly played like that, but he’ll have to go down there and continue that part of it.”

That leaves at least two moves remaining.

One could be as simple as putting defenseman Zach Whitecloud, considered week to week after having surgery because of an upper-body injury, on injured reserve. The Knights still have 2019 second-round pick Kaedan Korczak and Brayden Pachal in camp competing for Whitecloud’s spot on the third pair.

Defenseman Ben Hutton, the team’s veteran seventh defenseman, also could fill in. The Knights might need two of the three to play opening night, because defenseman Alec Martinez also has an upper-body injury.

Cassidy said the team will learn more about Martinez’s injury next week.

If one defenseman does need to go, Korczak is the only one who can be sent to the American Hockey League without going through waivers. That might give Pachal a slight edge.

“Obviously, you never want to see somebody go down (like Whitecloud),” Pachal said. “That’s not what you wish. But at the same time, it creates opportunity and kind of an internal battle that’ll make all of us better players.”

The Knights, up front, have to figure out if Cotter or Pavel Dorofeyev will slot in against Seattle.

Both played in Thursday’s dress rehearsal, but Cassidy said center William Karlsson is expected to return after dealing with an undisclosed injury.

The Knights also have to decide if left wing Maxime Comtois will stick around. He joined the team for camp on a professional tryout agreement, meaning he needs a contract to be on the regular-season roster.

Comtois has no points in four preseason games. Cassidy said Friday he hadn’t decided if Comtois would get another look against the Kings.

“Whether they keep me or not, it’s kind of out of my hands,” Comtois said. “I did what I could. I tried to learn the system as quick as I could and just tried to get back to my game.”

The Knights will make the final call after Saturday’s game.

“I just want to prove that I’m ready to play opening night,” Pachal said. “I think there’s opportunity for that. I just want to hopefully solidify my spot in the lineup.”

Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on X.