Golden Edge mailbag: On Cody Glass, Erik Brannstrom, more
Send NHL writer Ben Gotz all your Golden Knights questions and hot takes. Tweet him @BenSGotz or email him bgotz@reviewjournal.com.
The chill in the Las Vegas air (it’s below 90 degrees) means hockey is back.
The NHL regular season starts Wednesday and there’s plenty of questions to get to before the first puck is dropped.
“Why does (Cody Glass) go to the Western Hockey League and not to the (American Hockey League’s Chicago) Wolves?” - @zipspensooner
Glass, a 19-year-old center, is the Knights’ top forward prospect, but he won’t skate with their top minor league affiliate in Chicago this season.
Instead, he was assigned back to his junior hockey team from the past three seasons: The WHL’s Portland Winterhawks.
While Glass dominated the WHL last season (102 points in 64 games), he can’t play in Chicago because of the NHL’s agreement with the Canadian Hockey League (which includes the WHL). The agreement states that if a player was in the junior league before the NHL, they have to either be 20 years old or have played four seasons in the junior league before going to the minors.
So Glass, who has played three full seasons in the WHL and turns 20 on April 1, has to return to Portland for one more season. Next year he’ll be able to go to Chicago if he doesn’t make the Knights’ roster out of training camp.
“What game do you believe the #Brannwagon will be called up for service?” - @TheGildedJester
The Knights likely don’t want their top defenseman prospect, 19-year-old Erik Brannstrom, to play heavy minutes this season, but he still might get a look.
He was their last defenseman out of training camp so he might get called up from Chicago if someone gets injured. Once Nate Schmidt gets back from his 20-game suspension, though, Brannstrom will move down the pecking order, which is probably just fine with the Knights.
This season will be the Swedish player’s first in North America, so he’ll have a lot of learning to do on and off the ice.
“Bischoff or Brannstrom?” - Jerry Snoozer
The Knights’ final defenseman spot came down to these two and the team chose 24-year-old prospect Jake Bischoff.
The Cambridge, Minnesota native played well in the preseason with four points in four games and was sound defensively. He does everything well, even if he doesn’t have one standout trait, and he appears ready to play in the NHL.
Brannstrom carries a higher upside but he still needs more seasoning.
“So Ben…when are you going to have me on the show so we can take a selfie in front of @AdamHillLVRJ?” - @ChanceNHL
Have your people call my people Chance. (Spoiler alert: I’m my own people).
More Golden Knights: Follow all of our Golden Knights coverage online at reviewjournal.com/GoldenKnights and @HockeyinVegas on Twitter.
Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.
