Knights plan to replace Pacioretty’s scoring load by committee
The Golden Knights have given away a lot of goals this summer.
Right wing Evgenii Dadonov, traded to Montreal on June 16, scored 20 last season and finished third on the team. Left wing Max Pacioretty, shipped along with defenseman Dylan Coghlan to Carolina on Wednesday, was fourth with 19 in only 39 games.
That’s a lot of production for the Knights to replace if they want to return to the playoffs and make a deep run. Especially because they aren’t expected to bring in significant help from outside the organization.
That leaves the Knights with a clear solution: A group effort. It’s going to take a lot of players raising their game in different situations for the team to create the offense it will need.
“I don’t think you can just say anyone can step in and fill someone else’s shoes like that,” said right wing Reilly Smith, who signed a three-year extension Wednesday. “Try to do that stuff by committee. We still have a lot of skill in our locker room and everyone will have to chip in.”
It’s almost impossible for one player to replicate what Pacioretty brought to the Knights the last four seasons.
The 33-year-old sniper was fourth in the NHL in goals per 60 minutes at five-on-five last year among skaters who played at least 300 minutes, behind Hart Trophy winner Auston Matthews, Filip Forsberg and Vladimir Tarasenko. His incredible release and chemistry with captain Mark Stone made him a constant threat on the ice.
Dadonov has 20 or more goals in four of his last five seasons. His tenure with the Knights wasn’t always smooth sailing — he was almost traded to Anaheim at the deadline before the deal was voided — but he showed a clear ability to score.
The Knights will need different players to shoulder that scoring load next season. General manager Kelly McCrimmon said younger players like Nicolas Roy and Brett Howden could get more of an opportunity. The 2020 first-round pick, Brendan Brisson, led the Big Ten in goals per game last season at Michigan and might get a look at some point, too.
The Knights also believe better health could lead to more offense. They had more than 500 man-games lost last season, with key contributors like Stone, Pacioretty, Smith, defenseman Alec Martinez and centers William Karlsson and Jack Eichel all missing significant time.
“We anticipate a healthy lineup is going to put more offense into our lineup,” McCrimmon said. “We had some guys last year that didn’t produce to the level they generally do. We expect those players to bounce back.”
Another key factor that could boost the Knights’ scoring is their power play. They ranked 25th last season at 18.4 percent and drew the fewest penalties in the NHL.
New coach Bruce Cassidy arrives after directing several strong power plays in Boston. The Bruins overall ranked third during his tenure, and were in the top 10 in four of his five full seasons.
“There’s lots of able guys in the lineup to score,” Cassidy said. “I know when we’re healthy there’s lots of guys that should be able to pick up the slack and younger guys that are hopefully relishing the opportunity.”
Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.
