By: Chris Nosek
The Vegas Golden Knights surprised almost everyone when they fired Bruce Cassidy to bring in John Tortorella. Since that change, the Knights have yet to lose in regulation. They ended up coming back and winning the meager Pacific Division. Torts also turned the crease over to Carter Hart full-time, who has looked better (in goal) since returning. Hart will be the guy Tortorella will turn to for their playoff run. Meanwhile, Karel Vejmelka was the epitome of steadiness for Andre Tourigny, starting 63 games for Utah. No goaltender in the league played more than Vejmelka did this season, and only Juuse Saros made more saves.
Going against the Golden Knights is the Utah Mammoth, who went under the radar into the playoffs. They flew under the radar because they are part of the Central Division. All eyes have been on Colorado, Dallas, and Minnesota in that division. Despite playing most of the season without many key players, the Mammoth were a solid team all season. That list was led by their top center, Logan Cooley, missing 28 games. Having him back in the lineup will only help the team’s scoring, while their defense is led by a solid pairing of Mikhail Sergachev and Mackenzie Weegar.
The Golden Knights spent most of the season helping Mitch Marner adapt to playing center again. This caused him to fall short of the per-game point mark for the first time since the 2017-18 season, when he last played as a center for Toronto. The Golden Knights had a massive defensive hole coming into this season with the loss of Alex Pietrangelo. They didn’t do anything to address it until they traded for Rasmus Andersson. Unfortunately, that deal also cost them Zach Whitecloud. Thus far, the Golden Knights have gotten the new coach bump, but that will end eventually.
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