Vegas Golden Knights: 3 burning questions entering Stanley Cup Playoffs
Will the Golden Knights lineup gel?
To win the Stanley Cup, your lineup needs to gel. The Golden Knights lineup hasn’t been healthy for a little bit. They’ve been missing both Mark Stone and Alex Tuch since February. Nate Schmidt, Jonathan Marchessault, and Chandler Stephenson have each missed playing time as well.
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When the Golden Knights have all their forward lines rolling, they can be a lethal team. The Knights have six forwards who have at least 15 goals. Four of them have at least 20. The Golden Knights need to spread out their scoring talent. In order to do that, head coach Peter DeBoer is going to need to find the right spots in the lineup for Tuch and Stephenson.
It’s equally important for the Golden Knights blueline to gel. That, however, is less of a concern because the Golden Knights have been icing the same pairings when healthy for most of the season. Between Nate Schmidt and Shea Theodore, the Golden Knights have two very effective two-way defensemen. Where does Alec Martinez fit in? That’ll be an important question for Vegas.
All of that said, the Golden Knights have time. They’ll have an exhibition game, plus the round-robin tournament to figure things out. If they do, the entire league should be on notice.