- Ryan Craig says the Golden Knights are “starting over” ahead of his first training camp as an NHL head coach
- Vegas plans to play both goalies and turn Jack Eichel into a power-play shooter
- Read below for what Craig said about Mitch Marner, the shortened camp and the jobs still up for grabs
Ryan Craig is not treating the Golden Knights like a team that just played in the Stanley Cup Final.
Vegas gets back on the ice Thursday, and the new head coach told Nicholas J. Cotsonika of NHL.com that nobody should walk in with June on their mind.
“We’re starting over. It’s a new year. Everything’s left to be accomplished now. It’s a different group. We’re not the exact same group that finished, and nobody is.”
Craig got the job on June 17, three days after Vegas lost Game 6 of the Final to Carolina. He spent six seasons as a Golden Knights assistant and the last three running Henderson in the AHL, so the system itself stays. Take a look at Craig on what he inherited:
The crease is where it gets interesting. Carter Hart was the only goalie Vegas used in the playoffs and Adin Hill sat, but Craig would not call anyone a starter, a backup, or even 1A and 1B.
“Both goalies are going to play. We’re going to see that early. For us to get to where we want to go, it means playing over a hundred games, and most goaltenders aren’t playing 60-plus games anymore, even 50-plus games.”
Losing Pavel Dorofeyev to the Rangers on a seven-year, $77 million deal cost the Golden Knights 33 power-play goals over the past two seasons. General manager Kelly McCrimmon said that opens a lane for Jack Eichel to shoot more with the man advantage. Eichel scored 27 times last season and exactly one came on the power play.
On the back end, Shea Theodore, Rasmus Andersson and Noah Hanifin will likely be split up so every pair has a puck-mover.
Mitch Marner finally found a fit late, riding with William Karlsson and Brett Howden through a postseason where he led all skaters with 29 points in 22 games. Craig plans to leave that line alone and let it grow.
Health helps too. Karlsson missed 68 games last season and captain Mark Stone missed 22, and both are ready. Stone also signed a two-year extension over the weekend:
Camp is tight for everybody this year. Vegas gets two practices before opening the preseason at the Kings on Saturday, veterans of 100 NHL games are capped at two exhibition appearances, and the regular season starts at home against Chicago on Sept. 29.
That schedule leaves three or four forward spots to sort out in about a week. Craig has already coached most of the candidates in Henderson, which is the part of his promotion that should pay off fastest.
