- Scott Wheeler says Trevor Connelly will be back sometime during Golden Knights camp
- Connelly was helped off Saturday after a hit from behind by Utah’s Gabe Smith
- Read below for video of the hit and where Vegas’ top prospect fits this season
Trevor Connelly got lucky.
The Golden Knights winger was helped off the ice Saturday in San Jose after a hit from behind, and Vegas went the rest of the night without putting out an update. Scott Wheeler of The Athletic filled in the blank Sunday morning with a short note on where the 20-year-old stands:
“Sounds like Trevor Connelly will be back sometime in camp, for what it’s worth. Brutal hit by Gabe Smith here.”
Saturday’s hit came in the second period of the Rookie Faceoff opener against the Utah Mammoth. Connelly went into the boards, stayed down for roughly 90 seconds, and needed a trainer to walk him off.
Connelly made it to the bench on his own, but that was the end of his afternoon.
Take a look at the video of the hit:
Smith, a 6-foot-4 center Utah drafted in the fourth round in 2024, got a five-minute major and an ejection. The gloves came off around the play while Connelly was still down.
Losing him for any real stretch would have stung. Vegas took Connelly 19th overall in 2024, and he is comfortably the best prospect left in a system the Golden Knights have spent years trading away.
He put up 49 points in 46 games with Henderson last season in his first full AHL year. Thirty-five of those were assists.
Vegas had him on the top line to start the game:
Utah won that game 3-0, and the Vegas rookies close out the showcase against Colorado on Sunday. Main camp opens later this week, and Wheeler’s read is that Connelly will be part of it before it wraps.
