(Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen)
Every year the hope for each player is to put up a career year. The best teams in the league see many players outplay their contracts by posting statistical seasons better than they ever have before. For the Golden Knights, achieving career highs for many players will be challenging due to age and the successes many have had in their careers. However, that’s not to say there aren’t reachable categories for every guy on the roster.
Today and tomorrow we’ll go through every player on the team to look at which stats they have the best chance to set career highs in. We start with the defense and goalies.
Adin Hill
Stat – Starts
Career High – 35
For the second consecutive season, Hill will be anointed the clear starter with a strong backup behind him. The expectation is that he’ll receive at least 60% of the starts which should have him in line for around 50. Of course, the key to all of this is health. If Hill can stay healthy for the entire regular season, he’ll demolish every counting stat in the books.
Other options: Wins (19), Saves (890), Shutouts (2), Quality Starts (19)
Ilya Samsonov
Stat – Quality Start Percentage
Career High – 67.5%
The former Maple Leaf has played at least 40 games each of the last three seasons which will make all of the counting stats difficult. An injury to Hill could easily thrust him into the spotlight and see him start 50+ games, but that’s not the plan going in. So, defeating wins, saves, starts, shutouts, and anything else that requires a bunch of starts will be tough. The 67.5% quality start percentage is there for the taking though. Neither Hill nor Thompson have reached that number in either of the last two seasons, but with a limited number of starts playing behind a great defense, maybe Sansonov can do it.
Other options: Shutouts (4)
Noah Hanifin
Stat – Points
Career High – 48
The moment Hanifin stepped foot in Las Vegas he dominated for the Golden Knights. He scored two goals and had 10 assists in 19 games in the regular season and then upped his production in the playoffs with five points in seven games. It’s kind of surprising he’s never reached 50 points in his career, nor has he ever scored 15 goals. With the job as 1A defenseman on a stacked blue line, he has a chance to shatter all of his scoring numbers this season.
Other options – Goals (13), Power Play Points (13), Blocks (129)
Alex Pietrangelo
Stat – Blocks
Career High – 177
With his role likely decreasing at least a little bit, the chances for Pietrangelo to reach career highs in scoring stats will be difficult. Also, his power play time could get cut into a bit with Hanifin and Theodore in the mix. Since coming to the Golden Knights though, he’s started to block more and more shots, and maybe with a more defensive role expected this season that number can go up. He blocked 17 shots in seven games in the playoffs which would equate to 199 in an 82-game season.
Other options – +/- (+20), Shots (227)
Brayden McNabb
Stat – Shooting Percentage
Career High – 5.7%
McNabb set his career high in shooting percentage in his first season with the Golden Knights. With added offensive weapons on the blue line there’s a chance McNabb shoots even less than the already low numbers he’s posted over his excellent career. In the postseason, he scored twice on 14 shots to obliterate the number. Four goals on 60 shots seems doable.
Other Options – Shorthanded Points (2), Points (26)
Shea Theodore
Stat – Defensive Zone Starts
Career High – 43.1%
When Theodore got to the Golden Knights he was instantly thrust into an offensive role. For a while, he was unquestionably the best offensive weapon Vegas had to offer. Now, there’s a real chance he’s considered third, which is insane when you think about it. Likely to still be paired with McNabb, Cassidy may choose to give them a few more defensive zone starts than normal to reserve the extra O-Zone ones for Hanifin and Pietrangelo. One year Theodore posted a 32.7% defensive zone start percentage, he’ll smash that easily, but getting to 43.1% won’t be as easy.
Other Options: Power Play Goals (4), Penalty Minutes (28), Games Played (78)
Zach Whitecloud
Stat – Games Played
Career High – 62
Despite being a healthy scratch at times last season, Whitecloud should have the inside track to a starting position once again this year. Once he grabs that spot, all he’ll have to do is stay healthy to reach the necessary total to set a career-high. Sure, Kaedan Korczak will be pushing him, but if Whitecloud is available for 63 games this year, he’ll play them.
Other options – Assists (12), Points (19), Shots (94), Time On Ice (1109)
Nic Hague
Stat – Shorthanded Points
Career High – 0
With Hanifin, Pietrangelo, and Theodore all in the starting lineup regularly, Hague is likely to draw quite a bit of penalty kill time this season. He set a career-high in shorthanded TOI last year with 120 minutes and he should exceed that fairly easily. All he needs is one simple pass to Eichel or Karlsson and he should be able to get the first shorthanded point of his career.
Other Options – Shorthanded TOI (120), Points (17), Penalty Minutes (51)
Ben Hutton
Stat – +/-
Career High: +12
Hutton set this career high last year and there’s a reasonable chance he can do it again. He’ll likely have to wait until someone gets injured to step into the lineup, but once he does he’ll be playing with an excellent partner, no matter who it is. Typically, Cassidy prefers to use Hutton in offensive situations, which means he shouldn’t be on the ice for too many goals against. Have a nice run in one of the stints in the lineup, and he could easily post a +13 or better.
Other options – Corsi For Percentage (53.6%), Hits (55)
Kaedan Korczak
Stat – Games Played
Career High – 26
Pick a stat, any stat, and Korczak is likely to smash his career high this season. It would be truly stunning if he can’t find his way into more than 26 games this year. That will then lead to career highs in goals (1), assists (8), shots (48), and literally everything else.
Other options – Every counting stat
