Golden Knights Gameday 40: Froese Ways: Lines and Notes vs Avalanche

It's a battle between two injury-decimated teams as the Vegas Golden Knights (25-12-2, 52 points) play the Colorado Avalanche (19-13-3, 41 points) at 6:00 p.m. in the first game of 2023 for both teams. This game concludes a brief one-game road trip for the Golden Knights who will return to T-Mobile Arena for a season-high seven-game homestand starting on Thursday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

This is the second of three meetings between the Golden Knights and defending Stanley Cup Champion Avalanche this season. The Avalanche beat the Golden Knights 3-2 at home on Oct. 22, 2022. The Avalanche, who will wear their reverse retro jerseys, are 0-2-1 since the holiday break. 

The Golden Knights are 7-12-1 against the Avalanche all-time. 

With Daniil Miromanov joining the ever-growing list of injuries, the Golden Knights recalled both Byron Froese and Kaedan Korczak from the Henderson Silver Knights. Jack Eichel, Alec Martinez, Shea Theodore, and Jonathan Marchessault, who could all return soon, are not expected to play tonight. However, on a more positive note, Paul Cotter traveled with the team and could make it into the lineup.

Due to injuries, the Avalanche have used 37 players this season, which is the most in the NHL. The Golden Knights are catching up with 30 players.

What To Watch For

Meet The New Guys

Byron Froese (pronounced Frayz) and Kaedan Korczak will make their season debuts with the VGK tonight.

Froese was a 2022 free-agency signing and has 116 games of NHL experience. This season with the Silver Knights, he has 21 points in 32 games played. Head coach Bruce Cassidy says he expects to play Froese at center, and move Jake Lechyshyn to the wing.

"(Byron is a) solid 200-foot player, good in the circle, he has been around, so he is competitive. His details are good. There is no dynamic part to his game, but there are no deficiencies either… We will probably move Jake (Leschyshyn) to the wing and leave him in the middle," said Cassidy.

With Miromanov out, Cassidy expects Korczak to play alongside Brayden McNabb. Korczak is a 2019 second-round pick of the VGK, 21 years old, and has one game of NHL experience.

"I think with Korczy (Kaedan Korczak), like a lot of the young guys, what we will be looking for is just consistent play and to help us win… He will slowly integrate himself into playing against NHL players," said Cassidy.

Cale Prevails

One of the few Avalanche players who has been able to play every game this season is Cale Makar, who is already one of the most decorated defensemen in NHL history. The kid is insane with 213 points in his 214 career NHL games, the most by any defenseman, ever.

Fourth Line Production

The Golden Knight's fourth line has been great all season, but their scoring output has dropped over the last few games. But with Keegan Kolesar scoring his first goal in 20 games against the Nashville Predators on Saturday, this might kickstart the fourth line's offense once more. Fourth-line center Nicolas Roy will play in his 200th career game against the Avalanche.

Projected Vegas Golden Knights Line Combinations

Michael Amadio- Chandler Stephenson- Mark Stone (c)

Reilly Smith- William Karlsson- Phil Kessel

Jonas Rondbjerg- Byron Froese- Jake Leschyshyn

Will Carrier- Nicolas Roy- Keegan Kolesar

Nicolas Hague- Alex Pietrangelo

Brayden McNabb- Kaedan Korczak

Ben Hutton- Brayden Pachal

Logan Thompson/Adin Hill

Golden Knights Special Teams

PP1: Stephenson, Stone, Smith, Amadio, Pietrangelo

PP2: Carrier, Karlsson, Kessel, Roy, Hutton

PK1: Karlsson, Smith, McNabb, Pietrangelo

PK2: Stephenson, Stone, Hague, Hutton

IR/Scratches

Shea Weber, Nolan Patrick, Robin Lehner/Jack Eichel, Jonathan Marchessault, Paul Cotter, Brett Howden, Pavel Dorofeyev, Shea Theodore, Zach Whitecloud, Alec Martinez, Daniil Miromanov

Projected Avalanche Line Combinations

Artturi Lehkonen- Nathan Mackinnon- Mikko Rantanen

Evan Rodrigues- JT Compher- Logan O'Connor

Andrew Cogliano- Ben Meyers- Denis Malgin

Kurtis MacDermid- Alex Newhook- Jacob MacDonald

Devon Toews- Cale Makar

Sam Girard- Erik Johnson

Andreas Englund- Brad Hunt

Alexander Georgiev/Jonas Johansson

Avalanche Special Teams

PP1- Lehkonen, Compher, Rantanen, Mackinnon, Makar

PP2- Malgin, Newhook, Rodrigues, Toews, Girard

PK1- Lehkonen, O'Connor, Toews, Makar

PK2- Compher, Cogliano, Girard, Johnson

IR/Scratches

Gabriel Landeskog (c), Darren Helm, Josh Manson, Pavel Francouz, Bowen Byram, Valeri Nichushkin/Martin Kaut, 

How to Watch/Listen

6:00 p.m. on AT&T Sportsnet, ESPN+ and Fox Sports 98.9 FM Radio.