Golden Knights Projected Fully-Healthy Lineup

Every team goes through injury troubles. But after last season, the Vegas Golden Knights are hoping their current injury spell doesn't last much longer. 

After a historically good start to the season in terms of health, the Golden Knights have missed star players Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, Jonathan Marchessault, and Shea Theodore with injuries, among others. 

Now, only five players on the team have played in every game; William Karlsson, Reilly Smith, Phil Kessel, Brayden McNabb, and Chandler Stephenson.

The Golden Knight's current list of injuries is as follows: forwards Mark Stone, Will Carrier, Brett Howden, and Pavel Dorofeyev, and defensemen Shea Theodore, Zach Whitecloud, and Daniil Miromanov. Robin Lehner, Nolan Patrick, and Shea Weber are out for the season.

Many people, including Golden Knights forward Paul Cotter, are excited to see what a fully-healthy Golden Knights team can do.

"We know the type of team we are. We're towards the top of the league. So if you look at it from a bigger picture, we're fine. We know how good we are. We have a lot of guys out of the lineup. So that hopefully takes a factor. Hopefully, when we're healthy, we can get back to our main game; we have to grind out," said Paul Cotter after the VGK's 4-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers.

So let's go over every current injured Golden Knights player and project how they will slot back into the lineup.

Golden Knight's current lineup*

Chandler Stephenson- Jack Eichel- Jonathan Marchessault

Reilly Smith- William Karlsson- Phil Kessel

Paul Cotter- Michael Amadio- Byron Froese

Jonas Rondbjerg*- Nicolas Roy- Keegan Kolesar

Nicolas Hague- Alex Pietrangelo

Brayden McNabb- Kaedan Korczak

Alec Martinez- Ben Hutton

Logan Thompson/Adin Hill

+ Will Carrier

The easiest player to discuss here is Will Carrier, who left the Golden Knight's Saturday night game in the third period. Bruce Cassidy did not have any updates on the status of Carrier but considering he has been playing on the VGK's dominant fourth line all season, it's a no-brainer on where he'll return to. He did not skate Sunday morning.

Chandler Stephenson- Jack Eichel- Jonathan Marchessault

Reilly Smith- William Karlsson- Phil Kessel

Paul Cotter- Michael Amadio- Byron Froese

Will Carrier– Nicolas Roy- Keegan Kolesar

Nicolas Hague- Alex Pietrangelo

Brayden McNabb- Kaedan Korczak

Alec Martinez- Ben Hutton

Logan Thompson/Adin Hill

+ Pavel Dorofeyev

Pavel Dorofeyev was recalled from the Henderson Silver Knights for help at forward when the Golden Knights were going through injuries, but he then got injured himself. It is very unlikely that the 22-year-old forward, who has five games of NHL experience, makes a fully-healthy VGK roster. So back to Henderson when healthy for Dorofeyev.

Chandler Stephenson- Jack Eichel- Jonathan Marchessault

Reilly Smith- William Karlsson- Phil Kessel

Paul Cotter- Michael Amadio- Byron Froese

Will Carrier- Nicolas Roy- Keegan Kolesar

Nicolas Hague- Alex Pietrangelo

Brayden McNabb- Kaedan Korczak

Alec Martinez- Ben Hutton

Logan Thompson/Adin Hill

+ Mark Stone

Golden Knights captain Mark Stone is currently out with an upper-body injury week-to-week. Cassidy does not expect Stone to play Monday against the Stars. 

It's unfortunate that Stone, who had been having a dominant resurgent season, is now injured. But slotting him back into the lineup is easy, given that Byron Froese was an emergency call-up with Stone's injury. Some line shuffling gets us back to where the VGK were a couple of games ago.

Paul Cotter- Jack Eichel- Jonathan Marchessault

Michael Amadio- Chandler Stephenson- Mark Stone

Reilly Smith- William Karlsson- Phil Kessel

Will Carrier- Nicolas Roy- Keegan Kolesar

Nicolas Hague- Alex Pietrangelo

Brayden McNabb- Kaedan Korczak

Alec Martinez- Ben Hutton

Logan Thompson/Adin Hill

Cassidy has been big on managing his "pairs" in the Golden Knights forward group this season. There are a couple of forwards that seem to mesh well together- Chandler Stephenson and Mark Stone, William Karlsson and Reilly Smith, and Nicolas Roy and Will Carrier.

"We are trying to work through pairs. Stephey (Stephenson) and Stoney (Stone) have been a good pair, and I know Smith and Karly (Karlsson) over the years. We are trying to figure out who's the best pair with Jack (Eichel) is. Roy and Will Carrier have played well together," said Cassidy.

Finding the third player to each line gives the Golden Knights a much healthier forward depth.

"With the pairs, yes, we've been trying to grow games from the Cotters of the world and the Ammos (Amadio) of the world that way, you can have balance. I think especially in a salary cap world, some of that is out of necessity," said Cassidy.

+ Brett Howden

Here's where things get interesting. Cassidy has preached how important having a 1-4 center group of Eichel, Stephenson, Karlsson, and Roy is. Once the Golden Knights are in a position to make this a reality, Cassidy will likely do it, which means Brett Howden will have to play wing if he wants in the lineup.

"Having those four centermen makes us a real strong down the middle and 200-foot players. They are all playing their natural positions that they prefer to play… and that is where they have played their best hockey, so that's part of it," said Cassidy.

If we keep the logic that we established with the spread-out pairs of Stone and Stephenson, Smith and Karlsson, the fourth line, and potentially Eichel and Marchessault, then Howden's most likely shot of making the lineup will have to come over either Paul Cotter, Michael Amadio, or Phil Kessel.

Both Cotter and Amadio have been great lately, and we think it's time. The streak will end, sorry Phil.

Paul Cotter- Jack Eichel- Jonathan Marchessault

Michael Amadio- Chandler Stephenson- Mark Stone

Brett Howden– William Karlsson- Reilly Smith

Will Carrier- Nicolas Roy- Keegan Kolesar

Nicolas Hague- Alex Pietrangelo

Brayden McNabb- Kaedan Korczak

Alec Martinez- Ben Hutton

Logan Thompson/Adin Hill

Scratched: Phil Kessel

+ Shea Theodore

On defense, things get easier as Shea Theodore will undoubtedly slot back into his normal second-pairing spot with Brayden McNabb. The powerplay, shootout, and overtime units will also benefit from his return. Kaedan Korczak will likely hold onto a roster spot in favor of Ben Hutton as he has done so far this season.

Paul Cotter- Jack Eichel- Jonathan Marchessault

Michael Amadio- Chandler Stephenson- Mark Stone

Brett Howden- William Karlsson- Reilly Smith

Will Carrier- Nicolas Roy- Keegan Kolesar

Nicolas Hague- Alex Pietrangelo

Brayden McNabb- Shea Theodore

Alec Martinez- Kaedan Korczak

Logan Thompson/Adin Hill

Scratched: Phil Kessel, Ben Hutton

+ Daniil Miromanov

Before he was injured, Daniil Miromanov was having a breakout season in the NHL with the Golden Knights. His offensive game was stellar, as the 25-year-old scored six points in 14 games. He has taken over Ben Hutton's role as the seventh defenseman on the VGK. If he returns soon, he could get a long shot to impress Cassidy and the Golden Knights coaching staff, as our next player on the list is expected to be out for a long time.

Paul Cotter- Jack Eichel- Jonathan Marchessault

Michael Amadio- Chandler Stephenson- Mark Stone

Brett Howden- William Karlsson- Reilly Smith

Will Carrier- Nicolas Roy- Keegan Kolesar

Nicolas Hague- Alex Pietrangelo

Brayden McNabb- Shea Theodore

Alec Martinez- Daniil Miromanov

Logan Thompson/Adin Hill

Scratched: Phil Kessel, Ben Hutton

+ Zach Whitecloud

Outside of Lehner and Patrick, Whitecloud is the Golden Knight, who is expected to miss the longest amount of time this season. He is currently on LTIR and considered month-to-month with a leg injury. Taylor Hall fell on his leg in a Dec. 11 game at T-Mobile Arena. But injuries aside, Whitecloud will most certainly re-enter the lineup in favor of Miromanov, no matter how good he is in his trial run.

Paul Cotter- Jack Eichel- Jonathan Marchessault

Michael Amadio- Chandler Stephenson- Mark Stone

Brett Howden- William Karlsson- Reilly Smith

Will Carrier- Nicolas Roy- Keegan Kolesar

Nicolas Hague- Alex Pietrangelo

Brayden McNabb- Shea Theodore

Alec Martinez- Zach Whitecloud

Logan Thompson/Adin Hill

Scratched: Phil Kessel, Ben Hutton, Daniil Miromanov

So now what?

Which areas do the Golden Knights need to add in? Could they do so at the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline? Could Laurent Brossoit factor into this lineup at all? Will this team ever be fully healthy again? Stay tuned for more stories in the works this season from Vegas Hockey Now.