For the last 21 years (12 with The Hockey News) Dobber and the team have reviewed each team from a fantasy-hockey standpoint and graded them.

The 22nd annual review will appear here on DobberHockey throughout the summer. This is not a review of the likely performance on the ice or in the standings, but in the realm of fantasy hockey both for the season ahead as well as the foreseeable future. Offensively, will the team perform? Are there plenty of depth options worthy of owning in keeper leagues? What about over the next two or three years? These questions are what we take into consideration when looking at the depth chart and the player potential on that depth chart.

Enjoy!

Gone – Logan Thompson, Alec Martinez, Jonathan Marchessault, Chandler Stephenson, Michael Amadio, Paul Cotter, Anthony Mantha, William Carrier

Incoming – Alexander Holtz, Victor Olofsson, Ilya Samsonov, Akira Schmid

Impact of changes –

The biggest impact for the Golden Knights on how this season will compare to last year is not a result of any of the personnel changes or a result of internal growth/aging, but rather whether the team can simply stay healthy. Of top-10 points scorers last year, the players who played more than 70 games were Marchessault, Stephenson, Amadio, and Ivan Barbashev. Do those names look familiar? Well they should, because it's almost the same as the departures list above. If the Golden Knights can stay healthy, they're a top-five team in the conference. If they can't, then they could be on the outside of the playoff bubble.

The changes they made shift around the edges of that, and provided the team with a little more cap flexibility, while also making room for some training camp battles and the possibility of some internal growth. One of Holtz or Olofsson might hit big with the team, but I'm not sure there's enough sheltered ice time to go around for them to both bust out. The smart money might be on Olofsson, a former (and possibly future) linemate of Jack Eichel's. Pavel Dorofeyev and Brendan Brisson will have something to say about that though.

Overall, the depth on the team takes a bit of a hit, but the team should be able to keep producing and chugging along similar to the last few seasons.  

Ready for Full Time –

Brendan Brisson is the big name for the Golden Knights, as basically the only bigger name draftee of theirs that they haven't traded. That may have something to do with the fact that his father is a very influential player agent, but that's a train of thought for another day. Brisson on his own merit has earned an NHL role this upcoming season, as long as he can show well in camp. He has 15 games last year, recording eight points. He fared well in sheltered minutes, and could provide some extra pop in the middle-six for a group that lost a fair share of secondary scoring in the offseason. His ability to play both centre and wing is a bonus on a team that uses a lot of players like that interchangeably.

Kaeden Korczak was extremely effective in 26 games with bottom-pairing minutes this past season. Additionally working in his favour is his handedness (right), his contract ($825K), and Vegas' injury troubles. Korczak has earned a full time role, with his GM noting as much when he inked his extension. Regardless of how crowded the depth chart may look at the moment, expect Korczak to play a sizeable slate of games this upcoming year.

Fantasy Outlook:

As much as the higher games played players have moved on, those who paced for the highest scoring seasons on the team are all returning. The team will again run through the star power of Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, William Karlsson, and Shea Theodore. The addition of Noah Hanifin was an excellent fit at the deadline last year, boosting an already enviable defence core. That's great news for the team overall, as well as goaltenders Adin Hill and Ilya Samsonov (who should be able to thrive in a 1B role with reduced pressure on him.

The other mid-season addition last year of Tomas Hertl should also fill the gap well from the losses of Marchessault and Stephenson, especially on the power play, where Hertl has been excellent in previous years. Overall, this is an easy team to like trying to stack a couple of the names from the top power play unit, in addition to an upside gamble or two like Dorofeyev or Olofsson. The payoff could be huge, and the players have a safe floor (minus the injury risk)

Grade – B + (last year was a B)