Vegas back to underdog status, early reactions, and Makar on reverse hits

The 2017-18 Golden Knights unequivocally had the best expansion franchise debut in North American pro sports history. They destroyed expectations by somehow reaching the Stanley Cup Final with a cast of so-called misfits.

The Knights made the conference final in two of the next three seasons. Last year, they missed the postseason by three points. In other words, aside from that magical debut, the Knights have never felt like much of an underdog in the NHL.

Until now.

After a turbulent offseason that saw Bruce Cassidy assume head-coaching duties, starting goalie Robin Lehner ruled out for the entire year, and star forward Max Pacioretty traded for future considerations (ie: nothing) to clear cap space, pundits and fans are low on Vegas, relatively speaking.

Rick Tocchet, the former NHL player and coach now analyzing the sport on TNT broadcasts, pushes back on the skepticism. "People are ripping the Knights too much for my liking, in the sense that, yeah, they didn't make the playoffs last year due to some (difficult) circumstances, but you look on paper and they've still got some really good hockey players," Tocchet said on a preseason conference call with reporters.

Tocchet's bang on so far, as the Knights rattled off wins against the Kings and Blackhawks to begin the Cassidy era. Rookie Logan Thompson turned aside 54 of 57 shots and those "really good hockey players" - Jack Eichel, Alex Pietrangelo, and Mark Stone - marked up the scoresheet.

"Gotta be better defensively. Got to find ways to score clutch goals," is how Stone summarized the Knights' '21-22 failings while speaking at the NHL/NHLPA media tour. Stone also pointed to Vegas' poor injury luck and inability to score in the shootout down the stretch (three goals on 17 attempts). "We still had a chance to make the playoffs," he said.

For me, Cassidy's the X-factor. The former Bruins bench boss is attempting to implement zone coverage (versus man-to-man) in the defensive end to insulate the three-headed goalie monster of Thompson, Adin Hill, and Laurent Brossoit. How that goes, along with Cassidy's attempt to turn around the club's special teams, will ultimately determine the Knights' fate this season.

"To me, the barometer is Christmas," Tocchet said. "How far above .500 is this team, or is it a .500 team?"

He added: "If they just get good goaltending - they don't need excellent, they just need good goaltending - I think this team is definitely a playoff team that can make some noise. So I wouldn't sleep on the Vegas Knights."

3 first-week reactions

1. My biggest takeaway from the Maple Leafs' start, a 4-3 loss to Montreal and a 3-2 win over Washington: this is going to be an 82-game roller coaster.

The players were already ripped by coach Sheldon Keefe after the opener, and they responded Thursday. The Big Four up front have looked stellar, particularly William Nylander, who's dialed in and flying. Each goalie has allowed a soft goal - Matt Murray versus the Canadiens on Cole Caufield's high-glove snipe and Ilya Samsonov versus the Capitals on Marcus Johansson's goal that got through him. The second defense pairing of Jake Muzzin and Justin Holl logged a rough night and a bounce-back night.

That last note is the most intriguing. A Muzzin-Holl pairing will find success only if Muzzin is sharp, like he was against the Caps. And while it's extremely early and plenty can change as a season chugs along, I don't know if there's enough juice left in Muzzin's game to do that nightly. Put another way: He needs a better partner, and I think it'd be easier to acquire a second-pair defenseman midseason than a stud goalie.

2. Total bummer for Columbus. Winger Patrik Laine left the Blue Jackets' opener with an elbow injury, not long after he used his patented wrist shot to snipe the club's first goal of the year in a 4-1 loss to the Hurricanes.

Laine was placed on injured reserve with a timeline of 3-4 weeks to return. It's a significant early blow to the Jackets, and, quite honestly, hockey as a whole. Laine's first-line pairing with offseason pickup Johnny Gaudreau has tremendous potential; their skill sets complement each other.

In early September, defenseman Zach Werenski reported Laine was looking "the best I've ever seen him." He added: "He's in a really good headspace right now. He's in great shape. He's shooting the puck hard. He looks like an All-Star."

Heaping praise on a teammate ahead of training camp is what pro athletes do. Trust me, though: Werenski meant it. Laine, 24, endured a difficult 2021-22 season - his father passed, and he had injury problems - yet he still posted 56 points in 56 games. He was primed to take the league by storm this season, his first 40-goal campaign in five years thought to be in sight, and now his momentum is gone.

3. In the end, even though general manager David Poile added depth over the summer, the Predators will continue to live and die by the performances of defenseman Roman Josi and goalie Juuse Saros.

If both superstars play at an elite level, Nashville will be dangerous heading into the postseason. If they don't live up to expectations, the Preds will miss the playoffs altogether. (There's also the health variable. Last year, Saros suffered an injury in game No. 80 and the team was swept in the first round.)

We know plenty about Josi. Saros is more of an unknown.

Listed at a generous 5-foot-11, Saros is one of three NHL goalies under 6-feet tall (Jaroslav Halak and Alex Stalock are the others). To compensate, the Finn is lightning quick from post to post and never panics. Saros stopped 22 of 23 shots in the Preds' opener versus the Sharks, but turned aside only 25 of 29 against the Stars on Thursday.

"His ability to read plays is unbelievable," Josi said, comparing Saros to Carey Price. "It seems like he's never out of position. Even on (a) 2-on-1, he never has to make those big saves because he's always in the right spot."

Makar on reverse hits, Seider

The prototypical modern defenseman is so valuable in today's free-flowing game because he can do everything: skate, move the puck, score, and defend.

What's specifically interesting about Cale Makar and Moritz Seider - two of their generation's finest and most versatile blue-liners - is that they're unafraid of physical contact. Both players welcome it to the point where they'll issue the odd "reverse hit," a sly, often explosive and perfectly timed body check.

It's a sight to behold: No. 8 on the Avalanche or No. 53 on the Red Wings dishing the puck and a hit within milliseconds. "I know it's controversial for some people," Makar said of reverse hits. "But, in my opinion, if they're coming to hit you, why not hit them back?"

I tend to agree, and there's no doubt Seider does too. At 21, he's already a master. "He does it really well," Makar said of 6-foot-4, 217-pound Seider. "And he has such a big frame that he can put guys down 90% of the time."

Makar and Seider faced off twice last year. Seider, then a rookie, certainly had the eventual Norris Trophy winner's attention during the second meeting.

"He was coming off the wing and he did a purposeful shot off the pad, and they scored on the rebound," Makar said of the 2-1 goal in a 5-2 Detroit win.

"I was like, 'That's a very impressive play,' especially on a 3-on-1 or 3-on-2, to pull that off, a pass off the pad. At that point, I was like, 'He's very smart.' And I just like the way he plays. He has that physical aspect. He can do it on both ends. I'm excited to see how he develops."

Parting shots

Free-agent watch: According to NHL public relations, 91 of the 711 players on season-opening rosters were never drafted. That's 12.8%. Valtteri Pulli, a 21-year-old defenseman playing in Finland's top league, appears to be another on that track. Pulli, a giant at 6-foot-6 and 209 pounds who moves extremely well, is starting to generate significant interest among scouts after not being selected in the 2019-21 drafts. He wouldn't immediately slot into an NHL lineup, so there's no rush to put pen to paper on his three-year, entry-level deal. Still, he's a name to track throughout the season. Armed with good puck skills and hockey IQ, Pulli has a goal and six assists through 11 games. His goal was a nifty individual effort:

Digital board ads: If you caught a game on TV this week, you probably noticed those fancy new advertisements appearing here and there on the boards. Officially called "digitally enhanced dasher boards," these glitchy ads are seen only by TV viewers, which means players and fans inside the rink aren't being distracted. Awesome. But I wonder if the NHL jumped the gun on the rollout. We're still getting accustomed to seeing helmet decals and jersey patches, and now this? I completely understand the business case. In the short term, though, the viewing experience is being compromised.

Bookworm exec: Kevyn Adams considers himself a lifelong learner. Last year, the Sabres GM gifted his players one of his favorite books, "Legacy," about the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team and how it found sustained success. In the offseason, Adams reread "Talent Code," another favorite, as well as biographies on Disney's Robert Iger and Apple's Steve Jobs. "I'm very interested in how people lead, why they make decisions, why they've been successful with companies they've run or in decisions they've made. So I try to learn about different styles through reading," Adams, 48, said in a recent interview. "Besides books, maybe I've been introduced to someone who's a CEO of a company. I'll set up a coffee with them and then just ask questions."

Takes, Thoughts, and Trends is theScore's biweekly hockey grab bag.

John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email ([email protected]).