Managing the lineup for a fully healthy Vegas Golden Knights will be a challenge

With six games remaining on their schedule and a five-point cushion for the second Wild Card spot in the Western Conference, it appears that the defending Stanley Cup-champion Vegas Golden Knights will return to the playoffs.

After winning 11 of their first 12 games to start the 2023-24 season, the Golden Knights fell back to Earth and, at some points, found themselves on the outside looking in, battling for a spot in the postseason.

Injures affected their lineup, with Shea Theodore, Jack Eichel and Alec Martinez missing at least 20 games, and now Adin Hill, Alex Pietrangelo and Mark Stone out of the lineup. But as we get closer to the playoffs, the Golden Knights will have a healthier group, and now have to figure out how to manage it.

However, keep an eye out for Tomas Hertl, who is expected to make his Golden Knights’ debut on Monday against the Vancouver Canucks.

On Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk are joined by former QMJHL head coach Jon Goyens to discuss how Vegas can deploy their lineup in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Tyler Yaremchuk: The Golden Knights have been up-and-down all season, and continued that pattern in the latter half of the year.

Jon Goyens: A lot of people look at the different puzzle pieces they acquired. If you buy a puzzle, it’s got a picture on the box, then you got to take the time to put all the pieces in the right place. But because all those pieces haven’t been available, it looks like the picture isn’t clear, so not all the pieces fit.

If you look at those injuries, these are very big-time players for this group. Now as we get closer to the playoffs, they have to figure out where these pieces go, because it’s not always clear.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…