Jack Eichel did not appear in the playoffs in six seasons with the Buffalo Sabres from 2015-21. After the Golden Knights made a bold move to acquire him in a trade Nov. 4, 2021, he won the Cup in 2023.
Now the center might have Marner on his wing on the first line.
“It’s a great addition for our team, of course,” Eichel said. “I mean, he’s a world-class player, right? He’s one of the best in the world, and for us to be able to add him, yeah, it’s awesome.
“The last two years we’ve fallen short. We’ve felt like we had a better team than obviously we did because we didn’t get the job done, so credit to the management and the organization for going out and getting somebody like Mitch Marner and getting him to join the team. He’s obviously going to help us immensely. I think they made a few other tweaks to the roster that will help us as well, so really excited.”
Vegas has lost defenseman Alex Pietrangelo — a marquee free agent signing Oct. 12, 2020, who helped them win the Cup in 2023 — because of a lower-body injury that likely will end his NHL career. It also has parted with defenseman Nicolas Hague, center Nicolas Roy and goalie Ilya Samsonov.
But the Golden Knights have added defenseman Jeremy Lauzon and center Colton Sissons. Lauzon is one of the most physical defensemen in the NHL and played for coach Bruce Cassidy with the Boston Bruins from 2018-21. Sissons is one of the best face-off men in the League and an elite penalty killer.
McCrimmon said Vegas was looking to change the identity of its fourth line and establish more of a forecheck, with the top three lines playing a possession style.
“We put a lot of stock in playoffs,” McCrimmon said. “I think that there’s some things we want to change maybe somewhat subtly, maybe not even that noticeable to a fan. But we’re not going to go away from a lot of the things that worked really well for us last year. We had 50 wins. We had [110 points, third in the NHL, two ahead of the Maple Leafs].”
Marner will not be a subtle change. He will be the latest show on The Strip.
“We always say about our culture: ‘Don’t let it slip. Don’t let it slip,'” McCrimmon said. “It takes a long time to build a great culture; you can lose it in a hurry. So I think that our guys really perpetuate that. I think he’s going to fit into that and flourish. I really believe he will.”
