Five Former Golden Knights Make Olympic Rosters, One Current Name Makes Team USA

While it may still be a bummer to some that the NHL will once again not participate in the 2022 Olympic Games, it is not stopping the Vegas Golden Knights from having representation at the tournament. Five former members of the Golden Knights organization and one current prospect have been named to the 2022 IIHF Winter Olympic Rosters which were fully announced today.

Former Golden Knights Daniel Carr (Canada), Tomas Hyka (Czechia), Nikita Gusev (Russia), Vadim Shipachyov (Russia), and Tomas Jurco (Slovakia) will compete in the Olympics. Additionally, prospect Brendan Brisson will play for Team USA.

The majority of the former Golden Knights players that have been named to Olympic rosters only spent brief stints with the Golden Knights. Combined, the five players have played only 44 games with the Golden Knights, which is almost the amount of games the team has played this season.

Hyka leads the charge as he played 27 games with the Golden Knights from 2017 to 2019. Jurco played eight games with the Golden Knights last season, Carr six games in 2018-19, and Shipachyov infamously played three games in year one. Combined the four players put up four goals, six assists, and ten points.

Nikita Gusev was traded from the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Golden Knights for expansion draft considerations but never played for the team. He was flipped to the New Jersey Devils for a second-round pick (Shai Buium) and a third-round pick (Lukas Cormier).

Brendan Brisson was drafted in the first round of the 2020 NHL Entry Level Draft with the 29th pick. The 20-year old center is tearing it up with the Michigan Wolverines in the NCAA. Brisson has 16 goals, 15 assists, and 31 points in 27 games played. With Michigan, Brisson is playing alongside other top prospects in the NHL such as Owen Power, Kent Johnson, Luke Hughes, and Matty Beniers.

It is a shame that we could not see Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty, Shea Theodore, Alex Pietrangelo, Evgenii Dadonov, Robin Lehner, Jack Eichel, Alec Martinez, and William Karlsson. But the Golden Knights will still have a tad bit of representation at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games which start February 9th in Beijing.