Golden Knights Wrap: Fleury Eliminated, Crosby Hurt, Golden Knights Awards

The first round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs are coming to an end. So far, two teams have been eliminated. The Colorado Avalanche ‘wasted eight days’ of the Nashville Predators’ time, and on Thursday night, the Minnesota Wild were eliminated as well.

On Saturday, there will be three game sevens and I, like many other hockey fans around the world, will be glued to the television all day. The festivities start at 1:30 between the Bruins and Hurricanes, then continue at 4:00 pm between the Maple Leafs and Lightning, then close out at 7:00 with Oilers/Kings.

Minnesota: Wild head coach Dean Evason made a bold move Thursday night starting Cam Talbot over former Golden Knights Marc-Andre Fleury in an elimination game. Things did not go as planned, as the St. Louis Blues defeated the Wild 5-1 and took the series in six games.

Colorado: This means the Blues and Avalanche will meet in the second round of the playoffs.

Pittsburgh: Sidney Crosby took a high hit from Jacob Trouba Wednesday night in New York. He missed the remainder of the game and was not on the ice for the Pens’ morning skate Friday. Tristan Jarry was.

Washington: Tom Wilson is making progress, but will still not return to the Washington Capitals for game six as they face elimination from the Florida Panthers.

Vancouver: An update on the Bruce Boudreau situation in Vancouver.

Golden Knights News, NHL Awards, and Offseason Chatter

NHL Awards: The NHL has been slowly revealing the nominees for major awards in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. No Golden Knights have been nominated for any awards (yet).

So far here are the nominees/winners for the major NHL awards.

• Art Ross- (Most Points in Regular Season)- Won by Connor McDavid
• Maurice Richard (Most Goals in Regular Season)- Won by Auston Matthews
• William Jennings (Goalie Tandem with lowest sv%)- Won by Antti Raanta and Frederik Andersen

• Hart Trophy (MVP)- Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid, Igor Shesterkin
• Norris Trophy (Top Defenseman)- Victor Hedman, Roman Josi, Cale Makar
• Vezina Trophy (Top Goalie)- Igor Shesterkin, Juuse Saros, Jacob Markstrom
• Calder Trophy (Top Rookie)- Trevor Zegras, Moritz Seider, Michael Bunting
• Ted Lindsay (Most Outstanding)- Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid, Roman Josi

• Bill Masterton (Dedication to Hockey)- TBA (5/16)
• Frank J. Selke (Top Defensive Forward)- TBA on 5/17
• Lady Byng (Most Gentlemanly Player)- TBA on 5/18
• Jack Adams (Top Coach)- TBA on 5/19
• King Clancy (Humanitarian)- TBA on 5/20
• Jim Gregory (Top GM)- TBA
• Mark Messier (Leadership)- TBA

Truth be told, I can’t make a case for any of these awards for the Golden Knights. Mark Stone hobbled through a season and was not himself, which takes him out of the running for the Selke Trophy.

Jack Eichel is the Golden Knights Masterton Nominee, but he will be beaten out by guys like Carey Price, Kevin Hayes, Brian Boyle, and Ryan Getzlaf.

Vegas: An updated look at the offseason calendar for the Vegas Golden Knights.

Next up in the offseason are the World Championships in Finland where three members of the Golden Knights will play for Team Canada– Nicolas Roy, Zach Whitecloud, and Logan Thompson.

Here’s a goofy story for you this Friday– every Golden Knights emoji explained.

VHN: Miss any story this season, we have you covered with Vegas Hockey Now.

After five seasons, Jonathan Marchessault still leads the Golden Knights in every all-time major statistical category.

Draft Lottery: The Golden Knights will give the Buffalo Sabres the 16th overall pick in the 2022 Draft as a part of the Jack Eichel deal.

President of Hockey Operations, George McPhee, revealed that Eichel played the final weeks of the regular season with a broken finger.

There are a lot of questions that McPhee, Kelly McCrimmon, and Golden Knights management have to answer this offseason. What will they do with Pete DeBoer?

Which players will not return next season for the VGK?