3 Players That Impressed in Golden Knights Final Prospect Game

The Vegas Golden Knights finished their 2022 Rookie Faceoff tournament Monday in San Jose with a 4-3 loss against the Anaheim Ducks. They finish the tournament with a 1-1-1 record. A total of 28 prospects played in the tournament against prospects from the Arizona Coyotes, Los Angeles Kings, and Ducks.

Lynden McCallum, Jakub Brabanec, and Ben Hemmerling all scored goals for the VGK on Monday. There were a total of twelve penalties in the game. Both Jesper Vikman and Isaiah Saville played in goal for the VGK, with the switch coming right around the halfway point of the game.

Some of these prospects will go on to participate in Golden Knights training camp, which starts on Wednesday at City National Arena. An official roster has not been announced, but we can project that guys like Brendan Brisson, Kaedan Korczak, and Ivan Morozov will attend.

okay Ben Hemmerling, do it to ‘em 🚨 pic.twitter.com/g5ktClrPrS

— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) September 19, 2022

Three Standouts

Lukas Cormier

Lukas Cormier had a strange game Monday. He was arguably the Golden Knight’s best defenseman on the ice, but also looked a bit shaky. He was great at being an offensive defenseman and had an assist.

But he frequently fumbled passes and lacked communication with some of his teammates. The skillset is there for back-to-back the QMJHL’s top defenseman, but so are the jitterbugs.

A 2020 third-round pick, Cormier still has some more development left in him before he can get to compete for a roster spot with the Golden Knights.

Ivan Morozov

Golden Knights prospect Ivan Morozov is getting adjusted to North American ice, coming over from the KHL. He was one of just a handful of prospects to play in all three of the team’s prospect games. In these scrimmages, he was perhaps the team’s most consistent forward.

Morozov was relentless on the forecheck, winning puck battles and creating turnovers. He was also stellar in the faceoff dot, winning most of his draws which then set up plays.

The 22-year-old center was drafted in the second round of the 2018 NHL Draft.

Ben Hemmerling

On a line with Matyas Sapovaliv and Jordan Gustafsson, Ben Hemmerling had a solid game. When the Golden Knights weren’t in penalty trouble, Hemmerling was one of the many players who forechecked hard and won puck battles in the offensive zone.

His goal late in the second period showed off his hands as he made a slick play to the net. Hemmerling is a 2022 sixth-round draft pick by the Golden Knights.

Here are the line combinations from Monday afternoon.

Golden Knights Prospect Lines

Connor Ford- Alex Swetlikoff- Daniel D’Amato

Mason Primeau- Zach Dean- Lynden McCallum

Jakub Brabenec- Ivan Morozov- Patrick Guay

Jordan Gustafson- Matyas Sapovaliv- Ben Hemmerling

Daniil Chayka- Lukas Cormier

Artur Cholach- Connor Corcoran

Will Riedell- Joe Fleming

Jesper Vikman/Isaiah Saville

Spares: Brendan Brisson, Carter Souch, Justin Lies, Jace Weir, Layton Ahac, Kaedan Korczak, Jakub Demek, and Marcus Kallionkieli.