What Daniil Miromanov’s Season Debut Means For the Golden Knights Defense

The Vegas Golden Knight's defensive structure has been out of whack these last two games without Alex Pietrangelo. As a result, the team recalled Henderson Silver Knight's leading defensive scorer Daniil Miromanov. Based on practice, it looks like Miromanov will make his season debut Saturday night against the Detroit Red Wings.

"I really want to play solid and play really good and establish myself in the D-zone. I want to show the coaching staff that they can have trust in me," said Miromanov.

This transaction means a couple of things for the Golden Knights. 

First, it means that Pietrangelo will likely not play yet again on Saturday. The veteran defenseman has missed the last two games due to personal reasons. Given that the Golden Knights only have one game after Saturday on their current four-game road trip, Pietrangelo might not play until the team's next road trip is finished.

After all, Pietrangelo did not travel with the team in the first place, staying with his family in Las Vegas. The Golden Knight's next home game is on Wednesday, Dec. 7, against the Philadelphia Flyers.

The loss of Pietrangelo is huge for the Golden Knights, who have been lost without him defensively. The team's breakouts have struggled, and there have been little to no offensive efforts by the team's defenseman as well.

Second, this move gives the Golden Knights coaching staff their first look at Miromanov this season. Miromanov missed training camp for the Golden Knights as he was recovering from off-season surgery. New head coach Bruce Cassidy will get his first glimpse of Miromanov Saturday night.

"I'm really excited. Of course, VGK, we've got a really good team this year, man. I'm really excited to play today; I have been waiting, and I'm really happy to be back from my surgery and from my injury that I had in the summer. I'm really looking forward to playing and looking forward to the win," said Miromanov.

When injuries arose, the 25-year-old undrafted defenseman played in 11 games for the VGK last season. But given that the team technically doesn't have any defensive injuries right now, it looks like the VGK have been more impressed with his play.

"Life has always given me chances, and it is my job to use those chances. I'm really looking forward to playing today and am really excited," said Miromanov.

Miromanov has six goals, seven assists, and 13 points in 17 games with the Henderson Silver Knights this season. He is second on the team in scoring, behind only Sheldon Rempal. Look for Miromanov to play on the Golden Knight's second powerplay unit.

The Golden Knight's defense is one of their bright areas in terms of organizational depth. They have a solid six-man unit and a couple of spares in Ben Hutton and Miromanov. Additionally, Kaedan Korczak, Daniil Chayka, and Lukas Cormier are developing.

Lastly, the move to put Miromanov in the lineup means that someone will have to come out of the lineup. Hutton is the most likely candidate, but some recent sloppy defensive play from Nicolas Hague could book him a spot in the press box.