Golden Knights McCrimmon Provides Updates on Hertl, Theodore

The injury bug struck just when the Vegas Golden Knights were starting to get healthy. Last Thursday, William Karlssonreturned to the lineup after two months on Injured Reserve. Then, just three days later, leading goalscorer ​​Tomáš Hertl was boarded by Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Emil Lilleberg and did not return to the game.

After Sunday’s game, head coach Bruce Cassidy spoke to the media and seemed hopeful that the injury Hertl sustained wasn’t serious.

“He’s getting evaluated now, and he’ll be re-evaluated again tomorrow,” said Cassidy. “He was sore when he came off, so we’ll see. Maybe we’ll get good news tomorrow.”

That didn’t last long. On Monday’s edition of the VGK Insider Show, general manager Kelly McCrimmon provided an update on Hertl’s status. 

The Golden Knights are in Minnesota to start a three-game road trip against the Wild on Tuesday. Hertl did not travel with the team, so he’s been ruled out for at least the week. He stayed behind in Vegas and is being tested to determine the severity of his injury.

This update, alongside Elliotte Friedman’s insights from Monday’s 32 Thoughts Podcast, is cause for concern.

“Bruce Cassidy said postgame that they were hoping for good news. I didn’t like what I was hearing on Sunday night,” Friedman said. “Initially, the word wasn’t great; I’m just hoping that’s wrong. As Cassidy said, Hertl’s been playing great lately, and the Golden Knights look really good. That would be a major, major loss… I don’t know what to say here except that I heard they were a little bit concerned about it.”

Shea Theodore, on the other hand, did travel with the team. Theodore was injured in the 4 Nations Face-Off Tournament in February and is expected to return at some point on the road trip.