Knights players escape awards attention while team succeeds

The announcement came from the NHL for the fourth straight week with nary a mention of the Golden Knights.

The league’s best team, the one on a seven-game winning streak with an 11-2 record, was shut out of the “Three Stars” of the week awards for the fourth consecutive time. The Knights’ players are 0-for-12 so far this season, or 0-for-15 considering they weren’t one of the NHL’s “Three Stars” of the month for October, either.

The Knights, though they have several standout talents, aren’t built to be carried by one or two players. They’re winning this year the way they’ve often done in their history — through depth.

The Knights’ relative health compared to a year ago — they’ve made only three non-healthy scratches through 13 games — has made that easier. It’s allowed them to roll lines, exploit matchups and rely on different players to win each night during their incredible start.

“Every game, there’s different guys that show up,” center Nicolas Roy said. “That’s what good teams do.”

There are 60 NHL players who have more than 10 appearances and are scoring at a point-per-game clip or better.

The Knights have only one of them.

Center Jack Eichel is tied for 25th in the league in scoring with five goals and nine assists in 13 games. His contributions — which include two game-winning plays in overtime against Winnipeg and Washington — have been impressive. But he isn’t carrying the team on his own.

A sign of the Knights’ depth is that they have six players jockeying to be their second-leading scorer. Center William Karlsson, right wings Jonathan Marchessault and Mark Stone, left wings Reilly Smith and Chandler Stephenson and defenseman Alex Pietrangelo all have 10 points. Defenseman Shea Theodore is right behind that group with nine.

The Knights are the only team in the NHL that has eight players with nine or more points. They’re one of four with nine skaters who have scored seven or more.

Their fourth line is playing important minutes. Their third defensive pair has the best fifth and sixth defensemen in the NHL in Nic Hague and Zach Whitecloud, according to Ottawa coach D.J. Smith.

Everyone on the team is playing a role in the wins.

“That, for a coach, is a real good feeling,” coach Bruce Cassidy said.

The Knights’ style has them atop the NHL standings even if it hasn’t resulted in awards attention yet.

That may come anyway.

The race for the Presidents’ Trophy and Stanley Cup come first, but Cassidy already has put his name in the mix for the Jack Adams Award (coach of the year) with the way the Knights have rebounded under his watch after missing the playoffs last season. Ironically, the man he replaced in Dallas’ Pete DeBoer and Cassidy’s replacement in Boston in Jim Montgomery are deserving of consideration so far as well.

Goaltender Logan Thompson will likely get Calder Trophy (rookie of the year) attention if he keeps up his strong play. The 25-year-old ranks sixth in goals-against average (2.01) and eighth in save percentage (.934).

There’s still a long ways to go before any hardware is handed out, however. The Knights, for now, can enjoy that individuals are flying under the radar while the collective succeeds. They don’t seem to mind.

“This group here, we are excited to go to the rink and spend the days with each other,” Smith said. “We’re having a lot of fun right now.”

Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.