Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

Welcome home: Golden Knights getting used to lining up against former Vegas teammates

Ryan Carpenter

John Locher / Associated Press

Chicago Blackhawks center Ryan Carpenter (22) plays against the Vegas Golden Knights during a game Nov. 13, 2019, in Las Vegas.

Chicago Blackhawks forward Ryan Carpenter sat on the bench and got lost in the sights and sounds of T-Mobile Arena before a November 13 game against the Vegas Golden Knights. That is, until goalie Marc-André Fleury popped up on the opposing bench and started chirping at him.

That was a new one for Carpenter, who spent the past two seasons coming out of the same home-team tunnel as Fleury. Carpenter, making his first trip to Vegas as a visitor, spent the hours before and after the game thinking back on his time here.

During the Golden Knights’ inaugural season two years ago, everyone on the team came from somewhere else. In year three, former Golden Knights are scattered throughout the league. Welcoming back ex-teammates during the regular season is a new phenomenon for Vegas’ current players.

“It feels kind of weird because we are all pretty tight together after that first year,” forward William Carrier says. “The ‘Misfits,’ I think that’s going to stick for a while. We had such a good year, and team bonding was really tight.”

Sixteen of the 35 players who suited up for the Golden Knights during the storied 2017-18 season are already gone from the organization. Of those, nine have played a game against the Golden Knights, and Erik Haula and Colin Miller could join that list later this season as members of the Carolina Hurricanes and Buffalo Sabres, respectively.

The NHL has large roster turnover every year, of course, and the Golden Knights weren’t going to keep their inaugural squad together forever. But the players say there’s an extra bond from the group that current Edmonton Oilers winger James Neal dubbed “the Golden Misfits.”

“Those first-year guys will always be remembered, especially in the community and by everyone because of the run we made and everything that happened there in that first year,” says forward Alex Tuch, who dined with Carpenter during the latter’s return. “It’s pretty cool to see all those guys come back. It was always sad to see them go, and when they come back, it’s like a final goodbye.”

The organization has treated its former players well. Carpenter and Colorado Avalanche center Pierre-Édouard Bellemare received video tributes on T-Mobile’s big screen, leading to the logical conclusion that Haula and Miller, both of whom were traded this past summer, could get the same treatment when they come back to town.

Everyone expects a standout like Fleury to get an ovation when he returns to Pittsburgh, given that he was a big part of three Stanley Cup runs for the team, but such acknowledgments are rarer for role players. Carpenter said he wasn’t expecting anything for his first game back in Las Vegas and came away touched by the warm reception.

“It’s nice to see your ex-teammates acknowledged,” defenseman Jon Merrill says. “I think every guy hopes they get one of those when they go back to a team they played for. It’s a classy organization; they do things the right way.”

Current players uniformly praised the Carpenter and Bellemare videos. Jonathan Marchessault, who has been with four teams in his career including the Florida Panthers, sounded confident in saying Vegas treats former players better than most other franchises.

“It just shows how much class our organization has to give them a video tribute,” he says. “I’m thinking of when Reilly [Smith and former Panthers coach and current Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant] went back in Florida, and they didn’t even get much. It was whatever, but something I’m really proud of is that we have a lot of class.”

The Golden Knights will have a large free agent class this offseason, including original Golden Knights Deryk Engelland, Cody Eakin, Tomas Nosek and Merrill, along with fan favorite Ryan Reaves and two-year regular Nick Holden.

Trade possibilities always loom throughout the year and into the offseason, too. There’s no guarantee any of those players will leave Vegas, but if they do, there’s a good chance they’ll be on celebrated upon their return.

Former Golden Knights on current NHL rosters

• Pierre-Édouard Bellemare, Colorado Avalanche

• Ryan Carpenter, Chicago Blackhawks

• Daniel Carr, Nashville Predators

• Jason Garrison, Edmonton Oilers

• Erik Haula, Carolina Hurricanes

• Brad Hunt, Minnesota Wild

• Brendan Leipsic, Washington Capitals

• Colin Miller, Buffalo Sabres

• James Neal, Edmonton Oilers

• David Perron, St. Louis Blues

• Luca Sbisa, Winnipeg Jets

• Tomas Tatar, Montreal Canadiens

Note: Erik Brannstrom (Ottawa Senators), Nikita Gusev (New Jersey Devils) and Nick Suzuki (Montreal Canadiens) are former VGK prospects who never played an game for the Golden Knights but have reached the NHL.

This story appeared in Las Vegas Weekly.

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