Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Big, bad Brayden McNabb: Golden Knights’ remaining original defenseman contributes by sticking to his game

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Steve Marcus

Peter DiLiberatore, left, and Brayden McNabb (3) skate during Vegas Golden Knights Training Camp at City National Arena in Henderson Friday, Sept. 24, 2021.

Brayden McNabb brings a throwback style to the Golden Knights’ blue line.

Defensemen are trending faster and more offensive-minded in the modern-day NHL, but the 31-year-old McNabb has remained a steadying force by playing hockey the only way he knows how. The 6-foot-4, 214-pound veteran is a tree-stump of a defenseman who’s constantly looking to sacrifice his body by blocking shots and laying hits.

“I pride myself on being good defensively, and I think I’ve done that,” McNabb says. “I always like to be physical, and when I can, I’m going to do that.”

McNabb is quietly putting together one of his best seasons with the Golden Knights this year. He’s not a flashy offensive force, having tallied just two goals and nine points halfway through the season—though those marks are notably on pace to challenge his career-bests in Vegas—but his defensive numbers have been tremendous.

McNabb has bounced between first and second in the NHL in blocked shots over the past month, taking up a mantle owned by teammate Alec Martinez last season. McNabb has been, by far, the Golden Knights’ most-used player in both penalty-killing time and 5-on-6 ice time, meaning coach Pete DeBoer consistently turns to him when the opposition has more players on the ice.

“Those are the little things that maybe don’t get noticed by the normal eye that we see day-in and day-out that, especially come playoff time, help you win hockey games,” fellow defenseman Alex Pietrangelo says. “It’s not easy to do what he does. He plays hard minutes; he plays the game hard. It’s a real treat to have a guy like that on your team, and a guy that loves doing it.”

McNabb looks like a defenseman from another age. A lot of the league’s top blue liners—think Colorado’s Cale Makar or the New York Rangers’ Adam Fox—are increasingly more slender and being asked to concentrate their games just as much in the offensive zone. Even Vegas’ own Shea Theodore fits that description to a degree.

Yet McNabb is perfectly content skating around the defensive zone on patrol, waiting to strike with bone-crushing hits.

The hits are what he’s known for, going back to his time as a mainstay for the Los Angeles Kings early in his NHL career. McNabb has always counted the classic hip check in his arsenal, though former VGK coach Gerard Gallant once hilariously remarked that it was “more of an ass check.”

McNabb been using that move liberally this season, sometimes in memorable fashion on players such as Seattle’s Brandon Tanev, Vancouver’s Vasily Podkolzin and LA’s Arthur Kaliyev. McNabb says there’s a practical reason for him to keep the dying art of the hip check alive.

“Guys will know it’s part of my game and might end up dumping a few more pucks in than trying to create plays,” McNabb says. “I’ve been doing that play for a long time now, and I’ve had lots of practice with it, so I’m pretty confident with that hit.”

Though Marc-André Fleury and the Knights’ Misfit Line (William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith) are typically brought up as foundation-setters for Las Vegas’ NHL franchise, McNabb’s name probably deserves to be mentioned more among that group. He’s one of just five players who appeared in Vegas’ inaugural game in 2017 still with the team.

His future, on the other hand, remains somewhat murky.

McNabb has been the subject of trade rumors, since the Golden Knights must clear cap space before star forward Jack Eichel, whom they acquired from Buffalo earlier this season, returns from neck surgery. Even if McNabb lasts the season, his current contract is set to expire this summer.

McNabb, who would become an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career, says there have been no contract talks with the Golden Knights yet.

“I’d love to be here and love to be a Knight forever,” McNabb says. “But we all know it’s a business and things happen, so we’ll see how it plays out.”

A part of the Golden Knights’ leadership group, McNabb is one of the most respected players in the locker room. Not only is he durable and reliable, but he’s also flexible, having played all over the lineup this year. He has spent time on the top pair with Pietrangelo, been assigned to shut down opponents’ best lines and also helped mentor young defensemen like Dylan Coghlan on the third line.

McNabb might not have the offensive moves of some of his peers, and you won’t find No. 3 jerseys overflowing in the T-Mobile Arena stands, but he has set the tone for the Golden Knights’ defense for five straight seasons.

“He does it all on the defensive side of pucks,” forward Chandler Stephenson says. “He’s always been that guy.

This story appeared in Las Vegas Weekly.