(Photo Credit: Ken Boehlke, SinBin.vegas)

Training Camp will officially get underway this week, with on-ice practices set to start on Thursday morning. The Golden Knights enter their 9th season with extremely high expectations once again, which means there’s a lot to see when the team takes the ice for the first time together.

Here are the five things I’ll have my eyes focused on as camp opens up.

Marner and Eichel together?

There are excellent arguments for both sides of the Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner together or separate battle, and it’s going to be one of the biggest storylines of the season all year long, so it’ll be interesting to see which way Bruce Cassidy leans to open camp. Marner stepping onto the top line with Eichel and Ivan Barbashev may offer some of the most continuity to the lineup that was in place when the season ended last year. However, Mark Stone was so good in that spot that it’s hard to believe they’ll go away from it straight away to start this year. As always, nothing is set in stone, and it will obviously change multiple times over the course of the year, but Cassidy has had three months to think about how he wants to use Marner in his lineup, so the first place we see him does offer a window into the head coach’s mind.

Anyone missing?

Last season ended with the Golden Knights being pretty severely banged up. From Mark Stone to Brandon Saad to Pavel Dorofeyev, significant players were in and out of the lineup at the most crucial time. Newcomers Colton Sissons and Jeremy Lauzon both ended the season on the IR as well. Of course, we’re aware that Alex Pietrangelo will not be available at any point this season, but will everyone else start camp fully healthy?

Hutton vs Lauzon

The Golden Knights’ defensive corps will look a lot different this season without Alex Pietrangelo and Nic Hague. It’s pretty much assumed, based on the contract extension and team rhetoric, that Kaedan Korczak will step into one of the available starting roles, but the other one may be up for grabs. Assuming Lauzon is available, he and Hutton will battle for that spot throughout camp and preseason. As they say in the fight game, you have to beat the champ to be the champ. In this case, whoever gets the first nod will be the “champ,” and the other guy will have to prove unequivocally he deserves the spot instead.

Hierarchy of healthy scratches, veteran AHLers, and rookies

There are a lot of guys in the mix for the last few spots on the NHL roster, and with so many moving parts, it’s anyone’s guess who will take them. The first day of camp always gives a nice indication of each guy’s starting point. Is Cole Schwindt still above Raphael Lavoie? Who is the next defenseman behind the initial seven, is it Dylan Coghlan, Jaycob Megna, Christoffer Sedoff, or maybe someone else? Where does Cole Reinhardt fit in amongst Tanner Laczynski and Jonas Rondbjerg? What about the guys who have minimal NHL experience, who has the upper hand between Jakub Demek, Jakub Brabenec, and Matyas Sapovaliv? Are Kai Uchacz or Braeden Bowman close? We won’t get answers to all of these questions on Thursday, but we will get some decent hints.

What’s going to happen with Alex Holtz?

It wasn’t long ago that the Golden Knights traded away Paul Cotter for a forward with a lot more offensive upside in Holtz. He became a mainstay on the roster last year, playing 53 games. Then, he fell out of favor and couldn’t work his way back into the lineup in the playoffs despite injuries to Dorofeyev and Saad. Now, he’s without a contract and isn’t even listed on the Golden Knights’ roster. He has, however, been around the team at many of the player-led “captains’ skates.” Unless he signs a deal before tomorrow night, it’s unlikely he’ll be on the ice with the team as camp opens, but maybe we’ll get some more information before the week is over.