The Vegas Golden Knights have made a pair of roster moves ahead of Tuesday night’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks (7 p.m. PT on ESPN+, Hulu) that have reshaped the goalie crease, recalling goaltender Carter Hart from the AHL Henderson Silver Knights and reassigning rookie Carl Lindbom.

Hart signed a two-year, $4 million contract after inking a PTO with Vegas in mid-October.

The Hart signing has been a source of controversy due to his involvement in the Hockey Canada scandal. Hart was one of five players charged with sexual assault related to a 2018 incident. He was found not guilty of those charges in July.

At the time of the signing, the Golden Knights said in a statement that they “remain committed to the core values that have defined our organization from its inception and expect that our players will continue to meet these standards moving forward.”

After the acquittal, the NHL announced suspensions for Hart and the other players after the league determined “that the conduct at issue falls woefully short of the standards and values that the League and its Member Clubs expect and demand.”

As of Monday, Hart has been reinstated after serving the league-imposed suspension, making him eligible to return to NHL action.

He could make his Golden Knights debut Tuesday night against Chicago, as suggested by ESPN’s Kevin Weekes. However, both Hart and head coach Bruce Cassidy declined to confirm whether Hart will be between the pipes as the Golden Knights wrap up a four-game homestand.

Cassidy said he would announce the decision Tuesday morning.

The club has been without starting netminder Adin Hill, who sustained an injury Oct. 20 against Carolina. Hill was placed on injured reserve Nov. 15, and sources have indicated that he could be out for several months.

Akira Schmid and Lindbom have been the tandem in net for Vegas in Hill’s absence. During that time, the Golden Knights have gone 6-6-6, with the two goalies combining for an .876 save percentage.

Schmid and Hart will share crease duties moving forward until Hill’s return.

Over the last two weeks, Hart was on a conditioning loan with Henderson, where he went 1-2-0 with a 3.07 goals-against average and .839 save percentage.

“The purpose of Henderson was to get him back into live reps,” Cassidy said. “Traffic around the net, screens, all that stuff is sometimes hard to replicate. … We’re less worried about the results, more about getting reps, getting used to that stuff.”

Hart has not played an NHL game since Jan. 20, 2024, nearly two years ago.

But Hart said he feels good.

“It was nice to go down to Henderson, get some game action,” he said. “I’ve just been practicing for a year and a half, so it’s nice to get into a real game. There are different scenarios that you can’t replicate in practice. … It was nice just to play.”

Cassidy expects there to be rust in Hart’s game, but he said that Hart will get the necessary playing time to work through it.

“Akira’s played well too, so we have to be mindful that he has to stay sharp. I’m sure you’ll see a lot of both goalies, but Carter’s waited a long time to play, so he’s definitely going to get his fair share of starts.”

However, Cassidy did not divulge any specifics regarding the team’s plan for the goalie rotation.

“Let’s get [Hart] in there, get him working, see how he recovers from an NHL game and go from there,” Cassidy said.

Hart is 96-93-29 with a 2.94 goals-against average, .906 save percentage and six shutouts in 227 career NHL games, all with Philadelphia. He was drafted by the Flyers in the second round (No. 48 overall) of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.

With Hart now eligible to officially join the team, the Golden Knights reassigned Lindbom to Henderson.

The 22-year-old native of Stockholm played seven games for the Golden Knights. He picked up his first career NHL win on Saturday with a 4-3 victory against the San Jose Sharks.

In total, Lindbom went 1-4-2 with Vegas, recording a 3.14 goals-against average and .870 save percentage. However, his record does not reflect the quality of his starts, as he gave the Golden Knights a chance to win in most games.

The Golden Knights scored just 11 total goals in his first six starts, giving him extremely limited goal support. Aside from one rough outing in which he yielded five goals, Lindbom never gave up more than three.

He made his first start Oct. 26 in Tampa Bay. It was an especially impressive debut for Lindbom, who held the Lightning to just one goal in regulation. Nikita Kucherov scored the game-winner less than a minute into overtime, but the goal came on a 2-on-1 opportunity set up by a careless Vegas turnover, leaving Lindbom no chance.

In his second start, Lindbom kept Colorado to one goal in each of the first two periods. It was a one-goal game for the majority of the third period before Cale Makar iced the win at 18:22 with an empty-net goal.

Lindbom gave up five goals in his second matchup against the Lightning but bounced back when the Golden Knights went head-to-head against Florida and Minnesota.

Similarly to the Colordao game, Lindbom held the Panthers to two goals through 40 minutes, and it was a one-goal game for the majority of the final frame. However, Vegas was unable to net the equalizer, losing 3-2.

Lindbom helped the Golden Knights reach overtime in Minnesota and was 10 seconds away from a shootout when Kirill Kaprizov scored on the power play for the 3-2 OT finish.

He was in net against Utah for Logan Cooley’s four-goal outburst. Once again, Lindbom held the opponent to two goals through the first 40 minutes. The game ultimately shifted after a Jack Eichel turnover led to a breakaway goal in the third period, and Utah added two empty-net goals later in the frame.

Lindbom was drafted by the Golden Knights in the seventh round (No. 222 overall) of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. He went 18-15-2 with a 2.65 goals-against average, .912 save percentage and three shutouts in 2024-25 with Henderson, and he has a 1.00 goals-against average, .958 save percentage and one shutout in two games with the Silver Knights this year.

The Golden Knights also recalled defenseman Jaycob Megna from Henderson, with Jeremy Lauzon unlikely to make the trip when Vegas hits the road following Tuesday’s tilt against the Blackhawks. Hill, Lauzon and William Karlsson all remain on injured reserve.

The Golden Knights (11-6-8) went 2-1-0 against Chicago (11-9-5) last season and are 15-3-3 in the all-time matchup.

Projected lineups

The Golden Knights’ lines in Monday’s practice were as follows:

Golden Knights
Ivan Barbashev — Jack Eichel — Braeden Bowman
Mitch Marner — Brett Howden — Mark Stone
Reilly Smith/Brandon Saad — Tomas Hertl — Pavel Dorofeyev
Cole Reinhardt — Colton Sissons — Keegan Kolesar

Brayden McNabb — Shea Theodore
Noah Hanifin — Zach Whitecloud
Ben Hutton — Kaedan Korczak

Akira Schmid/Carter Hart

The Blackhawks’ projected lineup (featuring 11 forwards and seven defensemen) is as follows:

Blackhawks
Ryan Greene — Connor Bedard — Andre Burakovsky
Tyler Bertuzzi — Frank Nazar — Teuvo Teravainen
Oliver Moore — Jason Dickinson — Ilya Mikheyev
Ryan Donato — Colton Dach

Alex Vlasiv — Louis Crevier
Wyatt Kaiser — Artyom Levshunov
Matt Grzelcyk — Connor Murphy
Sam Rinzel

Spencer Knight
Arvid Soderblom

How to watch

Game 26: Golden Knights vs. Blackhawks
Where: T-Mobile Arena — Las Vegas, NV
When: 7 p.m. PT
TV: ESPN+, Hulu
Radio: Fox Sports 98.9 FM

Photo credit: Henderson Silver Knights Flickr