(Photo Credit: @NHL on X/Twitter)

A lot has happened in Rasmus Andersson’s first two games in a Golden Knights jersey, and even with a goal and an assist, it hasn’t really been about him. Friday night in Toronto was obviously all about Mitch Marner, and Sunday in Ottawa, the Golden Knights were on the wrong side of a beatdown.

He’s played a little more than 40 minutes so far, and yet there hasn’t really been a chance to see his impact on the roster.

As he gets more and more games under his belt and settles into the Vegas system, his strengths should start to shine through a lot more. Bruce Cassidy believes the natural parts of his game will complement this Golden Knights team nicely.

What Andersson brings with his skill set is an attack mentality with the puck, and we need a little bit more of that. He’s a good first pass guy, has a lot of composure, got a little swagger to him. -Cassidy

There’s one particular area of the game in which Cassidy believes Andersson’s impact will be immense.

The way he plays the game can really add to our transition game, and that was lacking a little bit. -Cassidy

The breakdown of how often the puck is in each zone during Golden Knights games illustrates this well.

Offensive Zone: 40.4% (11th)
Neutral Zone: 19.4% (1st)
Defensive Zone: 40.2% (19th)

The puck spends a lot of time in the middle of the ice during VGK games, which is a good indicator that there’s not a lot of speed in transition. One of the best parts of Andersson’s game is that he’s proficient not only in skating the puck from the defensive to the offensive zone, but he’s also excellent at hitting stretch passes that eliminate time in the neutral zone completely.

When you take out Pietrangelo, we were looking at replacing some of that with Whitecloud and Korczak, and then Theodore, Lauzon, and Hanifin get hurt, so you are chasing, and now McNabb’s out. Adding another veteran guy when you’ve missed some is probably more important than anything. -Cassidy

For Andersson, he’s just excited to be on a team that’s actually playing for something, and you could see it in his willingness to keep pressing even while the Golden Knights were down 7-0.

I can’t say enough good things about the Calgary organization, but it was time for them and it was time for me to try something different. You look at this lineup, and this is a real contender, and that’s what I wanted to go to. I think Vegas is one of the strongest teams in the league. -Andersson

Tonight’s game in Montreal is a great opportunity for Andersson to really begin to impact the game at 5-on-5. The Canadiens play a high-paced game with the puck in the neutral zone at one of the lowest rates in the league. Quick strike offense is key to capitalizing against the Habs, and Andersson could be the perfect piece to unlock that in the Vegas offense.