The Vegas Golden Knights have a problem. Their offense is alarmingly inconsistent, and it’s easy to see why.

Last season, the Golden Knights had one of the deepest forward groups in the league. They had 11 different players who scored at least 10 goals, and another two who scored at a 10+ goal pace. This season, they can’t buy a depth goal to save their lives. 

So, what changed?

Well, the Golden Knights lost three 30+ point players in Alex Pietrangelo, Nic Roy, and Victor Olofsson. They also lost Tanner Pearson, who scored 12 goals and 27 points in 78 games. 

Of course, they lost those players to get Mitch Marner, who quietly has four goals and 19 points in 15 games. He’s second on the team in points, first in assists, and tied for first in even-strength points. Marner has been as advertised. Night in and night out, he’s worth the price of admission. 

Marner isn’t the problem, nor is his $12 million cap hit. The problem the Golden Knights are facing is that the depth players they allocated money to aren’t producing. 

Golden Knights need more from their depth players

The players at the top of the Golden Knights’ lineup are scoring at– or above– the expected rate. Jack Eichel leads the team with 22 points. He’s followed by Mitch Marner with 19 points and Ivan Barbashev with 16. Mark Stone, who hasn’t played in nine games, is next with 13 points in six games. Pavel Dorofeyev has 10 goals in 15 games, and Tomáš Hertl has 12 points.

After that, the production drops off.

Keegan Kolesar enjoyed a career year last season, setting highs in goals (12), assists (18), and points (30). This year, he has just two assists through the first 15 games. Reilly Smith, who typically flirts with 20+ goals, has just one goal and one assist through 15 games. And despite getting looks with the top line and averaging 14:11 a night, Brandon Saad has just two assists in 15 games.

Reilly Smith and Brandon Saad signed identical $2 million extensions over the summer. Brett Howden and Keegan Kolesar make $2.5 million each. The Nashville Predators retained part of Colton Sissons’ salary, but the Golden Knights are still paying him $1.43 million. 

The five players, worth a total of $10.43 million, have combined for four goals— three belong to Brett Howden, and the other was Reilly Smith’s empty-net gift— and six assists across 69 total games played. If you subtract Howden, his three goals, and 11 games played, the remaining four players have combined for just one goal and four assists in 58 games. 

Simply put, the Golden Knights need more. 

“We aren’t playing our game,” said Keegan Kolesar after practice on Wednesday. “Because if we were playing our game to our full ability, the offense would be coming. For us, we just have to find a way to replicate what we did in the last period of the last two games.”

Cassidy’s comments about scoring struggles

Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy commented on the lack of depth scoring after Monday’s loss to the Florida Panthers.

“In these one-goal games, you need [scoring] from somebody,” said Cassidy. “If you look up and down our lineup, the guys we expected to score— Hertl, Jack, Pav, Barbie’s off to a nice start, Stoney was until he got injured— [are scoring]. The other guys, it’s been 15 games now. We need a little more from them, especially when guys go out. 

“If you’re a full lineup, sometimes you can have these stretches and get away with it,” Cassidy continued. “Right now, with guys out, we need a little more from certain areas. I don’t know if I’m concerned, but we could use [depth scoring] to garner a few more points here or there. And I think they would tell you the same thing. 

“It’s not like guys don’t want to score. Smitty, the puck’s following him, and he’s had a lot of good looks; they haven’t gone in. I think Saad’s had his moments, he’s had a couple of really nice games where the puck has found him… Koly, Sissons, not as much offense. Hopefully, they can get going a little bit here while those other guys are out and turn these one-goal games in our favor. 

“They’ve scored in this league. They have to stick with it, that’s part of it, and not get down on themselves. But there’s also the evaluation, ‘Why am I not scoring? Am I not getting inside enough, am I not around the puck enough, am I not possessing it in the O zone?’ And that’s where the coaching staff and myself come in. We have to help put those guys in those positions,” Cassidy finished.