Vegas a juggernaut again, Kreider keeps tipping, and 4 other NHL items

The Golden Knights owned a 13-2-0 record and plus-23 goal differential a year ago Saturday. Fifteen games into the new season, Vegas, now the reigning Stanley Cup champion, is 12-2-1 with a differential of plus-26.

So much for a Cup hangover.

With no games this weekend, the next major item on the team's calendar is an event tying the seasons together - Monday's official visit to the White House. "Let's go look at it, meet some important people, and enjoy the moment," coach Bruce Cassidy told reporters of his message to the group.

Forward Rielly Smith was the club's only notable offseason departure, so Cassidy's lineup card has gone largely unchanged. In theory, this continuity, mixed with a short summer, could have bred complacency in training camp and resulted in a tumultuous start. Instead, it's had the exact opposite effect.

"Sometimes, you benefit from not taking much time off," defenseman Shea Theodore told theScore. "When you play that late into the year, and you only get about a month and a little bit off before you get going again, the systems and the feeling of winning are still fresh in your mind. We've used that, and the little turnover with the roster, to our advantage. We just keep rolling with it."

The Golden Knights aren't leading the NHL in standings points because they have amazing underlying numbers, potent special teams units, or all-world goaltending. No, they've won as much as they have, and convincingly, because of unparalleled skater depth and a bulletproof playing style.

While the players deserve a ton of credit, Cassidy should be in the early-season conversation for the Jack Adams Award. He's managed to drill into his players that the first month of the new season isn't any less important than, say, the Cup final they battled through in June. Repeating as Cup champs is extremely difficult, and Cassidy's squad has banked plenty of points so far.

"We don't want to be one of those teams that's one-and-done, that falls off, and that never finds a way to hit that Cup level of play again," Theodore said. "We've wanted to try and continue to build on our game and prove that last year wasn't a fluke and that we have the team to get the job done again."

With eight goals and 10 assists, William Karlsson is the only Vegas player in the top 20 in league scoring. But what the Golden Knights can stake claim to is having an NHL-high 19 goal-scorers, six of them defensemen - another NHL-high.

"Our system allows us to be a little bit more free with our decision-making," Theodore said of activity from the back end. "Bruce wants us to get up and into the rush and be the fourth man. He wants us to keep pucks alive along the walls in the offensive zone when teams are trying to break out. It's not so structured in that sense. It's fun. He wants your hockey IQ to come out."

Most impressively, Vegas has accomplished all of this amid injuries. Alex Pietrangelo, Alec Martinez, and Nic Hague have missed five games each, while Zach Whitecloud didn't make his debut until Friday - a 5-0 blowout over the Sharks and just another day at the office for the defending champs.

Hagel's unexpected 5-year climb

Brandon Hagel made a promise to himself before the 2018-19 WHL season - if he didn't make meaningful progress toward signing an NHL contract by Christmas, he'd enroll in post-secondary school to chase another career.

He was a 20-year-old free agent playing his overage season with Red Deer. The Sabres had drafted Hagel in the sixth round in 2016 but didn't sign him, and other teams had shown limited interest. Discouraged, the wiry kid from little Morinville, Alberta, was trying to be realistic about his pro prospects.

Fast forward a dozen games - not even halfway to Christmas - and Hagel was racking up points, no longer pondering school. "There's going to be a bunch of teams who are going to offer you a contract, but we want to be the first," Stan Bowman, then GM of the Blackhawks, told Hagel after an October game.

"Stan sent over the contract like a day later," Hagel said recently inside the visitor's dressing room in, of all places, Buffalo. "It's crazy how quickly things change," he added, shaking his head at the sequence of events.

Hagel turned pro a few months later, then played 175 games for the Blackhawks and their AHL affiliate over parts of four seasons. A sharpshooter with a tireless motor, his stock was at an all-time high ahead of the 2022 trade deadline. The rebuilding Blackhawks sent him to the two-time Cup champion Lightning in a blockbuster that brought Chicago two first-round picks.

It took a couple of months for Hagel to settle into a lesser role on the contending Lightning, who eventually lost to the Avalanche in the Cup final. He's now a valued member of Tampa Bay's core and has the contract to prove it - an eight-year, $52-million extension that kicks in next season.

"To commit eight years to something, you have to be happy," Hagel said. "I love my teammates. The coaches. I love the city. The atmosphere. Everything."

"He makes plays. He can score goals," Lightning forward Anthony Cirelli said of Hagel, who's followed up last year's 30-goal output with seven in 14 games. "He's good on the forecheck, backcheck. He does it all for us, really."

The star-studded Lightning have been forced to cut loose important supporting players thanks to the flat salary cap. Cup winners Alex Killorn, Ondrej Palat, Ross Colton, Blake Coleman, and Barclay Goodrow are all rivals now. Nick Paul and Hagel are two forwards whom general manager Julien BriseBois chose to retain.

With captain Steven Stamkos on an expiring contract, Hagel's currently the third-highest-paid forward on Tampa's books for next season, behind linemates Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point.

As happy and secure as Hagel feels, he still walks and skates around with a chip on his shoulder. In fact, he may never lose that underdog disposition - it's just who he is - and boy does it suit his quick and relentless playing style.

"What makes me effective is my work ethic," Hagel said. "Hounding pucks, getting pucks back, and getting pucks in my teammates' hands."

"You love to have him on your team," Cirelli said.

Kreider remains Mr. Net-Front

The puck-tipping machine is at it again.

In 13 games, Chris Kreider has scored a team-high nine goals for the Rangers. The 32-year-old leads the NHL in both power-play goals (six) and tipped goals (five). The only player to rack up more shots on net via tip in the early season is the Bruins' James van Riemsdyk, who's executed 11 tips to Kreider's 10.

A master of the craft, Kreider has enviable hand-eye coordination and timing. He has this unique feel for when he should make contact with the puck, screen the goalie, or box out the defender. He controls the net-front area.

Eight of his nine goals have been scored from high-danger areas. The map below illustrates Kreider's obsession - 19 shots in front of the goalie's face.

Overall, Kreider has converted 25.7% of his shots on goal. That's an unsustainable rate over 82 games - though the 6-foot-3, 233-pound winger did bag a career-high 52 goals in 2021-22 off a 20.2 shooting percentage.

A major factor in whether he can maintain anything close to this conversion rate will be the potency of New York's star-studded power play. So far, the Rangers are second in the NHL in both power-play percentage (35.7%) and goals for per 60 power-play minutes (13.65), according to Evolving Hockey.

Since his 2012-13 debut, Kreider ranks first league-wide in tipped goals (80) and tipped shots. Clearly, he identified his biggest strength early on and goes back to the well every game.

Parting shots

Bravo, Backstrom: Forever overshadowed by boisterous sniper Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom never got his due as an NHL star. The Capitals franchise icon, who was placed on LTIR last week and turns 36 on Nov. 23, is at a fork in the road. One path leads to retirement. If this is it, bravo. He's a borderline Hall of Famer, with 1,033 points in 1,105 games. Despite his production tailing off the past few years, he ranks third in assists since breaking into the league in 2007-08. Backstrom's combination of elite vision and passing ability is a massive reason why Ovechkin's chasing the goals record. It'll be a shame if the Swedish center has made his last pass to Ovi.

Bonus updates: Time to check in on the state of a few performance bonuses. First: Connor Brown. The Oilers forward's salary rises from $775,000 (base) to $4 million the next time he logs an NHL shift, according to CapFriendly. (Like all performance bonuses, Brown's $3.225-million bump would roll over to the next season's cap sheet.) Brown, who's failed to record a point for the 2-9-1 Oilers and is currently injured, may end up in the AHL and never collect that hefty bonus. Second: Cam Talbot. The Kings goalie doubled his $1-million base salary Wednesday after appearing in his 10th game of the year. Third: Joe Pavelski. The Stars winger earned $1 million at 10 games played and will be due an additional $1 million at 20 games for a grand total of $5.5 million in 2023-24. The second-oldest player in the league has 12 points in 12 contests.

Sad Sharks: The 2-11-1 Sharks aren't an ordinary last-place team. They're unwatchable, yet their games have become must-watch TV. Their minus-46 goal differential is embarrassing and their 39.2% five-on-five expected goals share is pitiful. They're the least-talented team in the league by a wide margin. Every loss inches them closer to premium draft lottery odds, which is huge for an organization in dire need of difference-makers. At the same time, losing this often, and in such demoralizing fashion (eight losses by three goals or more), has to be a nightmare. What kind of scarring will this season leave?

Takes, Thoughts, and Trends is theScore's biweekly hockey grab bag.

John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email ([email protected]).