Golden Knights Preview: Alex Pietrangelo Jersey Card

(team and product links go to sponsored Amazon products, player links go to related pages on my blog, news links go to source pages)

This will likely be the preface to all of this year's Season Preview posts: Unlike in the distant past where I would post different texts on this collectibles blog and my personal one, I've been using a new format for the past couple of years, where I'll copy the same text on each one. As a father of two young kids, I just do not have enough time to write two separate posts per day on each blog. This year again, the entire scope of the analysis will take place first and the featured player will have a direct or perhaps indirect connection to what's written, below.

Caveats: At this point, despite training camp being underway, several players haven't found a team yet, (at least) three star players have active trade requests, and a few clubs are currently above the salary cap, which means there is much left to do.

Key Exits: Pavel Dorofeyev (RW), Reilly Smith (RW), Brandon Saad (LW), Colton Sissons (C), Kaedan Korczak (D), Keegan Kolesar (RW), Cole Smith (RW), Akira Schmidt (G), Ben Hutton (D)

Key Arrivals: Parker Wotherspoon (D), Victor Olofsson (LW), Marc Gatcomb (C), Ville Heinola (D), Adam Ginning (D)

Top prospects: Trevor Connelly (LW, 20), Juho Püparinen (D, 18), Carl Lindbom (G, 23), Lukas Cormier (D, 24), Mathieu Cataford (C, 21), Jakob Ihs-Wozniak (C, 19), Braeden Bowman (RW, 23)

No team other than the Vegas Golden Knights can lose two "brand-name" right-wingers and two more depth right-wingers withouut replacing them, with no young prospect due to take their place, and still be expected to finish at or near the top of their division - not because they're so strong at other positions (although they kind of are), but because the Pacific division might be the only one in hockey without an actual elite team to throne over it (or fight for the Presidents' Trophy).

What makes their odds look good:
Jack Eichel has become a 90-point elite two-way forward, Mark Stone can still complement him well for 60 games per season, Mitch Marner also fits that mold with even better playmaking skills, William Karlsson is back on track down the middle, and the top-four on defense is very strong. Plus, they have two capable goalies, and should they falter, GM Kelly McCrimmon will move swiftly to fix the issue.

Question marks:
What does Ryan Craig look like as an NHL head coach (and does it matter, see previous comment about the GM)? Who moves to the long-term injury list (LTIR) this year? What brand new shiny toy becomes available at the trade deadline and what package will the Golden Knights offer to get it?

Outlook:
Never count them out - they have been in the league for ten seasons and only missed the playoffs once, to say nothing of their three Stanley Cup Finals.

Prediction:
1st in the Pacific Division.

Speaking of LTIR, Alex Pietrangelo is not expected to ever play again, but the Golden Knights will have to decide whether they need him to be on LTRI before submitting their opening night roster, or go into the season with him on the cap and then put him on LTIR, which offers a little bit more flexibility.

Pietrangelo is a three-time All-Star Game participant, a three-time Second All-Star, a two-time Stanley Cup champion (2019 as captain of the St. Louis Blues, 2023 with Vegas), played in over 1,000 NHL games, and won World Juniors (2009), World Championships (2016) and Olympic (2014) gold with Team Canada. That is a padded resume (but probably not enough for a Hall of Fame nod).

Here he is playing in the 2024 Winter Classic:

It features a jersey swatch of the same off-white/beige as the one in the picture, but as Upper Deck is wont to do, they had to make the language on the card way too vague:

I mean, sure, the Winter Classic is an event, but it's also a regular-season game, so was it used in the game or not? And if not, was it in a practice, or modeling the jerseys during press interviews the day before? In any event, it's card #WCF-6 frokm UD's 2024-25 SP Game-Used Edition set and Winter Classic Fabrics sub-set.