The best Canucks (save Brock Boeser) were nowhere near Rogers Arena on Sunday afternoon. Regardless, the expansion Golden Knights' 9-4 victory, in their first exhibition game ever, was ripe with real promise.
Here's a look at how some of the franchise's more exciting prospects performed:
Cody Glass
After starring in last week's rookie games against the Kings, Glass acquitted himself well a level higher against an AHL-quality roster. It'll be exciting to see how the 18-year-old performs against "A-teams" later this exhibition season, as this afternoon was a continuous, salivating display of playmaking.
Nick Suzuki
While Glass has received more attention so far, fellow lottery pick Suzuki has also stood out with solid play after play. His patience with the puck runs Griffen Molino ragged and turns into an Alex Tuch goal. Controlling the half wall like this against elevated competition is an intriguing sign for the also 18-year-old.
Nick Suzuki with the nice moves after the Juolevi turnover - @GoldenKnights up 8-3#Canucks pic.twitter.com/sDE0MzdaS4
— Ryan Biech (@ryanbiech) September 17, 2017
Tyler Wong
Drawing early raves from George McPhee, Wong did not disappoint with a hat trick and an assist. He was definitely around the action and showed off some good hands. It should be noted, however, that this gorgeous feed to Stefan Matteau benefited from a Jordan Subban tip.
Alex Tuch
What's not to like about Tuch?
The 6'5" winger is big, fast, mean, and has some scoring touch. However, questions about his offensive upside seem legitimate. This is just one shift in a preseason game, but it seems par for course for Tuch, displaying his better and lesser qualities:
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A number of Golden Knights showed well this afternoon. Granted, the Canucks didn't actually put up much of a challenge:
Good defense pic.twitter.com/0edu5UFWFW
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) September 17, 2017
Brendan Leipsic moved the puck fluently. Tomas Hyka did a good job of finding the soft spots, leading the team (along with Wong) in Grade-A scoring chances.
Vegas's next action is on Tuesday at Colorado. Then we'll see how some of the younger Golden Knights prospects fare against NHL-like competition on Thursday in San Jose.
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