The Vegas Golden Knights received a few injury updates at Tuesday morning’s practice, each captured by Jesse Granger of The Athletic. Most notably, head coach Bruce Cassidy shared that right-winger Cole Schwindt will be out week-to-week with a lower-body injury. Schwindt was injured in the second period of Vegas’ Saturday matchup against Chicago. He struggled to place weight on his left leg after an awkward tie-up with Blackhawks defender Seth Jones sent him awkwardly into the boards. Schwindt was listed as out for Vegas’ proceeding Monday match against St. Louis, and could now miss the short future.
The Golden Knights claimed Schwindt off of waivers from the Calgary Flames before the start of the season. He’s since served as the team’s extra forward, routinely rotating into a role on the Vegas fourth-line. That’s certainly an achievement for Schwindt, who has spent the last four seasons in the minor leagues. He earned seven NHL games through that stretch – but, aside from one minor penalty, never appeared on the scoresheet. That’s changed slightly with his more confident role in Vegas, though Schwindt has only recorded seven assists and is still searching for his first NHL goal through 38 games this season. Schwindt has received roughly nine minutes of ice time each game, on average, which should make his hole in the lineup seamless to replace for the short-term.
Vegas may also need to replace bottom-six centerman Brett Howden in their next game, as he’s listed as questionable with an illness. Howden is averaging more minutes, and scoring more points, than he has ever before – with 22 points in 47 games and just over 15 minutes of ice time each game. He’s one point shy of tying his career high of 23 points – which he recorded in 66 games with the New York Rangers during his rookie 2018-19 campaign. Howden has been largely a role player ever since, routinely posting a faceoff percentage around 48 percent and scoring below 20 points. He’s breaking out of that shell this season and could be the beneficiary of more minutes in Schwindt’s absence. That is, once Howden is back to full health.