The hit occurred midway through the third period of Tuesday's season opener and Howden received a match penalty on the play. Tanev did not return to the game due to what the Kraken are calling an upper-body injury. Prior to his ejection, Howden had played 11:57 and collected an assist while skating alongside Mark Stone and Chandler Stephenson. Mike Amadio and Paul Cotter are the most likely candidates to be prompoted to Vegas' second line in Howden's absence.

Hill was awarded a two-year, $9.8 million contract extension by Vegas in the offseason and will take the crease in their opening matchup of the 2023-24 campaign. The 27-year-old was 16-7-1 with a .915 SV% and a 2.50 GAA in 27 games played in 2022-23 before leading the Golden Knights to a Stanley Cup. He draws the tough task of the Seattle Kraken who were fourth in the NHL in GF in 2022-23 (289) and 20th in SOG/GP (30.5).

Whitecloud was hurt after receiving a hit from Colorado's Kurtis MacDermid in Vegas' preseason game vs. the Avalanche and is considered week-to-week after undergoing successful surgery on an area on the upper body. The 26-year-old was expected to be a big part of Vegas' defensive unit this season after collecting five goals, seven assists, 41 PIMs, and a +10 plus/minus through 59 games in 2022-23.

Dorofeyev had seven goals, two assists, 40 SOG, six PIMs and a +5 plus/minus through 18 games with Vegas in 2022-23 and has signed a one-year, $825,000 contract extension. The 22-year-old left-winger made his NHL debut in 2021-22 but had a short two game showing where he failed to pick up any points. He is expected to make a full-time impact in 2023-24 as part of Vegas' bottom-six and is giving value to the Golden Knights after being drafted in the 3rd round of the 2019 NHL Draft (79th overall).

Howden had six goals, seven assists, 53 SOG, 55 PIMs and a +5 plus/minus through 54 games with Vegas in 2022-23 and has signed a two-year, $3.8 million extension ($1,900,000 AAV). The 25-year-old centre was a 2017 first-round pick (27th overall) and has 31 goals, 82 points and 120 PIMs through 279 career NHL games across five seasons.

Lavoie had 25 goals, 20 assists, 47 PIMs and a +10 plus/minus through 61 games played with Bakersfield (AHL) in 2022-23 and has signed a one-year, two-way contract extension worth $874,125. The 22-year-old right-wing was Edmonton's 2019 second-round Draft Pick (38th overall) and has yet to make his NHL debut.

Coghlan appeared in just 17 games for the Hurricanes last season, picking up three assists, 29 SOG and 11 hits. The 25-year-old will likely fill a similar role as the Hurricanes' No.7 defenseman in 2024 and will only see playing time when a member of the core blueline gets hurt.

Hill led Vegas to it's first ever Stanley Cup with an impressive 11-4-0 record in the playoffs to go along with a 2.17 GAA and .932 SV% and has earned himself a two-year, $8.8 Million ($4.9 million AAV) contract extension. The 27-year-old netminder enjoyed a strong but brief regular season in 2022-23 with the Golden Knights, posting a 16-7-1 record, 2.50 GAA and .915 SV% in his first season with Vegas.

Barbashev had 16 goals, 29 assists, 126 SOG, 42 PIMs and a +1 plus/minus through 82 games in 2022-23 with Vegas and St. Louis and has signed Ivan Barbashev to a five-year, $25 Million contract extension ($5,000,000 AAV). The 27-year-old centre has collected 84 goals, 194 point and 134 PIMs through 433 NHL games played.

Smith had 26 goals, 30 assists, 180 SOG, 16 PIMs and a +11 plus/minus through 78 games before helping to lead the Vegas Golden Knights to a Stanley Cup Victory and has been traded Wednesday for a 3rd round draft pick. The 32-year-old was an inaugural member of the Golden Knights after being selected in the expansion draft in 2017. The veteran right-winger joins the Penguins with 200 career NHL goals, 273 assists and a +124 plus/minus through 764 games played.

Davies had 11 goals, 12 assists, 90 PIMs and a +4 plus/minus through 66 games with Rochester (AHL) in 2022-23 and has signed a one-year, two-way contract through the 2023-24 season. The 26-year-old defenseman has appeared in 23 NHL games picking up three assists since being drafted in the seventh round (192 overall) by the New Jersey Devils in 2016.

Lindbom was a seventh round pick in 2021 and signs his entry-level deal after going 25-11-0 with a 1.86 GAA and .929 SV% in 36 games with Djurgardens IF of Sweden's second division. He started for Sweden at the 2023 World Juniors, where he posted a 2.64 GAA and .914 SV%.

Hill surrendered three goals on 23 shots in the Golden Knights overtime loss in Florida in Game 3. In the series, he has stopped 82 of the 89 shots (.921 SV%) that he's faced. Overall, he's gone 9-4-0 with a 2.12 GAA, .934 SV% and two shutouts in 14 games this postseason.

Hill stopped 29 of 31 shots (.935 SV%) for his third-straight victory as Vegas took a stranglehold on their Stanley Cup Final lead with a 7-2 victory in Game 2 over the Golden Knights his last time between the pipes. The 27-year-old has been sensational since being called upon in the second round of the playoffs, posting a 9-3-0 record, 2.06 GAA and .937 SV%. He will hope to take a commanding 3-0 series lead after Game 3 vs. Florida on Thursday, who led the regular season in shots per game (36.8).

Hill stopped 29 of 31 shots (.935 SV%) for his third-straight victory as Vegas took a stranglehold on their Stanley Cup Final lead with a 7-2 victory in Game 2 over the Golden Knights his last time between the pipes. The 27-year-old has been sensational since being called upon in the second round of the playoffs, posting a 9-3-0 record, 2.06 GAA and .937 SV%. He will hope to take a commanding 3-0 series lead after Game 3 vs. Florida on Thursday, who led the regular season in shots per game (36.8).