How acquired: Selected with the No. 222 pick in the 2021 NHL Draft<\/p>\n
2025-26 season: Vegas (NHL): 8 GP, 2-4-2, 3.00 GAA, .873 SVP; Henderson (AHL): 35 GP, 24-5-5, 2.16 GAA, .926 SVP<\/p>\n
Lindbom was one of the top goalies in the American Hockey League last season, and the 23-year-old could see more NHL time this season.<\/p>\n
“We’re really comfortable that he’s ready to be a good No. 3 goaltender in our organization,” Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon said.<\/p>\n
At 6-1, 186 pounds, Lindbom relies on hockey sense and athleticism.<\/p>\n
“When you’re 6-1, you have to be so precise with your movements,” Nichol said. “You have to read the play so much better than someone who’s 6-5 because the margin for error is so small. So, his hockey sense is through the roof. His ability to read plays is incredible. He’s got great hand-eye coordination. He smothers rebounds. He moves well. Like, he’s got it all.<\/p>\n
“He’s athletic, and he’s a fierce competitor. I wasn’t surprised that he had the big year, and I’m not going to be surprised if he has another big one this year.”<\/p>\n
Projected NHL arrival: 2026-27<\/p>\n
How acquired: Signed as free agent<\/p>\n
2025-26 season: Vegas (NHL): 3 GP, 0-0-0; Henderson (AHL): 68 GP, 20-31-51<\/p>\n
Uchacz is a great story that could get even better.<\/p>\n
Undrafted, he signed an AHL contract with Vegas. In his second professional season, he was an alternate captain for Henderson, produced strong numbers and earned his first taste of the NHL.<\/p>\n
Vegas coach Ryan Craig coached Henderson the past three seasons and knows what the 23-year-old (6-2, 206) can do.<\/p>\n
“He’s a big, strong two-way center,” Nichol said. “He can really shoot the puck. Plays a 200-foot game. He’s tough. If you need someone to police it a little bit and fight, he’s able to do that. But he’s another one. He’s a wonderful kid.”<\/p>\n
Projected NHL arrival: 2026-27<\/p>\n
How acquired: Selected with the No. 48 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft<\/p>\n
2025-26 season: Henderson (AHL): 72 GP, 18-17-35<\/p>\n
Sapovaliv played all but one of Henderson’s games over the past two seasons, and he took a step forward with 19 points (11 goals, eight assists) in 71 games in 2024-25. The 22-year-old (6-4, 204 pounds) also had three assists in four games during the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs.<\/p>\n
“His durability is something that’s really good, especially the way he plays,” Nichol said. “He did get a little dinged up in the playoffs but still played and played well. He was a plus-5 in the four games.<\/p>\n
“He has good offensive ability, and he’s starting to find it. He can shoot the puck. He can make plays. He’s very good net-front on the power play, but he’s so good defensively. He’s such a good penalty killer. He’s a really good 200-foot center.”<\/p>\n
Projected NHL arrival: 2026-27<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"How acquired: Selected with the No. 222 pick in the 2021 NHL Draft 2025-26 season: Vegas (NHL): 8…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":873581,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,85],"class_list":["post-873580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=873580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873580\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/873581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=873580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=873580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=873580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}