Golden Knights’ Hertl says Dorofeyev has ‘huge future’

Vegas Golden Knights forward Tomáš Hertl returned to the center position in the team’s 4-1 victory against the Minnesota Wild at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday.

Hertl scored his 12^th goal of the season against the Wild and also had an assist.

He played alongside Victor Olofsson and Pavel Dorofeyev, and the line had a good night overall.

Dorofeyev, in particular, had a big game, scoring twice on the power play and assisted on Hertl’s goal late in the third period. He leads the team with 16 goals, which is a new career high for Dorofeyev.

It was that performance by Dorofeyev that earned Hertl’s praise.

“He got a great shot; he can hold the puck,” Hertl said. “He can make it plays. I think he’s got a huge future in the NHL. He scored a lot of big goals for us. Both goals was just a great shot.”

Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy liked what he saw from Olofsson-Hertl-Dorofeyev line, but wouldn’t commit to if it would stick. Vegas played without leading scorer Jack Eichel, who was a late scratch due to illness.

So, with that in mind, the line might shift once Eichel is deemed healthy.

“We’ll go into Nashville and have to reevaluate because I don’t think Jack is long-term,” Cassidy said. “But I like what they did, so certainly not thinking about going away from it, but we’ll see what we have.”

Paul Delos Santos is the Las Vegas sports insider for Dice City Sports. Follow him on X at @PaulDelos_.