What Are Golden Knights Players On Pace For?

VegasGoldenKnights.com checks in with each of the team's position players as the Golden Knights reached the quarter mark of their first season by defeating the Anaheim Ducks, 4-2, on Wednesday.
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Forwards
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare
Current: 3 Goals, 1 Assists, 4 Points
On Pace: 12 Goals, 4 Assists, 16 Points
Summary: Bellemare has centered the team's fourth line all season, but has most made his presence felt on the penalty kill. As well as in the locker room, where he's a perpetual, veteran voice of reason.
Cody Eakin
Current: 3 Goals, 6 Assists, 9 Points
On Pace: 12 Goals, 25 Assists, 37 Points
Summary: Before an injury plagued season for the Dallas Stars last season, Eakin's point totals the three prior years were 35, 40 and 35. Right now, he's right in line to finish right in the midst of his career norm. There was some thought that Eakin could take an offensive leap this season, but after starting the season centering David Perron and James Neal, he's settled in a more defensive role on the team's third line.

Erik Haula
Current: 6 Goals, 5 Assists, 11 Points
On Pace: 25 Goals, 21 Assists, 46 Points
Summary: Haula didn't really get on track until late October. He missed a handful of games with injury, and was mostly centering the team's third line until being shifted onto a line with David Perron and James Neal during the team's six-game road trip to the east coast. Now, Haula looks like a bona fide top-six center.
William Karlsson
Current:10 Goals, 8 Assists, 18 Points
On Pace:41 Goals, 33 Assists, 74 Points
Summary: Karlsson's season turned around following the October 17 game against the Buffalo Sabres, when he was shifted from wing to center. With zero goals and two assists through six games, Karlsson has exploded with 10 goals and six assists in his last 14 games. To put this in perspective, Karlsson had only six goals all of last season, and his career high for goals in a season is nine.

Jonathan Marchessault
Current: 6 Goals, 9 Assists, 15 Points
On Pace: 25 Goals, 37 Assists, 62 Points
Summary: Marchessault got off to a bit of a slow start and missed three games due to injury in mid-October. Since then, he hasn't only scored at a very high rate, he's also been the team's possession-metrics king for most of the season.
James Neal
Current:11 Goals, 6 Assists, 18 Points
On Pace:45 Goals, 25 Assists, 70 Points
Summary: Vegas' game breaking goal scorer all season, Neal is on pace for the best offensive season of his career. And if he can somehow maintain his pace and score 45 goals, he may be in contention for the Rocket Richard Trophy as the NHL's leading goal scorer.
Tomas Nosek
Current: 2 Goals, 3 Assists, 5 Points
On Pace: 8 Goals, 12 Assists, 20 Points
Summary: Nosek has flown below the radar for most of this season, settling into an effective defensive role on the team's fourth line, mostly playing with Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and William Carrier.

David Perron
Current: 6 Goals, 13 Assists, 19 Points
On Pace: 25 Goals, 53 Assists, 78 Points
Summary: Perron has been the Golden Knights' leading scorer, often as the setup man for James Neal. The three-time 20-goal scorer is having his finest NHL season, on pace to shatter his career-high of 57 points from 2013-14.
Reilly Smith
Current:6 Goals, 11 Assists, 17 Points
On Pace:25 Goals, 45 Assists, 70 Points
Summary: Reilly Smith's best NHL season came two seasons ago, when he racked up 25 goals and 25 assists playing for Gerard Gallant with the Florida Panthers. Reunited with Gallant again, Smith has steadied a line with Jonathan Marchessault and Erik Haula, and looks like a bargain of a player under contract for the next five years.
Alex Tuch
Current: 5 Goals, 4 Assists, 9 Points
On Pace: 21 Goals, 16 Assists, 37 Points
Summary: Tuch was an odd-man out in training camp, missing out on the team's Opening Night roster, mostly because of his ability to be sent to the AHL without passing through waivers. A hat trick during opening weekend for the Chicago Wolves helped force Tuch's way back to the NHL, where he's actually on pace to score 20 goals this year. Still extremely raw, and occasionally makes mistakes. But every night, Tuch's combination of speed and strength stand out more than anyone on this team.

Defensemen
Deryk Engelland
Current: 2 Goals, 7 Assists, 19 Points
On Pace: 8 Goals, 29 Assists, 37 Points
Summary: Engelland isn't the captain of this team, but for all intents and purposes, he is. This player's veteran stability and leadership have been central in instilling the culture that's defining how this team plays.

Brad Hunt
Current: 0 Goals, 7 Assists, 7 Points
On Pace: 0, 28 Assists, 28 Points
Summary: Hunt's only played in 13 of this team's 20 games, often in rotation with Shea Theodore, Jon Merrill and (earlier) Jason Garrison for ice time. But for a player who's mostly played in the AHL throughout his career, this is a permanent spot in the AHL. And as one of this team's most mobile blueliners, he's played increased minutes since Luca Sbisa went down to injury on November 10.
Colin Miller
Current: 3 Goals, 8 Assists, 11 Points
On Pace: 12 Goals, 33 Assists, 45 Points
Summary: Ever since training camp, when the Golden Knights had more than a dozen defensemen and even more questions as to who would play every night, Colin Miller has been a steady force. And this player, not much of an offensive force with the Boston Bruins but a former Hardest Shot champion in the AHL, has since emerged as one of Vegas' key power play quarterbacks.

Luca Sbisa
Current: 1 Goals, 7 Assists, 8 Points
On Pace: 4 Goals, 29 Assists, 33 Points
Summary: Sidelined with a lower-body injury since November 10, Sbisa has mostly played on a defense pair with Nate Schmidt this season. From an analytic standpoint, Sbisa's possession metrics are near the bottom of the league. This belies the fact that Sbisa has become, to Gerard Gallant, perhaps the Golden Knights' coach's most trusted defensive defenseman. His poor possession metrics are largely a result of being placed nearly exclusively in defensive situations against opposing teams' top forwards. Has done a decent job limiting damage against.
Nate Schmidt
Current: 1 Goal, 8 Assists, 19 Points
On Pace: 4 Goals, 33 Assists, 37 Points
Summary: A player with an infectious personality that rubs off on his teammates, Schmidt has been the team's time-on-ice leader for most of this season. Buried in a deep lineup with the Washington Capitals, Schmidt is establishing himself as a big-name NHL defenseman, who can do a little of everything.