Golden Knights' Scoring A Problem: 2 Players Team Can Sign

The Vegas Golden Knights started the season very hot, but have since struggled to score goals for the most part. This is due to the lack of scoring help on the left wing on every line. It is much lower than expected and even though they are firmly in a playoff spot, it's an issue that needs to be addressed.

The left wingers are Ivan Barbashev, Paul Cotter, Brett Howden, and William Carrier. The further down the lineup we get, the less offense is expected, so Carrier's four points in 23 games is acceptable since he impacts the game in other ways. Barbashev was signed to a big deal after last season's playoff run and he hasn't contributed nearly enough offensively as he should be. In 26 games he has five goals and nine points. To close out the season with the Golden Knights last regular season, he scored six goals and 16 points in 23 games. That is what is expected of a first liner with the linemates he has.

Barbashev isn't going anywhere, but more is needed of him. Cotter has just three goals and eight points in 26 games on the second line playing with William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault, both with more than double his points. Cotter is young, but he is in a spot to succeed. As for Howden, he has four goals and six points in 24 games. While none of these players are useless, there is a clear gap between the production of the left side and the other two forward positions throughout the lineup.

The Golden Knights have been shutout three times in the last 11 games and held to one goal or less in five of those games. So who could be signed to a league minimum contract to help with this scoring problem?

The Golden Knights actually had Phil Kessel last season and he produced, more so than anyone on the left wing is doing this season. The veteran has been waiting for a team to come along and sign him, and it was likely going to happen when a team got desperate. Kessel is a right winger, but it's no problem moving one of the versatile players like Marchessault or Michael Amadio to the left side for Kessel.

The other player, also a veteran, is Corey Perry. His contract was recently terminated by the Chicago Blackhawks and he was producing before the incident occurred and he was taken out of the lineup. The winger had four goals and nine points in 16 games and plays a gritty game. This is something to take note of for the Golden Knights' playoff run this season too. Both would be improvements upon what the team has right now.