Golden Knights prospects Peyton Krebs and Kaedan Korczak will join the team in Las Vegas later this week but their status for training camp is unknown, Pete DeBoer said Wednesday.
Krebs and Korczak are coming off a silver medal finish for Team Canada in the World Juniors championships, losing 2-0 to the United States (and fellow Vegas prospect Brendan Brisson) on Tuesday.
DeBoer said he wants to give Krebs and Korczak some days to decompress after spending a month in the WJC bubble at Rogers Place in Edmonton.
“They’ve been in that bubble for over a month,” DeBoer said. “That’s a lot of hockey. It’ll be a few days before you see them.”
On a stacked Canadian roster that featured high-end talent at every line, Krebs was one of the more noticeable bright spots for the red and white. He tied for second on Team Canada with eight points (three goals, five assists) and became a top-six contributor at the tail-end of the tournament.
Korczak played all seven games and registered one assist but was playing on a stacked blue line with first-round picks Bowen Byram, Jamie Drysdale and Thomas Harley; Korczak was a second-round pick by Vegas in the 2019 NHL Draft, the same class where the Knights selected Krebs 17th overall.
DeBoer anticipates Krebs and Korczak to fly to Las Vegas at some point this weekend. The Golden Knights have an off day Friday before returning to practice Saturday, but the players will need to quarantine upon arrival. DeBoer was not sure if it would be a week. If so, that would take the Golden Knights into the start of the regular season with no camp for Krebs or Korczak.
Pending if the Canadian Hockey League is unable to put a season together due to COVID-19, the Golden Knights could opt to have Krebs and Korczak on their taxi squad or made available for the Henderson Silver Knights; something that wouldn’t happen under normal circumstances.
Korczak went into the draft as someone with sound defensive ability and high offensive potential. He had 49 points in 60 games last season with the Kelowna Rockets, good for second on the team, a 16-point increase in eight fewer games from the season prior.
Krebs has been talked of as someone challenging for a roster spot this season, The Golden Knights have been thrilled with Krebs’ progress since recovering from his partially torn Achilles he sustained before the 2019 draft. The Okotoks, Alberta native led the Winnipeg Ice with 60 points in 38 games as the team’s captain.
“[Krebs] played a huge leadership role on that team,” DeBoer said. “I thought he had an excellent tournament. I got to know him in the bubble when he was with us. Worked hard, great kid. That translated into his role. Playing against the best players his age in the world, and I thought he was great. He’ll be knocking on the door.”