Even though all four attack lines change, VGK also makes changes to the blue line

(Photo credit: SinBin.vegas photographer Brandon Andreasen)

Less than a week into training camp, the most important word is change. Every forward line and defenseman pairing is different than what the Golden Knights used in their seven-game series against the Dallas Stars.

We have already touched on the necessary changes in the forward group with the departure of regular players from all four lines, but the defense looked much more stable with the loss of Alec Martinez. But even though there are only familiar faces in the squad, changes are also coming in all three defensive pairings.

Head coach Bruce Cassidy and his trusty assistant in charge of defense, John Stevens, could have fielded the exact same group they used at the beginning of the series in Dallas, but instead they're relying on something they saw at the end of the season to give themselves a new look on defense.

Some of this evolved from the Hague/Hanifin pairing from last year, which we really liked. Nic played right in the juniors. With an extra left stick, someone has to go there. Theodore talked about switching to the other side when the opportunity arises. – Bruce Cassidy

The new pairs are Theodore with Pietrangelo, McNabb with Whitecloud and, as mentioned, Hanifin with Hague.

This represents a position switch for Theodore and Hague, who have both played more than 80% of their games on the opposite side. The switch appears to have been made with the goal of scoring more goals from the blue line.

We want to get more attacking power out of our defense. Pietrangelo and Theodore are the best defenders in the league. I think it's not a risk for us to have two riders in a pair because our third pair is Whitecloud and McNabb and they are two good players in the league. – Cassidy

No Golden Knights defenseman scored more than five goals last season (Theodore), and the entire group scored just 27 goals in total, the fourth-lowest total in the last NHL season. The year before, in Cassidy's first season, Vegas scored 36 goals from defensemen, just a few shy of the league average.

Theodore and Pietrangelo's combined play should provide plenty of attacking power, especially when they're on the ice with one of Vegas' more dangerous attacking lines.

Theo obviously likes being up front (in the game) and so do I, but I think if we can find that balance with each other… we're both intelligent hockey players, so we'll be able to understand each other. – Alex Pietrangelo

Cassidy said he thinks it's easier to experiment a little early in the year than later. Making the changes early in the season rather than relying on what has worked in the past should give the Golden Knights' personnel a little more information about their team as the season progresses.

Everything looks good on paper, now it's up to the players to implement it on the ice.