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Has Cody Glass transformed into the player the Vegas Golden Knights need him to be?

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Cody Glass (right) with new VGK captain Mark Stone
Illustration: AP Photo

All eyes were on Cody Glass on opening night of the 2019-2020 Golden Knights season. The then-20-year-old rookie was making his NHL debut on the heels of a highlight-reel training camp, and his preseason that made it impossible for the club to leave him off the roster.

Glass was on a rocket ship to stardom, but it never quite reached its destination last season. An injury knocked everything off course.

Glass injured his right knee in January and missed more than a month before returning for two games. When he did he didn’t look the same, and Vegas sent him down to the American Hockey League on a conditioning assignment to Chicago, where he ultimately reaggravated his injury.

Glass had surgery in March and hasn’t played a game since. But he’s starting to feel and look like his old self as the new season begins, and he’s armed with a new attitude. After the ups and downs of his tumultuous rookie campaign, he has developed an optimistic—yet realistic—view of his NHL career.

“It was hard for me to come back and tell myself, ‘It’s going to take some time for you to be a top player in this league,’” Glass says. “I think that’s the biggest thing going into my second season. I went through it. I know what to expect now, and I can try and be more consistent.”

Cody Glass has been a key name in the Golden Knights’ organization for years. He was the first draft choice in team history, the fresh-faced kid from Winnipeg hailed as the future of the franchise the moment his name was called as the sixth overall selection in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.

Last season didn’t go the way he wanted, but he’s more vital to the success of the Golden Knights this year. Following the offseason departures of fellow centers Paul Stastny and Nick Cousins, he’s expected to be relied upon heavily.

“I think so highly of the kid,” teammate Max Pacioretty says. “He’s going to, I think, blow away some expectations. He looks like a new person. He’s got a new body on him, and he’s ready for the grind of a pro season.”

Pacioretty would know. He shared a line with “the kid” at times last season, including on opening night, when he assisted on Glass’ first career goal against the Sharks.

Glass barely physically resembles himself from a year ago—and not just because he’s grown his hair out several inches longer. He’s noticeably bigger, having put on 15 pounds in the offseason to prepare for the rigors that come with playing center in the NHL. He put on so much muscle, in fact, that he had to cut back, settling into a playing weight of around 205 pounds.

Glass admits to having some nerves in training camp, especially when it came time for the first scrimmage. With no NHL preseason games on this year’s schedule, scrimmages are the closest Glass has been to game action in 11 months. His knee injury and subsequent surgery—the specifics of which remain undisclosed—kept him away from hockey entirely for six months, the longest he’s been off the ice since he started to play hockey as a child.

After the rehab and weight gain, Glass called his first practice sessions “learn-how-to-skate lessons.” And he had to do it away from his teammates, since his injury prevented him from traveling to the 2020 postseason bubble in Edmonton, an aspect Glass found among the most heartbreaking.

“It sucked, especially watching from a distance,” Glass says. “Not being able to help your team out is the worst feeling as a hockey player. Just not being able to battle and go through those ups and downs as a team really sucked, and it was brutal watching it at home. I really felt for those guys when they ended up losing. Wish I could have been there for them.”

Glass’ initial injury last season occurred the week before Pete DeBoer took over as Golden Knights coach. DeBoer did catch Glass in action in his previous job with San Jose—including watching Glass’ first goal from the opposing bench—but that’s obviously not the same as coaching the player directly.

“He looked really good a year ago, and he’s bigger, stronger, faster and more mature than he was a year ago,” DeBoer says. “I think so far in camp he’s looked great.”

Glass has typically been among the best players on his teams, from the youth level to major juniors and even when he turned professional and joined the Chicago Wolves for their run to the Calder Cup Finals in 2019. He wasn’t one of the best players on the Golden Knights last year, however, which must have been tough to accept. But now, Glass seems poised to use that experience to set the stage for a successful long-term career.

At some point, he wants to be the one taking the last faceoff, whether Vegas is defending a late-goal lead or in need of one. Glass wants to be the go-to guy. He hopes to be everything he and the Golden Knights believe he can be.

“It’s a hard league. I’m a young player, and I’ve got a bright future ahead of me, but it’s going to take some time,” Glass says. “I think it’s going to take a lot of patience with me, but I’m really looking forward to what the future holds.”

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