Patrick excited for fresh start with Golden Knights, McCrimmon

LAS VEGAS -- Nolan Patrick received a call from Philadelphia Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher on July 17 telling him he had been traded to the Nashville Predators. He expected to hear from the Predators soon afterward.

He received a surprise instead. The Predators traded him that same day to the Vegas Golden Knights, so the next GM to call was someone he knew well, someone under whom he had thrived and might thrive again, Kelly McCrimmon.
"Obviously that was a really exciting day," Patrick said. "I was really pumped about that and couldn't be more happy to be here."
Patrick couldn't ask for a better opportunity to improve his NHL career.
McCrimmon is the former owner, GM and coach of Brandon of the Western Hockey League. Along with Golden Knights president George McPhee, McCrimmon helped turn an expansion team into an elite team by finding players cast off by other organizations who could do more in Vegas.
Patrick starred so brightly for Brandon from 2014-17 that the Flyers selected him No. 2 in the 2017 NHL Draft. With McCrimmon behind the bench from 2014-16, Patrick scored 158 points (71 goals, 87 assists) in 127 regular-season games and 45 points (21 goals, 24 assists) in 40 playoff games. Brandon went to the WHL final in 2015 and won the title in 2016.
"He's obviously the smartest hockey mind I've ever been around throughout my hockey career, and you can obviously tell how smart he is the way he's built this team and the success they've had," Patrick said. "I'm obviously really happy to be playing under him and enjoyed my time with him in Brandon a lot, so I was excited when I heard the news."
Patrick scored 30 points (13 goals, 17 assists) in 73 games with the Flyers as a rookie in 2017-18 and 31 points (13 goals, 18 assists) in 72 games in 2018-19.
Then he sustained a concussion and missed the 2019-20 season because of a migraine disorder. When he came back last season amid the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, he scored nine points (four goals, five assists) and was minus-30 in 52 games.
"Obviously it was a tough year for me last year," Patrick said. "I didn't get much of an offseason with my injury. I kind of just got healthy right before camp started, and then I kind of got thrown into a weird season and didn't play great. It was tough to find my game coming off that.
"But I'm really excited for the opportunity here. To be on a team that's got a chance to win right away is really exciting."
McCrimmon acknowledged his personal connection with Patrick after the trade, but he said the decision to acquire Patrick was based on more than that. The Golden Knights thought Patrick looked like a young player with a lot of talent who appeared to be on track in his first two seasons. Each time, his second half was significantly better than his first.
The Golden Knights needed center depth and power play help, and they had a ready-made mentor for Patrick in the locker room too.
Forward Mark Stone, Vegas' captain, played for Brandon from 2008-12. He and Patrick are from Winnipeg, have cottages in the same area and started skating together in the offseason in 2019. The Golden Knights put Patrick's locker next to Stone's. Patrick is 23, Stone 29.
"I shouldn't say we're really good friends, but we're going to be really good friends," Stone said before camp. "We don't know everything about each other yet, but we're going to."
Sounds like they're already well on their way.
"He's helped me a lot since I've been here," Patrick said at the end of camp. "He's a great guy. He's a lot of fun to be around. We've got some similar interests, so he's obviously a great guy to sit around and just bounce ideas off him."
Stone said he thinks Patrick can "grow and blossom" in the desert.
"He was the second overall pick for a reason, obviously," Stone said. "His talent is there. The skill's there. I think the mindset is there.
"Obviously he had some very unfortunate injuries in Philly, kind of got put down on the totem pole a little bit there, kind of lost a little a bit of confidence. [But] I think he's going to come to us and fill a role that we've so desperately wanted, that depth at center. He's going to be great for us on the power play.
"I think living in Las Vegas, waking up with the sun every day, the dry heat, I think he's in for a good treat and a good change."
Coach Peter DeBoer said he thought Patrick had some really good moments during the preseason and the Golden Knights are looking for him to be consistent. Patrick didn't make an impact in his Vegas debut, with three shots on goal in 13:36 of ice time in a 4-3 win against the Seattle Kraken at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday. But Patrick knows what he needs to do.
"Obviously opportunity is part of it, but you also have got to take advantage of your opportunity," he said. "For me, when I'm playing my best I'm moving my feet, holding onto pucks and being good in both ends of the rink, so that's obviously something I try to focus on. You know, I'm excited for the new start."