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William Karlsson has been the Golden Knights’ best find

Vegas Golden Knights v Anaheim Ducks

ANAHEIM, CA - NOVEMBER 22: William Karlsson #71 of the Vegas Golden Knights looks on during the third period of a game against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on November 22, 2017 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

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The debut season for the Vegas Golden Knights has been, to this point, an incredible success.

They are off to one of the best starts ever for an NHL expansion team and they have done it while being decimated by injury in goal, already using four different players at the position, including a 19-year-old junior goalie on an emergency recall.

Even with the injuries they still find themselves in playoff contention more than a quarter of the way through the season and have been by far the biggest surprise in the NHL.

The key to their success has been a surprisingly potent attack offensively that currently has them sitting sixth in the NHL in goals scored. We looked earlier this season that the expansion draft rules, along with an amazing trade with the Florida Panthers that netted them Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith, gave the Golden Knights more talent than just about any other expansion team in league history.

But for as good as the bigger name players like Marchessault, James Neal and David Perron have been, their best -- and perhaps most surprising -- find to this point has been forward William Karlsson.

Karlsson’s arrival in Vegas came by way of trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets that also netted them a first-round pick, a second-round pick and the contract belonging to David Clarkson. In return, all Vegas had to do was allow Columbus to retain players like forward Josh Anderson and goaltender Joonas Korpisalo in the expansion draft.

It’s turned out to be an amazing trade for Vegas because it not only received two draft picks (that ended up resulting in Nick Suzuki as well as the 2019 pick) but also the player that is currently their leading scorer and top offensive player.

Entering play on Sunday, Karlsson has already shattered his previous career high goals and is just one point away from matching his career high in that area. Prior to this season he had never scored more than nine goals in a season and never topped 25 points. In his first 25 games this season he is already up to 14 goals and 24 points.

A lot of that offensive success is being driven by a 25 percent shooting percentage that represents a significant spike over his previous career averages and one that is probably not going to be a long-term thing. But it’s not just the goal-scoring that has been huge for the Golden Knights.

He is also driving possession with a 53 percent shot attempts share and is one of just two players (Alex DeBrincat being the other) to play in at least 25 games this season and not commit a single penalty. Even if his shooting percentage takes a dive in the second half of the season (and it almost certainly will because almost nobody maintains a 25 percent shooting percentage) he is still bringing a ton of value with his ability to help control the pace of the game while also completely staying out of the penalty box.

He has always been a talented player that had flashed some potential in the NHL, but he never really had an opportunity to get a significant role to really show what he can do.

He has had that opportunity this season in Vegas centering the top line between Marchessault and Smith and it has resulted in a breakout season on an individual level while also helping to drive one of the biggest surprises in the league on a team level.