LAS VEGAS — Things change over time. The cost of gas or a gallon of milk rises. Even professional sports teams relocate and switch mascots occasionally. One of the biggest athletic revelations in some time has happened this year in the desert, and it involves a former Penguin.
Deryk Engelland, at 36 years old, has basically become the Benjamin Button of the NHL. An average to below-average player in Pittsburgh, Engelland has blossomed into one of the Vegas Golden Knights’ best defenseman, his career arc completely backward.
Improved skating has led to a career offensive season, while Engelland, a Las Vegas resident, would be the leader in the clubhouse among skaters to have a “C” stitched on his sweater whenever Vegas settles on a captain.