Hill steps up as saving grace for Golden Knights in playoff run

LAS VEGAS -- The Vegas Golden Knights acquired Adin Hill on Aug. 29, after they knew Robin Lehner would miss the season because of hip surgeries and Laurent Brossoit wouldn't be ready until November at the earliest because he too was recovery from a hip surgery.

They needed an NHL goalie to join Logan Thompson, but this wasn't a panic move to get just anybody. The Golden Knights knew about Hill. They got input from goalie coach Sean Burke, whose son, Brendan, played with Hill for two seasons with Portland of the Western Hockey League. They were confident in him.

"We felt there was upside there," Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon said. "He'd played in Arizona, in San Jose. We'd seen enough of him."

They probably didn't think they'd be seeing him sitting at the podium at Rogers Place following a 38-save performance in a series-clinching 5-2 win in Game 6 of the Western Conference Second Round at the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday.

They probably didn't think they'd be relying on Hill, who turned 27 on May 11, to be their top goalie entering the Western Conference Final against the Dallas Stars, which starts at T-Mobile Arena on Friday (8:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, CBC, TVAS).

That was supposed to be Thompson, and if not him, Brossoit.

It's Hill, and he's made the Golden Knights feel great about it.

"He stepped up, and you're not advancing without that," Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. "You need goaltending and it's been a good story for us. Good for Adin. He's a young guy who wants to establish himself in full time in the League and he was ready. When the opportunity came he was ready, and that's the part that I'm impressed about."

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Hill is getting the chance he has waited for since arriving in the NHL with the Arizona Coyotes in 2017-18 because Thompson and Brossoit are both out with injuries.

Thompson hasn't played since March 23 because of a lower-body injury and Brossoit sustained a lower-body injury in the first period of Game 3 against the Oilers on May 8. Neither is on the ice with the Golden Knights. Jonathan Quick is the backup, but it's Hill's net for as long as he continues to give Vegas a chance to win.

He earned it with his performance against Edmonton, going 3-1 with a 2.19 goals-against average and .934 save percentage, allowing nine goals on 136 shots. He allowed two on the first two shots he faced in Game 6 and then stopped 38 in a row for the win.

"He came in clutch," Vegas forward William Karlsson said. "Tough start, but just bounced back and played with confidence. We all felt that too. That kind of oozes off and everybody feels it."

Hill did that in Game 3 against the Oilers, coming in relief of an injured Brossoit and stopping all 24 shots he faced in a 5-1 win. He also made 32 saves in a 4-3 win in Game 5 after giving up four goals on 33 shots in a 4-1 loss in Game 4.

"I've always had that confidence in my game," Hill said. "It's been an interesting ride in pro hockey for me, kind of up, down and all over the place. But it's been fun and I've always had confidence in my game. Right now, I feel like I'm playing good. I've had that confidence being on a good team and I feel like we may have the best defense corps in the League when you look at our group. When I got traded here, I was excited because I know the expectations here and I'm trying to fulfill the expectations of these guys."

Hill's description of his NHL career is spot on. He's been a bit of a journeyman goalie.

The Coyotes selected him in the third round (No. 76) of the 2015 NHL Draft and played 49 games with them from 2017-21 before he was traded to the Sharks on July 17, 2021, signing a two-year contract Aug. 4. But after playing 25 games last season, San Jose deemed him expendable going into the last year of his contract and traded him to Vegas shortly before training camp this season.

Through it all Hill was still putting up solid numbers on non-playoff teams. He was 29-32-5 with a 2.74 GAA and .908 save percentage in 74 games in five seasons with the Coyotes and Sharks, including 10-11-1 with a 2.66 GAA and .906 save percentage last season in San Jose.

Adin Hill (r.), shown here in 2014 with Portland of the Western Hockey League, came to the Vegas Golden Knights' attention thanks to input from Brendan Burke (r.), a teammate with him for Portland and son of Vegas goalie coach Sean Burke.

" 'Hillsy' has always had amazing ability," said Brendan Burke, Portland's goalie coach who still stays in touch with Hill. "Honestly, if you were going to design what a goalie looks like in a lab it would be him. He's a total blue-chip body type. He's 6-4, his shoulders seem like they're five feet wide, he's real flexible and has a lot of length to him. So, all the physical tools have been there. He's struggled to find his footing, a consistent home and playing time, but really, he's played quite well in the NHL in his short stints especially for the level of teams he's played on. I think he's just flown under the radar. It really isn't a shock that he's having a lot of success. Sometimes people just need to find a group that believes in you and gives you a chance."

That's the story of Hill's season with Vegas.

He set personal NHL highs in games played (27) and wins (16). He had his best GAA (2.50) and second-best save percentage (.915). He had a .918 save percentage with Arizona in 2019-20, but that was in 13 games. He's thriving in his first postseason opportunity.

"I can't give 'Hilly' enough credit," Vegas forward Jack Eichel said. "Obviously, 'L.B.' goes down early in the series and he steps in, he's ready to rock and he played fantastic for us. You need your goalie to be good and I can't say enough good things about him."

Regardless of what happens from here this season, Hill has an NHL resume now.

He's played 101 regular-season games. He has playoff experience. He has helped his team win a round, potentially more. He's in his prime at 27. He's a pending unrestricted free agent in a league that values goaltending with teams searching for value at the position.

"Usually to become a starter or consistent everyday guy in the NHL you have to put in about 100 games of a pretty good stat sheet, and he's definitely done that," Burke said. "I expect people to start to look at him as a top half of the league starter here pretty soon. It's all about narrative and timing sometimes, and luckily for 'Hillsy' he's hitting it at the right time. Hopefully a guy like him can cash in."