Mason Morelli became the first player in Vegas Golden Knights history to record two points in their NHL debut on Monday. Morelli scored his first NHL goal at the end of the first period and added his first NHL assist later in the 4-0 win.
The Minot, North Dakota native spent five years in the minor leagues as a professional before getting his first NHL deal from the Golden Knights this past summer. The 28-year-old, 2023 Calder Cup champion with the Hershey Bears inked a two-year contract worth $775k per season with Vegas and reportedly had multiple NHL offers.
While he has spent the first 44 games of the 2023-24 campaign back in the AHL with the Henderson Silver Knights, Morelli was recalled by Vegas on Saturday ahead of his debut. Vegas head coach Bruce Cassidy placed him on the team’s fourth line with Byron Froese and Keegan Kolesar.
At the end of the first period, Morelli was given some power play time from Cassidy. After winning his lone faceoff attempt in the game, Morelli drifted into the slot with his stick on the ice.
The puck was filtered by blueliner Alec Martinez at the point to his partner Alex Pietrangelo in the right faceoff circle. Pietrangelo then fed Morelli with a fake shot pass and Morelli guided the puck by goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood.
Morelli grabbed his first NHL assist late in the second period as he helped set up Kolesar’s fifth tally of the year. Overall, he skated 12:15 of ice time in his debut, fired three shots on goal, and threw two hits.
He got the full rookie treatment pregame, skating his first lap in warmups by himself before the rest of his teammates joined him.
“It was awesome,” Morelli said postgame. “It was a special moment with my family here. It was pretty cool.”
Morelli had his mom, dad, brother, cousin, aunt, uncle, and a few friends in attendance to see his milestone night. He posed, in a Warroad cut-resistant baselayer, with his first NHL goal puck in the Golden Knights locker room after the win.
“I didn’t see it go in right away and then once I knew it was in, it was pretty cool,” Morelli said. “We were hootin’ and hollerin’ a little bit. A special moment for sure. Hard to put into words, pretty special.”
Current Washington Capitals forward and Morelli’s linemate in Hershey, Beck Malenstyn, congratulated Morelli on his big night on his Instagram story.
“My man @morelli_21!!!!!!” Malenstyn wrote. “Such an amazing moment for an even better guy!!!”
Morelli received additional words and Instagram mentions from his Calder Cup champion teammates Mike Vecchione, Sam Anas, and Garrett Pilon.
“My Dawg!!” Vecchione wrote. “Congrats @morelli_21.”
“Ribeyes and Coors Lights baby,” Anas wrote. “Congrats @morelli_21!!”
Pilon added two fire emojis and tagged Morelli in a repost of the NHL’s post of Morelli’s goal.
Undrafted out of the University of Nebraska-Omaha, the Bears initially took a flyer on Morelli with an AHL contract during the 2020 offseason. After splitting time between Hershey and the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays in 2020-21, Morelli scored 12 goals in consecutive seasons with the Bears. He tallied a career-high 41 points (12g, 29a) in 72 games during the 2022-23 campaign, earning him the Arlene Tighe Award as the Bears’ unsung hero.
He made his biggest impact in the 2023 Calder Cup Playoffs where, as a member of the team’s dominant fourth line with Beck Malenstyn and Riley Sutter. Morelli had 13 points (5g, 8a) in 20 games and played in all situations for the Bears, including on the power play where he earned the primary assist on Connor McMichael’s Game Seven Calder Cup Finals goal. Morelli also set the screen on Garrett Pilon’s overtime goal in Game Five that sent the Calder Cup Finals back to Coachella Valley.
Huge congrats, Mason!
