As the March 1st trade deadline approaches, so does the start of the Vegas Golden Knights capacity to make deals around the league. While he won’t be able to make any moves for active players, he can start shaping the future of the Golden Knights in just over a week. Michael Russo of the Star Tribune caught up with Vegas GM George McPhee and talked to him about the kind of team he’d like to build.
I’ve built high-flying teams in the past, offensive, entertaining teams and would like to do the same thing. What we do with the expansion draft hasn’t been settled yet because until we see the entire universe of what teams want to do, who they want to protect and expose, we don’t know which way we’re going to go.
Indeed, McPhee did build the high-flying Washington Capitals that featured some of the highest goal totals in recent memory. If he constructs the Vegas team the same way, it will be fun to watch at the very least as it likely struggles through its first few seasons. If McPhee wants speed, perhaps a certain Colorado Avalanche centerman who is on the block would be of interest this summer.
- Jimmy Howard, out since before Christmas with a sprained MCL was seen taking shots today before practice by Ted Kulfan of The Detroit News. Howard—who turns 33 on March 26th—carries a hefty cap hit and two more years on his contract. While the Red Wings would love to move him for some cap relief, he’ll have to get back onto the ice and prove the start of his season wasn’t a fluke.
- Chris Johnston of Sportsnet tells us that Hall of Fame winger and current Kings’ President of Business Operations Luc Robitaille has taken over as chairman of the board for Eisbären Berlin, a German hockey team that plays in the DEL. While under Robitaille’s leadership, the Los Angeles Kings played in Berlin back in 2011 when the NHL was testing out different markets with regular season games.
- Sam Cardichi of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports on the Flyers and their quickly sinking ship going into the deadline. After benching Andrew MacDonald in a Sunday night win over the Vancouver Canucks, the team is looking to get Michael Del Zotto more ice-time and are still considering their options for the trade deadline. Cardichi includes he thinks the team will be in sell mode come March 1st.
So how many years of poor drafts, mediocre home grown talent, and bad trades will Flyers ownership tolerate from the front office? Perennially mediocre team. Rebuild, starting at the top.
That’s what they did less than 3 years ago when they hired Hextall, who drafted standout rookies Travis Konecny and Ivan Provorov. I’m not sure what more you can ask for in only 3 years, but this team is loaded with defense and goalie prospects in the system.
You’re right, the pieces are there, they’ll be ok in time.