Although it would appear that the Golden Knights have too many defensemen on their roster at the moment, it doesn’t appear that GM George McPhee thinks that’s the case. Speaking with Steve Carp of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, McPhee noted that he’s happy with the quantity of blueliners they currently have:
“We’re at a manageable number right now. We’re pretty close to where we want to be and we’re comfortable with the roster we have.”
At the moment, Vegas has ten defenders that figure to be in their plans for next season plus Brad Hunt who is on a one-way contract but could be AHL-bound. Even if they only carried the minimum 12 forwards, they would still only be able to have nine rearguards on their opening roster so while McPhee believes their number is currently manageable, that’s likely to change once training camp rolls around.
More from around the NHL:
- The Red Wings are hoping to cap Jimmy Howard’s workload somewhere between 50-55 games next season, goalie coach Jeff Salajko told Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press. That falls in line with the recent trend around the league that most teams are starting to follow that sees the starter rest a bit more often in the hopes of keeping them fresher down the stretch. Detroit is fortunate enough to have Petr Mrazek, who has handled a large workload himself at times over the past couple of seasons, still in the mix while Salajko noted that they’re comfortable with Jared Coreau, who got into 14 games with the Wings this past season, as a second or third option as well.
- Defenseman Damon Severson is the most prominent of the nine remaining restricted free agents that the Devils have. Andrew Gross of Fire and Ice looks at some comparable players on both long-and-short-term contracts and projects that New Jersey will ultimately opt for a bridge deal. From a financial standpoint, the team has the flexibility to go long-term if they so desire as they sit more than $19MM under the salary cap as things stand per CapFriendly.