Golden Knights Notes: McPhee On Trades, Perron Injured

Before the season started, the Golden Knights were widely picked to be at or near the bottom of the Western Conference standings.  Expansion teams rarely have success in their inaugural campaign but despite a litany of injuries between the pipes, Vegas actually finds themselves in first place in the Pacific Division.

With low expectations and the way the roster was constructed with a lot of players on short-term contracts, many have wondered if the team will still plan to be active sellers at the trade deadline.  Gary Lawless of the Golden Knights’ team site asked GM George McPhee that very question and he didn’t exactly commit either way:

“We certainly have a plan, but in this business it changes every day. I don’t know what will take place over the next three or four months. What we do know is that we’re here to compete every day. We’re going to practice hard and we’re going to play hard. We’ll see what it takes and what develops four months from now remains to be seen. We’re here to compete and win hockey games.”

Forwards James Neal, David Perron, and Jonathan Marchessault highlight a lengthy list of pending unrestricted free agents.  The longer they stay in the hunt, the odds of these players being dealt may dip but it still wouldn’t be surprising if they moved some of their other veteran depth regardless of where they find themselves standings-wise come February.

More from Vegas:

• Speaking of Perron, he suffered an upper-body injury in Friday’s victory over San Jose in a collision with Timo Meier during the second period. Although he tried to play through it for a couple of shifts, he did wind up leaving the game.  Head coach Gerard Gallant told reporters postgame, including David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, that Perron is listed as day-to-day.  The 29-year-old leads the Golden Knights in assists (13) and sits tied for second in points with 19.