10/11: The Vegas Golden Knights have reclaimed Lavoie from Edmonton, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, continuing the young forward’s bouncing between Edmonton and Vegas. He has now been waived and claimed by both teams and will be eligible to be assigned to Vegas’ minor leagues should no other team place a claim.
10/7: The Oilers and Flames have each lost a forward to the Golden Knights on waivers. Raphael Lavoie is heading from Edmonton to Vegas, while the Knights also claimed Cole Schwindt from Calgary, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Both enter a competition with recent veteran pickup Tanner Pearson to begin the season as Vegas’ 11th and 12th forwards. That’s assuming center William Karlsson is sidelined for the season opener against the Avs on Wednesday with the undisclosed injury that’s kept him out of action for over a week. They’re also significant reinforcements after Vegas lost Zach Aston-Reese on waivers to the Blue Jackets today.
Lavoie is an intriguing pickup. The 24-year-old has just seven games under his belt without a major league point, all coming last season. But Edmonton’s second-round pick in 2019 has turned into a standout offensive forward at the AHL level and has a 6’4″, 216-lb frame. He put up 28 goals and 22 assists for 50 points in 68 games last season with AHL Bakersfield, all career highs.
Schwindt has the same exact career NHL offensive stat line – no points in seven combined games for the Flames and Panthers, but he has a -5 rating compared to Lavoie’s -2. All in all, they’re players at very similar stages of their careers. Schwindt is a tad younger – he’s still 23, but was also a member of the 2019 draft class. Sent from Florida to Calgary in the Matthew Tkachuk blockbuster, he doesn’t have as much offensive success as Lavoie at the AHL level. He posted 36 points in 66 games for the Calgary Wranglers last year, which was a career-high.
Only one will draw in against Colorado if Karlsson isn’t ready to play. With their lack of NHL experience, it’s anybody’s guess. Both have experience suiting up at right wing and center.
After the claims, the Golden Knights have $652K in projected cap space, per PuckPedia. They need to clear a roster spot, perhaps by placing Karlsson on injured reserve.
Finally! Really not sure any prospect will pan out in Edmonton for a while
Watched a lot of Lavoie is junior – he’s got good hands.
Lavoie is nhl material. Seeing players I like in that knights jersey just seems to get more difficult every season though.
Come on – let the young man get on with his season. Hope he stays in Vegas. Lavoie can play and Edmonton will regret letting him go.
Everyone in Flames-dom were worried about Pelts and Cooley. I think putting down Cooley at this moment was perfect timing.
Cooley seems to be flying under the radar. I watched him stop 50 out of 50 shots in Seattle last season and I don’t think the dude even broke a sweat.
I think he was a savvy pickup by Conroy. With Cooley passing through waivers, Flames now have a month to watch 4 goalies battle it out. Also, with the Wranglers playing in Calgary, that will be as easy as a paper transaction.
I don’t think Calgary is in as bad a spot as some people seem to. They have stupid amounts of cap space and while they’re not gonna shoot any lights out, you can tell there’s an identity running throughout the group. That Adam Klapka (is that his name?) dude is an absolute beast. Good mix of skill players, veterans, young high ceiling guys… and it’s all just floating in the bottom of the league. Lots of teams are gonna have to try a lot harder to meet expectations. Flames should be a fun watch for their fans. Just goes to show how deep the pool of talent in the NHL is.
What, if anything, stops EDM and VGK from just claiming him back and forth all season?
Since Lavoie was reclaimed by Vegas and no other claims were submitted, he’ll be waiver-exempt and eligible to be assigned to the minor leagues until he either plays in 10 NHL games or spends 30 days on the Vegas roster. He was not able to be assigned to Edmonton’s minor leagues because another team, lower than them on the waiver priority list, also placed a claim when they did.
Wow! what a rebound!
Very happy for him. he’s a very good player and there is no future in Edmonton
Hold tight wherever you’re living at Raph, this is gonna be a while.
Lmao. The other G.M. really do not like Bowman. Please oiler fans is not oilers hate. It is all bowman hate.