Vegas Golden Knights Might Already Have Deals In Place
The newest NHL franchise gained official standing in the league yesterday and with it the power to sign free agents, make deals and move draft picks. They likely were already talking to teams about possible expansion draft scenarios, and one former GM who has been through a similar situation thinks they’ve already agreed to a handful of moves. Doug McLean on Sportsnet radio today was talking about the Vegas Golden Knights and said that he thinks the team has already locked up at least part of their roster.
I would bet dollars to donuts on this. Their number one goaltender is done. Guaranteed that.
That’s the one position that I’m sure, you’ll have that locked up. Maybe it’s not signed or whatever the legality is, because George [McPhee] would go by the book. I think that position is done.
While McLean doesn’t sound like he has a source that’s telling him that the Golden Knights have completed a deal, he does have plenty of experience in this area. He was the general manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets when they and the Minnesota Wild went through the expansion process in 2000. He later says that he had at least half a dozen deals done by the draft, and it was more difficult then because two teams were coming in at the same time.
McLean has an idea of who that goaltender might be, and it’s not Ben Bishop. Many have wondered whether the Golden Knights will go after Bishop on the free agent market, as his deal expires this summer. The former Vezina runner-up is now with the Los Angeles Kings as they try to make the playoffs. 
The panel—which includes Nick Kypreos and Jeff Marek—also ponder the idea that Eric Fehr is destined for Vegas as well, and that Lou Lamoriello may have acquired him with a deal already agreed to with McPhee. Fehr did play for McPhee for many years in Washington and could be part of a leadership group in what will be a rag-tag bunch of players in the Golden Knights’ first season. The expansion team will need to come to the cap floor, and players with one or two years remaining with a moderate cap hit might be solid targets to get them there in the first season.
While there isn’t—and likely won’t be—any proof that the Golden Knights have made deals before the expansion draft, it’s something to think about if you’re still wondering why your favorite team did one thing or another at the trade deadline. There are often explanations behind the scenes, and with the varying rules that go along with the draft different scenarios can arise that aren’t clear at the moment.
One that was posed in one of our recent live chats, is the idea that a team would keep a pending unrestricted free agent as bait for Vegas, since if they sign them in the window before the expansion draft, they won’t select a player from that team’s roster. Bishop was the example used, but perhaps there have been discussions about Radim Vrbata heading to Las Vegas when the season is done, protecting the Coyotes from any selection. In any case, one should not dismiss McLean’s opinion on the matter so quickly, as he’s one of a handful of people in the world who have been in a similar situation in the past.
The Day After: Racing To The Bottom
The NHL trade deadline came and went yesterday with little excitement. Yes, some (but not all) of the rentals that were expected to move went to interesting destinations, but we didn’t have a single blockbuster move or real hockey trade. So now the quest begins for the Stanley Cup with much of the teams and players that we had a week ago, with a Steve Ott here and a Lauri Korpikoski there.
Now for many fans of teams who have been holding out hope for a late playoff push; those who sold many of their assets yesterday in a waving of the white flag for the 2016-17 season, a new journey begins. The quest for the first overall draft pick.
There is no fight, some might say, because of the Colorado Avalanche’s death-grip on last place in the NHL. They have just 37 points through 61 games and have a legitimate shot at becoming the first team to compile fewer than 50 points in a full season since the 1999-00 Atlanta Thrashers, an expansion team that won just 14 games. Colorado will finish last in the league, of that there is no doubt. But that by no means guarantees them the first overall pick
This year, with the addition of the Vegas Golden Knights the last place team will have just a 17.9% chance to select first, not a very good chance at all. The Arizona Coyotes are likely going to finish with the second worst record. With just 51 points they have an eight point “lead” on the Vancouver Canucks and have traded away several pieces. 
But that’s where it gets interesting. From the current third last team—those Canucks, who may have had the best deadline out of anyone—to the tenth worst is just six points. Beyond that the playoffs are just another handful of points away. The race for that third last spot is alive and well, and it could come with a big prize.
The 2017 draft class has been called weak, shallow and lacking impact talent. While it does in comparison to the past two—which featured generational talents not just first overall but second as well—it may be. But to think that it doesn’t house some incredible future NHL talent is ludicrous. It’s not like there are only third-line players available this season, and the battle for the top five should be as fierce as ever.
For teams that lack center depth (which is most of the NHL), this year gives you a choice of at least three phenomenal talents at the top of the board. Nolan Patrick, Nico Hischier and Gabe Vilardi all play very different styles, but will all likely have long and prosperous NHL careers. The rest of the first round is littered with talent down the middle: Michael Rasmussen, Casey Middelstadt, Cody Glass and Ryan Poehling all will likely go somewhere in the top half of the draft and all play mostly center.
While Vegas has thinned the odds slightly for everyone after that top pick, coming 28th in the league would still give you a 10% chance at drafting first, and even better odds at landing in that top three. Make no mistake, all the teams that sold yesterday—Vancouver, Detroit, and New Jersey in particular—are after that spot. They’ll say the right things, and the players won’t take a single second of any shift off, but in the back of the GMs mind he’s hoping that Bill Daly opens that card on lottery day and they see their logo emblazoned in gold.
The day after the deadline, and the race for the bottom has begun.
Trade Deadline Summary: Winners & Losers Of The Pacific Division
The NHL Trade Deadline has come and gone, and while it wasn’t the most exciting deadline day in recent memory, there were quite a few notable moves. Here are the winners and losers of the upstart Pacific Division:
Winners
Anaheim Ducks:
- Acquired Patrick Eaves from Dallas Stars for conditional second-round pick
The Ducks had one real need at the deadline and that was another top six winger. By getting ahead of the market and making the deal for Eaves earlier this week, Anaheim was already a winner at the deadline. The conditional second-rounder, which can become a first, is a steep price. However, given that Eaves is having a career year, the market value had yet to be set, and the Ducks desperation had grown due to the Antoine Vermette suspension, they were right to swing a deal when they had the chance. It was a quiet deadline day in Anaheim, but this is still a team that could make a lot of noise down the stretch.
Arizona Coyotes:
- Acquired 2017 third-round pick and conditional 2018 fifth-round pick from Calgary Flames for Michael Stone
- Acquired 2017 first-round pick, 2018 second-round pick, conditional 2019 fourth-round pick, and Grayson Downing from Minnesota Wild for Martin Hanzal, Ryan White, and 2017 fourth-round pick
- Acquired Teemu Pulkkinen from Minnesota Wild for “future considerations”
- Acquired Joe Whitney from Colorado Avalanche for Brandon Ranford
The Coyotes messed up by not trading Radim Vrbata (and might have been able to get more for Stone), but put that aside and what they were able to get from the Minnesota Wild is pretty extraordinary. The team wanted to re-sign Hanzal, but when talks fell apart, it became a foregone conclusion that he would be moved. Yet, that inevitability never drove the prices down and the Wild ended up offering an amazing deal for the career Coyote. The Avalanche should take note because this is how you work the trade deadline as one the league’s worst teams. In exchange for impending free agents who were not coming back in Hanzal and Stone, Arizona ends up with five picks and two prospects (assuming, as it often does, that “future considerations” means nothing) and the team has suffered almost no loss. If GM John Chayka has decided to deal Vrbata, he likely would have added another pair of good picks to that mix, but as it stands, the Coyotes still did pretty well.
Trade Deadline Summary: Winners & Losers Of The Metropolitan Division
The NHL Trade Deadline has come and gone, and while it wasn’t the most exciting deadline day in recent memory, there were quite a few notable moves. Here are the winners and losers of the dominant Metropolitan Division:
Winners
Carolina Hurricanes:
- Acquired 2017 second-round pick and Danny Kristo from Pittsburgh Penguins for Ron Hainsey
- Acquired 2017 third-round pick from the Ottawa Senators for Viktor Stalberg
Not all that much happening in Raleigh, but what GM Ron Francis did do, he did well. Both Hainsey and Stalberg brought back returns that were greater than their market value. It was also nice of Francis to send Hainsey to a team where his career-long playoff drought would definitely be snapped. Not sure why Jay McClement wasn’t moved, but there simply may not have been interest. The Hurricanes have a ton of salary cap space and have to dip into their depth on defense sooner or later, but this year’s deadline was definitely not the time for big moves. Expect Carolina to be a major player in the off-season trade market.
New Jersey Devils:
- Acquired Dalton Prout from the Columbus Blue Jackets for Kyle Quincey
- Acquired 2017 sixth-round pick from the Nashville Predators for P.A. Parenteau
The Devils didn’t really have any trade capital today other than Quincey and Parenteau, so good on GM Ray Shero for doing what he could with what he had. It’s strange that New Jersey was able to get a higher pick from the Predators for Vernon Fiddler earlier this season than they did for Parenteau, but injuries may have played into that. A full season of production and a draft pick in compensation isn’t that bad a return for an early-season waiver claim. The Quincey deal was the real star of the show though. The Devils went from taking a risk on an older, washed-up defenseman this off-season to trading him for a young, strong defensive defenseman who can be a starter for years with the team. Shero played the long con on the league this year, and it paid off.
Vegas Golden Knights Given Official Standing In NHL
As expected today, the Vegas Golden Knights have completed all the paperwork and expansion payments and been given official standing in the NHL according to Bob McKenzie of TSN. They are able to make any transactions that do not include active NHL players.
Though discussions were likely to have been going on for weeks about the expansion draft and deals to protect certain teams and players, they could now officially accept a deal. The team can also sign any college free agents like Neal Pionk who was rumored to have as many as 20 teams after him recently.
Expect Vegas to collect as many college players as possible as they try to build a pipeline of talent as quickly as possible. For teams like Pittsburgh, who look like they’ll have Marc-Andre Fleury and Matt Murray on expansion day, they can send draft picks to the team for some extra protection.
Welcome Vegas to the NHL! We now have 31 teams in the best hockey league in the world. We’ll keep track of any deals that go down over the next few months.
Deadline Notes: Rangers, Red Wings, Coyotes
The New York Rangers missed out on Kevin Shattenkirk last night when he went to their division rival—and opponent tonight—the Washington Capitals. The team has been rumored to be after a right handed defenseman and may be in even more dire straits as Dan Girardi is out tonight following an ankle injury. Dan Rosen of NHL.com reports that with him out and Kevin Klein still dealing with a back injury, the Rangers are down to just five healthy defensemen with the team. They’ll bring up Steve Kampfer for tonight’s game, but may need a more permanent solution.
While the Rangers may not have acquired Shattenkirk, they have been linked to Brendan Smith of the Detroit Red Wings and could look within their division for a player like Kyle Quincey. Though neither bring the level of play the new Capitals’ defenseman does, both could help provide depth as they get healthy.
- Bob McKenzie of TSN mentioned Smith today on Twitter, saying that it is decision day for the Red Wings. If they do want to extend him, McKenzie believes it would take at least three years at $3.5MM. The Wings recently extended Nick Jensen for two more seasons and have said they want to do the same with Smith. If they can’t get it done today though, they should seriously consider moving him and trying to bring him back in the summer. That team needs as many assets as possible going forward, and with the defense market getting pretty thin, they might do quite well.
- Craig Morgan of Arizona Sports writes that though Shane Doan is still available, he is unlikely to move before the deadline. According to Morgan, teams only view him as a 13th or 14th forward, instead of the capable winger he still believes himself to be. While obviously anything can change in the next 28 hours, perhaps he will finish his career with the franchise (but not team) that drafted him.
- McKenzie also mentions that the Tampa Bay Lightning have likely approached Valtteri Filppula and asked to waive his no-trade clause. Filppula poses a real problem for the Lightning both with their cap crunch and expansion draft plans.
Predicting The Next “Bartkowski Deal”
The genius that was the Matt Bartkowski signing should not be understated. By now, the extension for the purpose of Expansion Draft exposure has become commonplace, but what GM Brad Treliving and the Calgary Flames did was unique. They went outside the organization to sign a player to a multi-year deal who fulfilled the criteria of having played in 40 games this season or 70 games over the past two years. Except Bartkowski hadn’t played a single NHL game this season; he had been on a minor league contract with the AHL’s Providence Bruins. What that means is Bartkowski had to have played in over 70 games last season alone, and indeed he had skated in 80 games with the Vancouver Canucks in 2015-16. In fact, Bartkowksi was the only defenseman on the planet who played in over 70 games last season yet was not signed to an NHL contract this season. Therein lies the genius that was the unassuming signing of Bartkowski. The Flames picked up the only player on the market who could automatically fill their need for an exposure-eligible defenseman.
With a reportedly quiet trade market this season, there are bound to be teams facing expansion protection problems after the March 1st Trade Deadline comes and goes, whether it’s on the blue line or up front. Will someone follow in Treliving’s footsteps and scoop up a player who played in 70 or so games last season but remains unsigned as of now? The short answer is probably not.
Looking at the short list of players who meet the games played criteria, it very well could be that Bartkowski stands alone as an unsigned player looking to continue playing hockey, even if that means signing a two-year, two-way contract and likely logging major AHL minutes. Especially on defense, a team like the Carolina Hurricanes is likely out of luck if they want to replicate the Bartkowksi maneuver. The only unsigned player who qualifies for exposure is Matt Carle, who played in 64 games with the Tampa Bay Lightning last year and six earlier this year with the Nashville Predators. However, Carle announced his retirement in November when he cleared waivers and was likely going to be moved to the AHL. Carle seems content with collecting buyout checks from the Lightning and almost certainly would have no interest is returning to hockey with a two-year, two-way deal. There are really no other defensemen that even have a reasonable chance of meeting the 40/70 criteria. Bartkowski was essentially it.
Deadline Primer: Philadelphia Flyers
With the trade deadline less than a week away, we continue to take a closer look at each team. Where do they stand, what do they need to do, and what assets do they have to fill those needs?
The Philadelphia Flyers are one of the most depressing stories of the season so far (sorry Flyers fans) after their hot start has crumbled in front of their eyes. Once winners of ten straight, the Flyers have gone 9-15-4 since then and have almost seen their playoff hopes vanish entirely. They are currently five points out of a playoff spot with two teams between them, and are in danger of being overtaken by the surging Tampa Bay Lightning and perhaps even the Buffalo Sabres.
It’s not all bad for the Flyers though, who have seen Ivan Provorov and Travis Konecny have solid debuts as teenagers, and Wayne Simmonds continue to make his deal look like one of the best in the NHL. They have two games remaining before the deadline, one against their cross-state rival Pittsburgh Penguins, and one against the lowly Colorado Avalanche. Perhaps they will decide the fate of the Flyers come the deadline.
Record
28-25-7, 6th in Metropolitan Division
Deadline Status
Likely Seller, but with eyes on a quick reload.
Deadline Cap Space
$740K – full-season cap hit, 46/50 contracts per CapFriendly.
Draft Picks
2017: PHI 1st, PHI 2nd, PHI 3rd, BOS 3rd, PHI 4th, NYI 4th, PHI 5th, PHI 6th, PHI 7th
2018: PHI 1st, PHI 2nd, PHI 3rd, PHI 4th, PHI 5th, PHI 6th, PHI 7th
Trade Chips
It’s all about the rental defensemen for the Flyers, who have a few options to sell at the deadline. If they want to move on from both Mark Streit and Michael Del Zotto, there will be takers for both. While neither is a defensive dynamo, both provide offensive ability and can be used to boost a powerplay. Their value is fairly low, as both have been healthy scratches at times this season and aren’t reliable enough in their own end to warrant a high draft pick or top prospect.
Both Steve Mason and Michal Neuvirth are free agents at the end of the year, but neither has played well enough for a team to think they could help them win games down the stretch. Philadelphia is likely stuck with them for the rest of the year, unless they can convince someone to take Mason’s hit in a salary-swapping deal.
It will be interesting to see if the Flyers push any of their other assets into the fray, and try a little rebuild on the fly. They’ve benched Shayne Gostisbehere at times this season to try and help his development defensively, and could get a ransom for him if they made him available. Brayden Schenn and Sean Couturier would both be considered among the best available names if they listened on them, and could bring back packages close to the ones Joe Sakic is looking for in Colorado.
Likely though the deadline will come down to shopping defenders for Philadelphia, who would listen on Radko Gudas and Andrew MacDonald if anyone called. Both players (especially MacDonald) likely have too big of a contract to deal in-season though.
Five Players To Watch: D Michael Del Zotto, D Mark Streit, D Radko Gudas, C Nick Cousins, F Chris VandeVelde
Team Needs
1) Expansion Draft Goaltending: The Flyers have a decision to make at the expansion draft, as currently the only goaltender that fills the requirement is Anthony Stolarz, a prospect they likely wouldn’t want to lose—though they do also have Carter Hart and Alex Lyon in the pipeline. They’ll either have to re-sign one of the two pending free agents, or bring in another goaltender to expose. It doesn’t have to be anyone who will play for the team next season, but look for them to at least address that situation by the deadline.
2) Young Roster-Ready Players – The Flyers won’t want to undergo a complete rebuild, with Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek right in their prime and signed long-term. Mid-round draft picks are nice to keep a pipeline full of talent, but the Flyers need to get better now. Look for them to go after any pre-prime player that is available, though those are few and far between this season. The crunch up front in Tampa Bay, or the crop of good young defenders in Carolina and Anaheim could be targets but will likely have to wait until the summer to get anything done.
Deadline Primer: Carolina Hurricanes
With the trade deadline now just a week away, we continue to take a closer look at each team. Where do they stand, what do they need to do, and what assets do they have to fill those needs?
If the Carolina Hurricanes as deadline sellers wasn’t a foregone conclusion before, it is now after today’s trade of Ron Hainsey to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Although Hainsey, who will finally get to play in the first postseason game of his 14-year NHL career, was a candidate to be traded regardless, the move is even less surprising given Carolina’s recent performance. After shocking many who believed they could be one of the worst teams in the NHL this season with a strong first half, the wheels have fallen off in Carolina since the calendar flipped to 2017. The Hurricanes are just 8-11-1 in the new year and haven’t had a regulation win since February 3rd. Facing an uphill battle as it was in the powerhouse Metropolitan Division, it didn’t help that Carolina was unable to get consistent play and fell from a playoff spot into the basement of the Eastern Conference in short order.
The ‘Canes are loaded with talented young defensemen and some great young depth up front as well. They also hold a king’s ransom in draft picks and have an inordinate amount of cap space going into next season. There’s good reason behind the rumors connecting them to big-ticket trade bait like the Colorado Avalanche’s Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog. However, deals of that magnitude typically occur in the off-season. Don’t expect any different this year. The Hainsey trade either signals the beginning of a small-scale fire sale or potentially could be the only move for the Carolina at the deadline.
Record
24–24–8, last in the Metropolitan Division/Eastern Conference
Deadline Status
Seller
Deadline Cap Space
Current Cap Space: $63,619,668
Deadline Cap Space: $71,572,127
46/50 contracts, via CapFriendly
Draft Picks
2017: CAR 1st, CAR 2nd, NYR 2nd, PIT 2nd, CAR 3rd, conditional NJ 3rd, CAR 4th, BOS 5th, CAR 6th, CAR 7th
2018: CAR 1st, CAR 2nd, CAR 3rd, CAR 4th, CAR 5th, CAR 6th, CAR 7th
Trade Chips
Carolina’s best trade chip at the deadline was Ron Hainsey and GM Ron Francis did a great job in getting a strong return for the defenseman in a second-round pick and a prospect. Hurricanes fans should be happy about that haul, because that may be all they get. The reason that the Hainsey trade may be the only move that the ‘Canes make at the deadline is because they lack a wealth of attractive veterans on expiring contracts. Among their impending free agents are Viktor Stalberg, Jay McClement, and Matt Tennyson and it’s doubtful that any of that trio have drawn much interest around the league. Stalberg and McClement have just 17 points combined despite playing in nearly every game and Tennyson is hardly even an NHL-caliber player. The one outlier is Derek Ryan. Seemingly out of nowhere, Ryan has finally developed into an NHL regular in Carolina at the age of 30 and would cost almost nothing against the cap with a salary of just $600K (about a $125K pro-rated cap hit on March 1st). For cap-strapped contenders facing difficulties adding players, Ryan could be very attractive as a bottom-six depth forward. He has eight goals and ten assists in 42 games and has shown some versatility within the lineup. However, are the Hurricanes willing to let their diamond in the rough go that easily? Unless Ron Francis is given a fair-value offer, he may look to bring back Ryan for next season instead as a nice complementary player.
Players To Watch
F Derek Ryan, F Viktor Stalberg, F Jay McClement, D Matt Tennyson, F Andrej Nestrasil
Team Needs
1) Franchise Forward – The rebuild in Carolina has been much faster and more successful than anyone could have expected and the organization has put together a solid young core of forwards and defensemen. The list of impact starters age 24 or younger is unreal: Jeff Skinner, Victor Rask, Elias Lindholm, Teuvo Teravainen, Justin Faulk, Jaccob Slavin, Brett Pesce, Noah Hanifin and more. That doesn’t even include top prospects on the blue line like Jake Bean, Haydn Fleury, and Roland McKeown, 2016 first-round forward Julien Gauthier, and a near-guaranteed top-five pick this June. It’s an embarrassment of riches in the youth department in Raleigh, but if the ‘Canes want to climb the ranks of the Metropolitan, they need to move some young pieces to add a top forward. Not just a nice top-six player either; a star scorer. Colorado’s Duchene or Landeskog have specifically been mentioned, while Jordan Eberle, James van Riemsdyk, or Evander Kane, all reportedly available depending on who you ask and when, might be a nice addition to the “Redvolution” as well. With that said, a mega-deal like this seems very unlikely to form in the next week and could instead happen this summer.
2) Depth Defenseman – So what of the deadline? Don’t be surprised to see the Hurricanes sneak another defenseman on to the roster as part of any other moves they make. As discussed earlier this month, Carolina is in an Expansion Draft predicament with their blue liners, most of whom are so young that they don’t qualify for exposure. As of now, only the All-Star Faulk would fill the quota, and that certainly won’t be happening. The simplest move for Francis is to re-sign Tennyson or Klas Dahlbeck and simply expose one of them, but if Tennyson is traded or the team doesn’t want to keep either player around, a small trade to bring in a qualifying veteran would make sense.
Minor Transactions: 02/23/17
There are six games on tap in the National Hockey League tonight, including a big matchup between the New York Islanders and Montreal Canadiens that both teams need desperately to keep pace with the rest of the surging conference. There will be quite a few roster moves as teams get closer to the trade deadline, and we’ll have them all right here for you. Keep checking back as it will be updated throughout the day.
- A move that actually happened last night, the Anaheim Ducks called up Jhonas Enroth to backup Jonathan Bernier‘s amazing performance. John Gibson couldn’t go due to a lower-body injury—that is only listed as day-to-day—and thus the hottest goalie in the AHL was called up in reserve. We spoke about Enroth in the Ducks deadline preview, and how he could supplant Bernier if the team could find a buyer for him this week.
- The Washington Capitals have sent Travis Boyd back down after their game in Philadelphia last night. He was just there for insurance against an injury just before game time and now will return to Hershey for the time being.
- Jeff Glass apparently has done enough for the Chicago Blackhawks to keep him around. The former third-round pick that has played hockey all over the world signed a two-year deal today to stay in the Hawks’ system. The Blackhawks didn’t have a goaltender to expose in the upcoming expansion draft, as both Scott Darling (UFA) and Mac Carruth (RFA) are free agents this summer.
- Jeff Zatkoff has cleared waivers, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. That does not mean that he has been reassigned to the Ontario Reign however, as the Kings decide what to do with their goaltending. It sounds like Jonathan Quick is not quite ready to return, but is getting closer each day.
- The Boston Bruins have assigned Austin Czarnik to the AHL and sent down Joe Morrow on a conditioning stint. The baby Bruins also lost Zac Rinaldo for the rest of the season according to Mark Divver of the Providence Journal. He will have surgery on his wrist and will not play again this season.
- The Capitals have also recalled Riley Barber and Aaron Ness today, following the news that Matt Niskanen is likely out for tomorrow night’s game. To make room, the team has moved Andre Burakovsky to injured reserve.