Trade Deadline Primer: Vegas Golden Knights
As the calendar turns to March, the trade deadline is inching closer. Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Vegas Golden Knights.
Maybe more than any other season in their franchise’s brief history, this season seems to be one where the Vegas Golden Knights are truly pushing all their chips to the center of the table, going all-in on winning a Stanley Cup. Since losing their battle for the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl to the Montreal Canadiens to end their 2020-2021 season, the Golden Knights have been aggressive in pursuit of upgrades to their team. This offseason, they made one of the biggest trades the NHL has seen in the past few years, landing superstar center Jack Eichel from the Buffalo Sabres to fill a longstanding need for a star first-line center. With Eichel in tow, the task for coach Pete DeBoer’s side is clear: win the franchise’s first Stanley Cup, anything else will be disappointment, and GM Kelly McCrimmon and his front office enter trade deadline season with that mission in mind.
Record
30-21-4, 4th in the Pacific
Deadline Status
Buyer
Deadline Cap Space
$5.15MM today, $5.15MM in full-season space, 47/50 contracts used, 0/3 retention slots used per CapFriendly
Upcoming Draft Picks
2022: VGK 1st*, VGK 2nd, NYR 3rd, VGK 5th, CHI 5th, VGK 6th, VGK 7th
2023: VGK 1st*, VGK 2nd^, VGK 3rd, BUF 3rd**, VGK 4th, VGK 5th, VGK 6th, VGK 7th
* Whether Vegas owns their 2022 or 2023 1st rounder depends on where they finish this season. Should their 2022 pick end up inside the top-10, Buffalo would receive Vegas’ 2023 1st. If it is outside the top-10, Buffalo receives Vegas’ 2022 1st.
^ Vegas’ 2022 2nd round pick belongs to the Sabres unless Vegas’ 2022 1st round pick is inside the top-10, then the Sabres will instead receive Vegas’ 2024 2nd.
** Vegas receives Buffalo’s 2023 3rd round pick unless Vegas’ 2022 1st round pick is inside the top-10. If that happens, Vegas will instead receive Buffalo’s 2024 3rd round pick.
Trade Chips
The curse of the Golden Knights’ winning ways is that they typically find themselves with little room to work with below the salary cap. This year’s team is no different, and the aggression with which the Golden Knights’ front office has pursued upgrades for their team has left the team in a unique situation for this deadline season. The Golden Knights are, of course, cap compliant despite adding Jack Eichel‘s significant salary, but that was not done without a cost. Captain Mark Stone is on long-term injured reserve, as is defenseman Alec Martinez. Stone is expected to be out until the playoffs begin, in a similar way to how Nikita Kucherov‘s injury situation was handled last season. Martinez, on the other hand, is expected to return to the lineup eventually. That return gives Vegas essentially zero extra cap space to work with for this deadline season. That means that the team is in a situation where money entering the roster must be matched by money exiting the roster, making finding potential trade fits that much harder. 
That being said, should they choose to make upgrades at the deadline, the ideal candidate to be moved would be Evgeny Dadonov. Dadonov has not scored a point since January and his $5MM cap hit, if moved, could pave the way for Vegas to add a legitimate difference-maker to bolster their roster. Dadonov in total has 10 goals and 21 points in 53 games for Vegas since arriving in an offseason trade with the Senators, and he has two seasons left on his contract, a contract that also provides him with some trade protection. So it would definitely be a difficult deal to make, and Vegas could very well need to add sweeteners for a team to take on Dadonov’s contract. But if the team is set on going all-in on a Stanley Cup this season moving Dadonov is definitely their clearest way to the cap room required to add a useful player.
If moving Dadonov proves too difficult in an environment where cap space is at a premium, the other player Vegas could move to facilitate the addition of another player could be Mattias Janmark. Janmark, 29, was traded to Vegas at last year’s trade deadline and enjoyed a reasonably successful run with the team as a rental, scoring five points in 15 regular season games and eight points in 16 playoff games, including a game-7 hat-trick that clinched a series victory over the Minnesota Wild. Janmark has posted similar numbers this season, with seven goals and 17 assists, but he suffered an upper-body injury in a February 25th game versus the Coyotes and has not played since. Janmark’s injury combined with his expiring $2MM cap hit means that he is not immediately useful on the ice but incredibly useful to the Golden Knights as a salary-matching trade-chip at the deadline. So if Vegas can find a way to fit an addition at a cap number under Janmark’s cap number, expect him to be shipped away to facilitate that addition.
Others to Watch For: F Reilly Smith, F Nolan Patrick, G Laurent Brossoit
Team Needs
1) Cap Flexibility
The Vegas Golden Knights’ entire existence as a franchise has been marked by a consistent tendency to pursue aggressive upgrades to their roster. This is a team that has traded for two star players who captain other teams ,(Eichel and Max Pacioretty) and signed another as a free agent. (Alex Pietrangelo) They traded for Robin Lehner despite having Marc-Andre Fleury, the closest thing Vegas has to a franchise icon, on their roster. This is clearly a front office that wants to do something, and will do anything it takes to get an edge. But to do that they need space under the cap to make moves, which they are sorely lacking right now.
2) More Consistent Goaltending
By trading Fleury this offseason, the Knights made it clear that Lehner would be their franchise goaltender going forward. The 30-year-old Swede is an accomplished goaltender who can clearly be a #1, but he has been inconsistent this season, with a .907 save percentage, and he has also battled injuries. If Vegas is absolutely sure they need to win a Cup this season, perhaps they find a surer hand to play as Lehner’s backup instead of Laurent Brossoit and his .903 save percentage.
3) Cheap Depth Players
As has been mentioned ad nauseam, Vegas is all-in on winning a Stanley Cup this year. To win a Stanley Cup, there is very little margin for error. A team needs to be designed with great intent and coached to embody an identity that each player buys into. The players currently playing in Vegas’ bottom-6 as depth pieces, players like Michael Amadio and Jonas Rondbjerg, are decent enough players, but probably not the players coach DeBoer would want in a high-leverage playoff situation. The Knights at full strength are only an injury or two away from them, so a dark-horse priority going in the deadline for Vegas could be adding some more reliable and playoff-proven depth.
Photo Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Winnipeg Jets Activate Nikolaj Ehlers
The Winnipeg Jets have announced that star winger Nikolaj Ehlers has been activated off of long-term injured reserve. Ehlers, 26, has been out since a January contest versus the Washington Capitals where he had a knee-on-knee collision with Dmitry Orlov. That collision caused a knee injury that has kept him out of a significant portion of games for the Jets.
Before the injury, Ehlers was producing decently well for a Jets team in need of his scoring touch. He had 13 goals and 25 points in his 34 games played. But the Jets have disappointed this season, and since his absence they have continued to languish on the fringes of the Western Conference’s playoff race.
On a positive note, though, Ehlers seems to have avoided any significant damage with his knee injury. In a sports world where season-ending knee injuries are all too common, seeing Ehlers return to the Jets this quickly (especially after watching Ehlers need to be helped off the ice by a trainer in the immediate aftermath of his collision) should be uplifting for a Jets fanbase that has not been given a whole lot to celebrate in recent weeks. Additionally, Ehlers did get to spend time in his native Denmark during his recovery, as reported by Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun, and perhaps the fresh start brought on by Ehlers’ return can help spark the Jets’ playoff chances.
In an interview with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff affirmed his faith in his team’s ability to re-enter the playoff conversation, saying that he is “comfortable” with this year’s team and willing to trust them in their chase of the playoff spot most observers expected them to more convincingly earn this season. Cheveldayoff’s interview underscored his patient approach to such high-pressure situations like a trade deadline and a playoff race, meaning that Ehlers’ return will be unlikely to have a significant impact on the way the Jets approach the deadline season. Instead, Jets fans will have to settle on his return having a significant impact on the ice, because regardless of what management does moving forward it is clear this Jets team just got a major, immediate boost.
Blackhawks Make Front Office Changes
After announcing that Kyle Davidson would be the franchise’s next GM earlier this week, the Blackhawks have made further adjustments to their front office. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that the team has parted ways with two longtime executives: Mark Kelley and Ryan Stewart. This comes as the Blackhawks begin plotting a change of course as a franchise, with Davidson stating to the media that the team was planning on “more of a rebuild” of the club. The Blackhawks are currently 20-27-8, they do not figure to be in this season’s playoff race, and the departure of two long-term fixtures in the team’s front office adds to what has been a season of significant upheaval for one of the league’s most historic franchises.
For both Stewart and Kelley, rebuilding is not something they have had much experience with in their careers. Both have been with the Blackhawks for fifteen years, and both were working for the team for each of its three Stanley Cup victories in the salary cap era. In a story he penned about Stewart last year, Scott Powers of The Athletic wrote that Stewart was “responsible for a staff that scouts a wide array of amateur and pro players, including drafted pros in North America and Europe and potential free agents.” As for Kelley, as VP of Amateur Scouting for the past fifteen years he also had a significant role in the team’s cultivation of young talent. Drafting is an inexact science, and it is difficult to pin any draft success or failure on one person, given how scouting for an NHL team is very much a team process. That being said, as managers responsible for overseeing much of the team’s scouting operation, both Stewart and Kelley bear at least some responsibility for the state of the team’s roster and prospect system.
With their departures Kelley and Stewart leave a significant hole in the Blackhawks’ scouting operation. The club lacks draft capital thanks to the offseason trade for Seth Jones and the organization as a whole has a prospect pool that is not considered to be among the league’s deepest or most talent-rich. In order for Davidson to be able to execute on his grand plans to rebuild the franchise, the pipeline of young talent feeding Chicago’s roster needs to be strong. These moves, therefore, are part of the larger process to re-shape Chicago’s established order on that front. As for what the team will do from here, Mark Lazerus of The Athletic reports that the Blackhawks will have Director of Player Personnel Mike Doneghey oversee amateur scouting while the pro scouts will report to Davidson himself.
Submit Your Questions For The #PHRMailbag
The NHL trade deadline is now three weeks away, meaning the playoffs are starting to crest over the horizon. Five teams in the league have already reached the 55-game mark, and only the New York Islanders have yet to play 50. Trades have started, sort of, with Tyler Toffoli easily the biggest name dealt so far. But that won’t last long, as things are heating up all around the league as teams realize whether they’re really in the playoff hunt or just pretending at this point.
With that in mind, it’s time to run another edition of the PHR Mailbag. If you missed the last one, it was broken into two parts. In the first, our Brian La Rose examined the surging Los Angeles Kings, how the Boston Bruins might approach the trade deadline, and New Jersey’s goaltending situation moving forward. In the second, the New York Rangers’ deadline plans were discussed, along with the Philadelphia Flyers players that are pending free agents.
You can submit a question by using #PHRMailbag on Twitter or by leaving a comment down below. The mailbag will run on the weekend and answer as many questions as possible.
Snapshots: Knight, Maple Leafs, Canadiens
One of the most interesting notes in Frank Seravalli’s latest for Daily Faceoff is a report that the Arizona Coyotes brought up Spencer Knight from the Florida Panthers in negotiation for Jakob Chychrun earlier this season. The Panthers have turned down anything regard Knight, according to Seravalli, as the top prospect continues to play in the minor leagues.
It’s natural to wonder about Knight’s future in Florida, given the presence of Sergei Bobrovsky and his contract that extends through 2025-26, but the 20-year-old netminder is still an incredibly valuable asset that’s just getting his feet wet in professional hockey. Through 18 games with the Panthers this season he has a .898 save percentage but his time will come before long.
- Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas met with media today in Hamilton, at the site of the upcoming Heritage Classic game against Buffalo and cleared up some of the trade speculation around his team. The executive is not considering a goaltender addition at this point despite Jack Campbell and Petr Mrazek‘s recent struggles, and his focus is still on a defenseman, not a forward. With Jake Muzzin still hopefully coming back before the end of the season, Dubas explained that the team isn’t likley to make multiple moves at the deadline.
- The Montreal Canadiens have made another addition, hiring Adam Nicholas as director of hockey development. The founder of Stride Envy, a skill and skating development company, he has a resume that includes time with the Maple Leafs, the Chicago Steel of the USHL and UMass-Lowell.
Austin Poganski Placed On Waivers
March 4: Poganski has cleared waivers, according to Chris Johnston of TSN, and can now be assigned back to the minor leagues.
March 3: The Winnipeg Jets have placed Austin Poganski on waivers, according to CapFriendly. This is the second time he has appeared on waivers, after clearing just before the season began. Because of the number of games he has played in since then, he now has to clear again before being assigned to the minor leagues.
The placement of Poganski on waivers is another positive move for the Jets, who had Nikolaj Ehlers back at practice today in a regular jersey. The 26-year-old Ehlers hasn’t played since January 18, but appears to be on the precipice of a return to the lineup. The team will need to make some cap-related changes in order to be able to activate him from long-term injured reserve, likely including moving Poganski off the roster.
There’s a chance the 26-year-old is claimed, but not a big one. The former St. Louis Blues forward has played in 16 games this season and 22 for his career, yet is still looking for his first NHL point. They haven’t been as hard to come by at the minor league level, where he has 21 in 31 games this season, but things have been much more desolate in the NHL. Of course, he wasn’t really given much offensive opportunity in Winnipeg, averaging just over nine minutes a night mostly in defensive-zone situations.
Though normally he would be a restricted free agent at the end of the year, Poganski is actually one of those who will qualify for Group VI unrestricted free agent status, given how few games he has played to this point.
Trade Deadline Primer: Seattle Kraken
As the calendar turns to March, the trade deadline is inching closer. Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Seattle Kraken.
It hasn’t been the year that Seattle expected, with brutal goaltending and an anemic offense sinking the ship almost immediately. With Vegas the gold standard for expansion teams right in their face, the Kraken have been unable to find their sea legs to this point and now face a deadline as pure sellers. General manager Ron Francis has been open about the fact that he’ll have to move on from some of the names he picked in the expansion draft, including the first captain in franchise history. The word is also out that they will happily take on bad money or be third-party in a trade to add draft picks, something that may be extremely valuable to contenders looking to squeeze the most talent under a flat cap.
Record
17-34-4, 8th in the Pacific
Deadline Status
Seller
Deadline Cap Space
$7.13MM today, $25.02MM in full-season space, 0/3 retention slots used, 44/50 contracts used per CapFriendly
Upcoming Draft Picks
2022: SEA 1st, SEA 2nd, SEA 3rd, SEA 4th, CGY 4th, SEA 5th, SEA 6th, SEA 7th
2023: SEA 1st, SEA 2nd, WPG 2nd, SEA 3rd, SEA 4th, COL 4th, SEA 5th, SEA 6th, SEA 7th
Trade Chips
The most notable piece that the Kraken have to offer is captain Mark Giordano, who is on an expiring contract and carries a cap hit of $6.75MM. Earlier today it was reported that Giordano hasn’t even submitted his partial no-trade list, knowing that wherever he goes will be a contending team. He’s going somewhere though, as both the veteran defenseman and general manager have agreed on that already. Giordano could be a pretty substantial addition for anyone, especially if the Kraken are willing to retain half his contract so that more teams can fit him in financially. Last season, pending free agent David Savard landed the Columbus Blue Jackets a first- and third-round pick, while they also had to give up a fourth in order for a third party to retain salary. Some would argue that Giordano can still make a bigger impact than Savard, meaning that potentially could be the starting point, depending on how the market works out this season.
Beyond the captain though, there are many other expiring deals. Calle Jarnkrok, Marcus Johansson, Riley Sheahan, and Colin Blackwell could all carry varying levels of value for contenders, with the former two being the most intriguing. Jarnkrok and Johansson are both extremely versatile players with history at center (though both are likely better wingers at this point) and could slide into a team’s bottom-six with ease. While they may not be the most impactful acquisitions, they also probably won’t cost much in terms of assets.
Then there are players like Jared McCann, who is a pending restricted free agent and could potentially make a much more thorough impact on a contender this season. Seattle’s leading scorer, McCann has 21 goals and 33 points in 48 games. Obviously, that’s a player who could continue to help the Kraken in the future, but given he is a pending RFA just one year away from unrestricted free agency, they might want to cash in now.
Others, like Joonas Donskoi and Carson Soucy, are signed through 2022-23 but will hit the open market after that. The 29-year-old Donskoi is having a brutal year with just one goal in 54 games, but has proven in the past that he can be a nice complementary player if given the right linemates. Soucy too is an effective defenseman who probably shouldn’t be playing in a contender’s top-four, but could add some pretty nice depth on an inexpensive $2.75MM cap hit (before potential retention).
Others To Watch For: G Chris Driedger, F Mason Appleton, D Haydn Fleury
Team Needs
1) Draft Picks: It’s simple, the Kraken need to load up and build through the draft. Their expansion experience wasn’t good enough to make them a playoff contender right out of the gate and the free agent splurges were misplaced entirely. Matty Beniers is going to be the first true face of the franchise when he turns pro, but he’s going to need help. By the time March 21 is over, the Kraken should have another 2022 first-round pick in their hands, or the day might very well be considered a failure.
2) Flippable Contracts: There will be an opportunity though, to acquire players this deadline who are having a bad season and potentially flip them down the line when they are closer to expiring. You can see the Arizona Coyotes trying this tactic with names like Shayne Gostisbehere and Nick Ritchie–take them now with a sweetener, and send them out later for another asset. They’ll have to dig for the opportunities, but they are out there if you look hard enough.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
AHL Shuffle: 03/04/22
Seven games grace the NHL schedule this evening, including a big matchup between the Vegas Golden Knights and Anaheim Ducks. After some impressive work by other teams, Vegas and Anaheim are now fighting to try and keep pace in the Pacific Division. The Ducks, in particular, are at risk of falling out of the race, as they currently trail not only Vegas but also the Dallas Stars in a battle for the final wild card spot. As they and other teams prepare for action, we’ll keep track of all the minor league shuffling.
Atlantic Division
- The Toronto Maple Leafs have recalled Mac Hollowell from the AHL, giving them an extra defenseman for the game tomorrow night against the Vancouver Canucks. Hollowell has been good for the Toronto Marlies this season, racking up 18 points in 29 games. If he got into a game, it would be his NHL debut.
- The Montreal Canadiens have placed goaltender Andrew Hammond on injured reserve. Hammond suffered a lower-body injury in the team’s overtime win over the Calgary Flames. In a corresponding move, the Canadiens recalled goaltender Cayden Primeau from the AHL’s Laval Rocket on an emergency basis.
Metropolitan Division
- The Washington Capitals have returned Zach Fucale to the AHL, recalling Axel Jonsson-Fjallby in his place. Fucale’s assignment suggests that Ilya Samsonov is okay and will be able to dress for tomorrow’s game after leaving practice earlier this week. Jonsson-Fjallby has played in nine games this season for the Capitals, but is still looking for his first NHL goal.
Central Division
Pacific Division
- The Vegas Golden Knights have recalled Jake Leschyshyn once again, bringing up the young forward for the second time this month. Leschyshyn has played 20 NHL games this season, scoring one goal and four point.
- The Edmonton Oilers have recalled 2019 8th overall pick Philip Broberg from the Bakersfield Condors. Broberg, 20, has been up-and-down from Bakersfield for much of this season. He has had a good year for the Oilers’ AHL affiliate, with 19 points in 27 games, but that offense hasn’t translated to the NHL, where he has only a single point to his name in 17 career games.
This page will be updated throughout the day
Michael Del Zotto Drawing Interest
When it comes to the Ottawa Senators and the trade deadline, most point to Nick Paul, Chris Tierney, and the rest of the pending unrestricted free agents as the most likely targets. But there is another name, buried on the organizational depth chart, that should always be considered a trade candidate at deadline time. Michael Del Zotto, who has been traded three other times in his career, is drawing calls from around the league according to Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia.
Signed to a two-year, $4MM contract last July, things haven’t worked out for Del Zotto in Ottawa, where he has played just ten games this season. Instead, he’s spent most of the year in the minor leagues with the Belleville Senators, racking up nine goals and 22 points in 20 games for the minor league club. It’s something of a new experience for the 31-year-old defenseman, who stepped directly into the NHL in 2009 and stayed there, save for a brief 11-game tenure more than a decade ago.
In all, Del Zotto has more than 700 games of NHL experience and could still be a valuable depth addition for a contender looking for defensive help. The fact that he can still run a powerplay would give him a utility factor as an extra player, something that obviously attracted the St. Louis Blues in 2019 when they added him prior to their playoff run. Del Zotto wouldn’t end up playing for the Blues in the postseason, but his name is still on the Stanley Cup, a nice reward for the seven total games he played for the franchise.
It will be interesting to see what kind of market there would be for the veteran defenseman, given he’s signed through the 2022-23 season as well. That contract carries a cap hit of $2MM, meaning to even trade him the Senators may have to be willing to eat some of the remaining money. But for a contender trying to squeeze out value at the margins of a roster, you could probably do worse than a player with his level of experience.
Latest On Mark Giordano
In recent weeks, the Seattle Kraken made the decision that they would be trading Mark Giordano. He and Ron Francis, Kraken general manager, sat down and discussed the future and came to the conclusion that the team would trade its first captain, thinking of the future of the franchise above all else. Emily Kaplan of ESPN reports that though Giordano has a 10-team no-trade clause, he “has not even bothered giving it” to Francis and the Kraken front office, as he expects to go to a contender.
Kaplan lists the New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Florida Panthers, St. Louis Blues, and Carolina Hurricanes among those who have shown the most interest.
Giordano, 38, was a Norris Trophy winner in 2018-19, and still is producing at a high level for the Kraken. With 23 points in 50 games he is their highest-scoring defenseman, and with more than 21 minutes of ice time a night, he plays more than everyone except Adam Larsson. Any acquiring team wouldn’t likely be asking him to do as much, which could perhaps improve his performance even further for a short postseason run.
The Rangers have been linked to basically every player on the market this year as they try to parlay an incredible season by Igor Shesterkin into true contender status. With the relative youth of their blueline–Adam Fox, Ryan Lindgren, K’Andre Miller, Braden Schneider, Libor Hajek, Nils Lundkvist, and Zac Jones are all 24-and-under–Giordano would offer something that they don’t have in spades: experience.
In Toronto, the Maple Leafs already have Giordano’s old partner in T.J. Brodie, the player who helped him to that Norris season a few years ago. With Jake Muzzin‘s future up in the air after suffering multiple concussions, a Giordano-Brodie pairing could actually be considered the top unit, freeing Morgan Rielly to play in more offensive situations.
For Florida, adding one more defenseman could put them over the top as they’re already one of the deepest teams in the league at every position. With Aaron Ekblad, MacKenzie Weegar, and Gustav Forsling already in place, Giordano would likely be able to feast on more manageable minutes and matchups. The same could be said about Carolina, though Kaplan notes Francis may be loath to help his old club.
In St. Louis, the loss of Scott Perunovich and the disappointing play of Marco Scandella has opened up a potential spot on the left side to add a defenseman. Head coach Craig Berube was almost even a teammate of Giordano’s decades ago, playing two final seasons in Calgary just a year before the undrafted defenseman joined the organization. With a style predicated on quick puck movement and physicality, the veteran Giordano could actually seem like a perfect fit for the Central Division club.