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Alex Tuch

Pacific Notes: Ekman-Larsson, Stastny, Roussel

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It’s been a wildly inconsistent year for the Arizona Coyotes who have seen losing streaks like when they went 2-6-2 during one stretch, but have also had a four and a five-game winning streak as well this season. One issue has been the play of defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. While his numbers have been similar to his yearly totals, coach Rick Tocchet wants to see more from his new captain, according to The Athletic’s Craig Morgan (subscription required).

Tocchet wants to see Ekman-Larsson be the best player on the ice every game, which hasn’t always been the case. In the past 11 games, Ekman-Larsson has just three assists, which just isn’t enough for a team that still remains short on fire power. Tocchet needs Ekman-Larson to take that next step in his development after the team gave him a six-year, $33MM extension last March and named him captain during the offseason.

“There’s no question I want him to take charge,” Tocchet said. “In a 2-2 game when he gets the puck, I want him to walk the blue line with that look like, ‘I’m going to make the play’ or ‘I’m going to shoot the puck.’ When you have those games – and we’ve all seen those games — where you walk off and say, ‘Wow, 23! What a game out there!’ It’s when he’s engaged.”

  • The Vegas Golden Knights could be ready to get back one of their injured players as center Paul Stastny, who has been seen getting some skating and practice times in, will join the team on their upcoming road trip which starts Wednesday in New York and may even get into the lineup at some point during the trip, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal’s David Schoen.“Don’t be surprised if you see him early next week,” Vegas head coach Gerard Gallant said. Stastny has missed most of the season with a lower-body injury and has appeared in just three games so far this year. Stastny’s return should only add depth to a team that is still missing Erik Haula and has been forced to pair Max Pacioretty with third-liners Cody Eakin and Alex Tuch, although that line has fared quite well over the past few weeks.
  • While there was plenty of criticism during the offseason when the Vancouver Canucks signed forward Antoine Roussel to a four-year, $12MM deal, The Province’s Ben Kuzma writes that Roussel is proving his value as he has quickly taken over the role that Derek Dorsett once had with the team. The 29-year-old has produced a bit on the ice as well with three goals, 12 points and 67 penalty minutes and is on-pace to eclipse his career high of 29 points. “The one thing about Roussel is his engine always runs hot and he’s always competing, and that reminds me a little bit of Dorsett,” Vancouver head coach Travis Green said. “They care about their teammates and want to win desperately. That’s part of the culture we’re trying to create.”

Max Pacioretty, Victor Hedman Exit Game With Head Injuries

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UPDATE (10/27): Both teams have now issued updates statuses on the injured players. Despite the optics of each hit and the initial optimism from the Lightning, it seems that Hedman has likely suffered a worse injury than Pacioretty. Tampa Bay reports that their top defender will be re-evaluated in a week after an upper-body injury (while also noting that Ondrej Palat is day-to-day with a lower-body injury). Hedman will certainly miss the Bolts’ game against the Coyotes today and match-ups with New Jersey and Nashville later this week as well. His status for Tampa’s games against division rivals Montreal and Ottawa are in question. Meanwhile, Golden Knights head coach Gerard Gallant revealed that Pacioretty is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Given the time taken to update his condition, it is likely that Pacioretty was evaluated for a concussion but seemingly avoided one. Vegas also faces the Senators and Predators in upcoming games and the winger’s availability could be a game-time decision for each.

10/26: The Vegas Golden Knights are facing a possible absence from big off-season trade acquisition Max Pacioretty, while the Tampa Bay Lightning could be without defensive mainstay Victor Hedman. The veteran winger first left Friday night’s game between the two teams after suffering an apparent head injury. Lightning defenseman Braydon Coburn was the culprit, as he delivered a high hit on Pacioretty just five minutes into the contest. (video) Hedman was then the victim of an awkward collision with Knights forward Ryan Reaves in the second period that sent him toppling into the boards. Hedman appeared to injure his head/neck area as he landed. (video)

As the video shows, Pacioretty was carrying the puck and Coburn was simply playing his man. As Pacioretty cuts to the right, Coburn lands a shoulder right to his face. Pacioretty did get right back up, but quickly skated off and looked uneasy. “Patch” did not return to the game and Vegas has not issued an update on his status. An update should be expected soon, with the Golden Knights set to host the Ottawa Senators on Sunday and potentially in need of a roster move.

In contrast, Tampa Bay was quick to rule out Hedman, as The Athletic’s Joe Smith received word before the end of the period. Reaves hit itself was not bad, but caught Hedman off balance. The superstar defenseman crashed into the boards and quickly skated off the ice once he was back on his feet. It was unclear whether his head injury was more of a concussion concern, like Pacioretty’s, or instead a possible neck issue as a result of an awkward landing.

If Pacioretty did indeed suffer a serious head injury that will sideline him for some time, Vegas will have to make up for his offense. The former Montreal Canadiens star has only two goals through nine games, but is a five-time 60+ point player. Between he and Paul Stastny, out with a lower-body injury, the Knights would be without their two major off-season additions and expected top-six core contributors. Fortunately, the team has Alex Tuch back from the injured reserve to help pick up the slack. Cody Eakin, who has four points in six games while dealing with injuries of his own, will also be expected to step up. A Hedman absence would be a major loss for the Bolts, but not one that would be impossible to overcome. Between Ryan McDonagh, Mikhail Sergachev, and Coburn, the Tampa lefties will be leaned upon more. Slater Koekkoek would also be likely to see some action, filling Hedman’s roster spot. With a game tomorrow at the Arizona Coyotes, it would be no surprise to see the reigning Norris Trophy winner sit at least one game. More information on the status of both players should be available soon.

Alex Tuch Activated Off Injured Reserve

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Fresh off inking his seven-year, $33.25MM contract extension, Alex Tuch is ready to make an impact for the Vegas Golden Knights. The team has activated him off injured reserve, and expects him to make his season debut tonight against the Vancouver Canucks. Tuch is an important piece of the Golden Knights offense, and with Paul Stastny still out the second line could use a boost. Deryk Engelland has been placed on IR to make room on the roster, as the big defenseman hasn’t played since suffering an injury on October 13th.

Tuch, 22, was given such a large contract recently despite his lack of experience because of his importance to the Golden Knights. His size and physicality is extremely useful in the offensive zone, and his puck skills are quite excellent for a player of his stature. The 6’4″, 222-lbs winger was picked 18th overall in 2014 by the Minnesota Wild, and came into his own with the Golden Knights last season, scoring 15 goals and 37 points in the regular season before adding another 10 points in the playoffs. Without players like Tuch and Stastny in the lineup to replace some of the outgoing offensive talent from last season like David Perron and James Neal, the Golden Knights have been relatively muted in the opponent’s end. The team has scored just 18 goals through their first eight games, and even in their wins have been relatively contained at even strength.

The team is on a three-game winning streak now however, and with three games left in their current homestand could jump right back into contention for the Central Division title. While it’s obviously incredibly early, falling behind the likes of San Jose in the first few weeks can make the entire season a struggle to catch up. Tuch’s first test will be to get on the ice and make it through a game without re-injury, before hopefully taking the next step in his development as a premiere power forward in the league.

Pacific Notes: Gibson, Tuch, Eriksson, Thornton

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The Anaheim Ducks know they can’t keep relying on the play of goaltender John Gibson, who has saved the team with his impressive play. Most recently Gibson sustained a 44-shot performance on Saturday (many of which were high-danger shots) against the Golden Knights, who walked away with a 3-1 win. Gibson wasn’t thrilled with the team’s inability to keep those shots down, according to The Athletic’s Josh Cooper (subscription required).

“I think we just need to be better. It’s getting old,” Gibson said with a little smirk after the 3-1 loss where he made 42 saves and his team managed just 18 shots on goal. “You see the game. You can see what we’re doing. It’s pretty self explanatory. We’re not playing to the level that I think we’re capable of playing and I think we’re just being too satisfied with just being average.”

Anaheim remains in first place in the Pacific Division at 5-2-1, but are dead last in the NHL in shots allowed as they have yielded an average of 37.0 shots per game. Gibson has been able to protect the team with his play as he boasts a .949 save percentage in his seven appearances and has a 1.91 GAA so far, but it’s unlikely he can keep that up.

“We’re not playing the right way,” coach Randy Carlyle said. “We’re loose in coverage and we’re not competitive enough and when you’re not competitive enough it means they’re starting with the puck and winning more of those battles and they have the puck more than you do.”

  • The Vegas Golden Knights finally got winger Alex Tuch back on the ice Sunday as the practiced with the team in a non-contact sweater, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal’s David Schoen. Tuch, who just signed a seven-year, $33.25MM contract, hasn’t appeared in a game for Vegas this season. The 22-year-old has been out since Sept. 30 with an injury. With that new deal in hand, The Athletic’s Jesse Granger (subscription required) wonders how good Tuch can actually be, considering the team only has his rookie season’s numbers of 15 goals and 37 points, which mostly had him on the team’s third line. The 6-foot-4, 220-pounder is great at getting into the corners and doing the dirty work and the scribe compares him to a young Milan Lucic, who also put up similar numbers as a rookie and eventually become a consistent 20-goal scorer for years. “We’re expecting him to get better every year, and we’re expecting big things from him this year and he should be back soon,” coach Gerard Gallant said. “He’s a good young player but he has to keep getting better. He’s not elite yet. He’s far from elite, and we want him to get to be elite someday.”
  • With no goals in eight games, there has been quite a bit of criticism that has been thrown at Vancouver Canucks winger Loui Eriksson, the team’s highest paid player at $6MM per year. Regardless head coach Travis Green vigorously defended his veteran forward on Saturday, according to TSN’s Jeff Patterson. “He’s second on our team in 5-on-5 points and second in plus-minus and it’s seven games, not 50,” said Green. “He’s on the second power-play unit and not the first. He has done some good things and it’s not just about goals with Loui. There a lots of guys I want more out of and if I say I want more out of Loui, everyone is up in arms about it. I thought he was playing good with Elias Pettersson. He was good defensively and does some subtle things that people don’t notice — nor does he get recognition for – and I’m not worried about Eriksson, I can tell you that.”
  • The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz reports that center Joe Thornton remains day-to-day after he was placed on injured reserve due to swelling in his surgically repaired knee. However, the 39-year-old is expected to travel with the team for their upcoming three-game road trip. “I don’t know if he’ll play or not,” said Sharks coach Peter DeBoer. Thornton, however, said he hopes to play this week.

Vegas Golden Knights Sign Alex Tuch To Seven-Year Extension

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The Vegas Golden Knights have locked up another member of their core, signing Alex Tuch to a seven-year extension that carries an average annual value of $4.75MM. Tuch is currently working his way back from injury, and is in the final season of his entry-level contract. He was scheduled to become a restricted free agent next offseason, but will not have to worry about negotiating with the Golden Knights for quite some time. The deal includes no signing bonuses, and will have just a five team no-trade clause during the last three seasons.

Tuch, 22, came to the Golden Knights through an expansion draft agreement with the Minnesota Wild, and flourished in his first year in the NHL. In 78 games last season he scored 15 goals and 37 points, while becoming a big body that the team could deploy in almost any situation. With excellent puck skills and creativity, Tuch is more than just a physical presence on the ice, but can likely thank Tom Wilson for at least some of this contract. The team obviously saw the value in having some size up front, and committed nearly as much money to Tuch as to Jonathan Marchessault, one of their offensive leaders.

That $4.75MM is a bit surprising for a player who has just 84 regular season games under his belt, but it’s not like Tuch came out of nowhere. Selected 18th overall in 2014, he starred at Boston College for two seasons before making a successful jump to the AHL’s Iowa Wild. Though the 6’4″ winger may not have incredible finishing skills in tight, he can routinely get the puck to the dangerous areas and create opportunities for himself and his linemates. That was no more apparent than during the Golden Knights’ Stanley Cup Finals run, in which Tuch scored six goals including two game-winners in 20 games. His ten postseason points put him only behind Marchessault, Reilly Smith, William Karlsson and James Neal up front, showing just how important he is to the Vegas attack.

Still, there’s obviously risk involved here for the Golden Knights. Though the team started with a clean balance sheet and the entire salary cap to work with, they’ve now committed more than $60MM to next season on just 15 players and have huge contracts to negotiate with William Karlsson and Nate Schmidt. They’re by no means in trouble with numbers like that, but they also can’t really weaponize their cap space like they once did, and take on dead money like David Clarkson. In just a short period of time, the Golden Knights have put themselves in a situation just like most of the other teams in the league, with plenty of money committed long-term. Tuch becomes the eighth player signed at least through the 2021-22 season.

Betting on Tuch is another indication that the front office in Vegas believes that last year was no fluke. Though they’re off to a less than stellar start this season, they believe this core is still capable of taking the team to the playoffs and competing there for years to come. That’s why the team went out and signed Paul Stastny in the offseason to replace some of Neal’s outgoing offense, and then traded for and extended Max Pacioretty just before the beginning of the season. The expansion franchise is in win-now mode, while still having a huge pile of draft picks to select over the next few seasons.

Tuch will become the fourth-highest paid forward on the Golden Knights next season, though Karlsson is sure to push him down a spot with whatever deal he works out with the team. That’s because with a deal of this length he’s selling off three years of unrestricted free agency, and a chance to make even more money. The young forward wouldn’t have had arbitration rights in 2019, but now won’t even have to consider a long hard negotiation with the team. He’ll now have the certainty of playing in Vegas for a long time, and becoming one of the real faces of the new franchise.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was the first to break news of the contract, while Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reported details of the no-trade clause.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Injury Notes: Tuch, Johns, Hayton

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Although the nature of his injury remains a complete mystery, Vegas Golden Knights forward Alex Tuch is headed to the injured reserve. The team announced this evening that the young power forward has been placed on IR, but did not add any further detail to the release. Tuch’s unavailability paired with the recent demotions of Daniel Carr and Curtis McKenzie leaves the Knights with just twelve healthy forwards and an open roster spot heading into their opener, indicating that the team will soon name a replacement to the roster, likely a recall from the AHL’s Chicago Wolves. Meanwhile, Tuch is eligible to return on October 8th, when Vegas travels to his hometown Buffalo Sabres. The Golden Knights will try to get Tuch back to full strength as soon as possible, as the 22-year-old recorded 37 points in his first full NHL season last year and appears primed for a breakout campaign in 2018-19.

  • The Dallas Stars clarified the status of defenseman Stephen Johns today, while also shedding light on their recent acquisition of fellow right-handed defenseman Connor Carrick. Sportsday’s Matthew DeFranks writes that Johns has been dealing with post-traumatic headaches over the past few weeks and the condition has landed him on the injured reserve. While head coach Jim Montgomery indicated that Johns could return to practice as soon as Wednesday – he has only practiced once since September 16th – but there is no timeline for his return to game action. The team will likely take it slow while Johns works through a sensitive diagnosis and in the meantime Carrick can help to pick up the slack. Johns was one of Dallas’ more consistent blue liners last season and the team will welcome him back when he is ready to go. Outside of Johns and forward Valeri Nichushkin, out day-to-day with a lower body injury, the Stars have had good luck with injuries in camp and enter the regular season with a solid depth chart of healthy players.
  • Last week, we noted that the Arizona Coyotes had reached the maximum of 50 contracts for the organization and had technically exceeded the limit with entry-level contracts for Barrett Hayton and Pierre-Olivier Joseph. However, the two youngsters were expected to be returned to juniors which would discount their contracts against the limit. While Joseph has returned to the QMJHL’s Charlottetown Islanders, Hayton has in fact been officially named to the opening night roster, the team announced. How does such a move work? Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that Hayton will not count against the contract limit until he has played in the minimum ten games for his contract to toll. As such, Hayton’s stay in the desert could be predetermined to just a short nine-game stint. However, if he wins a long-term spot on the roster, the Coyotes will be pressed to trade away one or more players under contract to make space. Why give Hayton this chance considering their roster inflexibility? Arizona is currently dealing with a laundry list of injuries, with Alex Galchenyuk, Christian Dvorak, and Josh Archibald on injured reserve and Nick Merkley additionally sidelined. The recent first-round pick may present the best opportunity in the system to make up for these losses.

Pacific Notes: Brannstrom, Goldobin, Rattie, Suomela

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The Vegas Goldent Knights are in a much different situation than they were a season ago when there were little to no expectations in front of them. The team made the decision to protect their young prospects, returning them all to juniors as well as sending several key prospects such as Shea Theodore and Alex Tuch to the Chicago Wolves of the AHL at the start of the season to protect as many of their players as possible.

However, this year looks like a whole different story. With the team without Nate Schmidt for 20 games and Theodore, who is holding out without a contract, there are many opportunities available to their young defensive prospects and several of them remain in camp, including Erik Brannstrom, Nicolas Hague and Jake Bischoff and it’s possible the team may keep one of them. Ken Boehlke of SinBin Vegas writes that head coach Gerard Gallant may have tipped his hand when asked about the prospects today.

“It’s always been we’re taking our best players,” said Gallant. “It’s not like the situation we had last year, if that’s what your trying to get to, it’s not like that situation, we want to win it’s a completely different scenario than it was last year.”

At the moment, the scribe writes that Brannstrom, the Golden Knights’ 15th-overall pick in 2017 is the leading candidate to win a NHL job. However, Hague, the team’s second-rounder in 2017, has also been extremely impressive on the power play.

  • J.D. Burke of The Athletic (subscription required) released his stock report and writes that Vancouver Canucks winger Nikolay Goldobin has really impressed the team in the preseason and has his stock soaring high. The winger had a strong end-run with the Canucks late last season and the team had hoped that the 22-year-old might continue that streak this year. Goldobin has thrived on the team’s first line next to rookie Elias Pettersson and veteran Sven Baertschi. He’s improved his play and has proven to be both fitter and faster this season.
  • Terry Jones of the Edmonton Sun writes that the Edmonton Oilers should be happy with the impressive play of many of their young wingers, including Ty Rattie, Kailer Yamamoto and Jesse Puljujarvi. Rattie may be the most impressive player so far as the 25-year-old has potted four goals and three assists in just two preseason games and is expected to play on the team’s first line alongside Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins when the regular season begins.
  • When the San Jose Sharks included center Chris Tierney in the Erik Karlsson trade with the Ottawa Senators, it opened up a spot in the Sharks lineup and two youngsters are quietly fighting hard for that center position, according to The Mercury News’ Curtis Pashelka. Both Antti Suomela and Rourke Chartier have been impressive in recent preseason games as Suomela had two goals and an assist in his second preseason game on Thursday, while Chartier has had a goal and three assists in two games. Suomela came over from Finland’s Liiga after posting 43 goals over the last two seasons there. Cartier suffered through an injury-plagued season with the San Jose Barracuda in which he played in just 28 games, but still produced 21 points in that time.

Snapshots: Stastny, Hextall, Klefbom

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The Vegas Golden Knights may have lost a pair of high-end forwards in James Neal and David Perron, but the team did bring in an important free agent this offseason when they signed center Paul Stastny to a three-year deal. The 32-year-old center showed off his impressive skills after he was traded to the Winnipeg Jets from St. Louis at the trade deadline. Stastny was given the role of anchoring a line with their star youngsters’ Patrik Laine and Nikolaj Ehlers and that line was a key part of the team’s deep playoff run, before being eliminated by Vegas.

Now ironically in Vegas and expected to center the team’s second line, Stastny said he spends a lot of his offseason training much differently considering that he’s entering that portion of a players’ career where a decline begins. Stastny told The Athletic’s Ryan Clark (subscription required) that he spends a lot of time focusing on off-ice things, especially his diet.

“Trying to keep up with your diet, trying to stay lean, trying to stay quick because as you get older, you might lose that step,” Stastny said. “The game’s changed from my first year where it was a lot heavier, stronger, touch and grabbing to know where it’s just not as much physical. A lot more skating and you gotta keep with that endurance as much as you can.”

Stastny, who posted 16 goals and 53 points between St. Louis and Winnipeg, expects to join the team’s second line between Alex Tuch and either Erik Haula or Tomas Tatar.

  • David Isaac of the Courier Post interviewed Philadelphia Flyers head coach Ron Hextall, who said in the Q&A that the team looked into upgrading their bottom-six this year in hopes of improving their penalty kill, which struggled last year, but felt they were unable to do that. The special teams’ unit played better over the final 25 games, according to Hextall, but he would still like to add a penalty killing forward, if possible. “I’m open to it, but it would probably be more of a lateral move on the market rather than a free agent,” Hextall said. “It would be a forward. We’d like to add a penalty-killing forward but to this point there’s been nothing there that’s made enough sense for us to move.”
  • The Edmonton Journal’s Kurt Leavins wonders if this is the year that defenseman Oscar Klefbom puts it all together, especially now that reports are coming in that say he’s 100 percent already with just a couple of weeks before training camp. The 25-year-old had a breakout season in 2016-17 when he tallied 12 goals and 38 points, but struggled through an injury-plagued 2017-18. Now healthy, the scribe believes this is the year he takes that next step.

What To Expect From Tomas Tatar In 2018-19

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A seemingly innocuous interview with Vegas Golden Knights free agency prize Paul Stastny actually ended up revealing quite a lot about the strange state of one of his new teammates. SinBin’s Ken Boehlke writes that Stastny, while appearing on the Golden Knight’s podcast, was asked who he believes his line mates could be this season. His answer: Alex Tuch and Erik Haula. Stastny made no mention of Vegas’ big trade deadline acquisition, Tomas Tatar, and Boehlke infers that this could mean trouble for the young forward moving forward.

If Stastny’s prediction proves true, then he, Tuch, and Haula would join the surefire top line of William Karlsson between Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith in the Knights’ top six. That would leave Tatar with a bottom-six role and Vegas is not exactly shaping up to have an offensively inclined group in that bottom half. Tatar will be joined by veteran grinders Ryan Reaves, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, and William Carrier who all seem slotted for a fourth line role. That would leave Tatar with Cody Eakin and one of a number of prospects or fringe players on the third line. Among the candidates are Oscar Lindberg, Tomas Nosek, Ryan Carpenter, Daniel Carr, Tomas Hyka, and Curtis McKenzie. None of that group truly inspires confidence as the final piece of the line with Tatar and Eakin. This begs the question: what role does Tatar have on this team?

Even if you don’t put much stock in Stastny’s comments, there is no doubting that Tatar has been less than impressive since being traded to Vegas from the Detroit Red Wings. The three-time 45+ point scorer only registered six points in 20 games down the stretch for the Knights and was a frequent healthy scratch in the postseason, adding just two points in eight games. Tatar is a strong possession player who has proven to be a capable goal scorer in the past, but lacks the two-way game to make a living in a checking role. At $5.3MM, in addition to the trade cost of three high draft picks, it is hard to imagine that Vegas wants to play him in that role either. Tatar needs to find a fit on this roster, either on the second line with Stastny or as a transformative presence on the third line. The Golden Knights are far more shallow up front this season than they were last year and can hardly afford to deal with ineffective or inconsistent play from their biggest trade investment to date. If Tatar does struggle, he may easily wind up wearing out his welcome with the Knights as he did with the Red Wings.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Vegas Golden Knights

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Navigating the Salary Cap is probably one of the more important tasks for any general manager to have. Teams that can avert total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2018-19 season. This will focus more on those players who are integral parts of the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.

Vegas Golden Knights

Current Cap Hit: $70,812,500 (under the $79.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Alex Tuch (One year remaining, $925K)
D Zach Whitecloud (Two years remaining, $925K)

Among the many things that went right for Vegas was the play of Tuch, who was a surprise in training camp and quickly earned himself a full-time role. The 6-foot-4, 222-pound winger had an impressive rookie season with the Golden Knights, scoring 15 goals and 37 points with much of his playing time coming with the team’s third line. He only improved over time, showing an ability to get into the corners and extend offensive opportunities for the team. He tallied six goals in the playoffs as well, which allowed the Golden Knights to let go veterans James Neal and David Perron, knowing that the 22-year-old Tuch is ready to take his game to the next level. With one year remaining on his entry-level deal, expect him to become a key restricted free agent for the team next season.

Potential Bonuses

Tuch: $93K
Whitecloud: $93K

Total: $186K

One Year Remaining, Non Entry-Level

F William Karlsson ($5.25MM, RFA)
D Nate Schmidt ($2.23MM, UFA)
F Oscar Lindberg ($1.7MM, UFA)
D Deryk Engelland ($1.5MM, UFA)
F Pierre-Edouard Bellemare ($1.45MM, UFA)
F Tomas Nosek ($963K, RFA)
F Ryan Carpenter ($650K, UFA)
D Brad Hunt ($650K, UFA)
G Malcolm Subban ($650K, RFA)

The most important piece the Vegas Golden Knights need to lock up is Karlsson, who just signed a one-year deal with Vegas Saturday. However, now the team has just one year to lock up Karlsson, the team’s top scorer, to a long-term extension. Less than a year, actually, as the team can’t agree to an extension until Jan. 1, 2019. That gives Vegas time to see how 25-year-old will respond in his second year. After piling up 43 goals last season (and seven more in the playoffs), the team wants to see that he can put up similar numbers before handing him a major deal considering the most he’s ever scored in his NHL career was nine goals.

The team will also have to lock up the speedy Schmidt, as well to a long-term deal at some point. The 27-year-old was a key figure on the Golden Knights defense, posting career highs of five goals and 36 points, but also showed his mettle in the playoffs, putting up another three goals and seven points. He could easily get a similar deal to the one that Miller signed with the team (four years, $15.5MM) earlier in the offseason. With an influx of prospects likely to hitting the team for the 2019-20 season, several veterans will have to prove they deserve new contracts this coming  year, including Lindberg, Bellemare, Engelland, Carpenter, Hunt and Subban, although unless someone has a breakout year, none should cost the team too much.

Two Years Remaining

F David Clarkson ($5.25MM, UFA)
F Cody Eakin ($3.85MM, UFA)
F Ryan Reaves ($2.78MM, UFA)
F Erik Haula ($2.75MM, UFA)
D Nick Holden ($2.2MM, UFA)
D Jonathon Merrill ($1.38MM, UFA)
F William Carrier ($725K, RFA)

The team likely will have to pay up if they want to keep Haula. The team’s second-line center may move to the third line now that the team locked up Stastny to a free agent deal. However, if Huala can continue to produce like he did last season, the 27-year-old should be able to fetch a nice contract. He had a career-high in goals last season as he scored 29 and 55 points.

The team should also recoup some of their losses as well in two years as Clarkson’s deal will expire, so that will free up $5.25MM for the team as the team currently has to wait till the start of the season before they can place his contract on LTIR. Others like Eakin and Reaves will likely have to earn another deal over the next two seasons. Both had solid showings for Vegas this year, but will have to prove their consistency. While Reaves deal looks overpaid on paper, the team opted to give him three years worth of money as long as he only signed for two years.

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