Vegas Golden Knights Recall Michael Hutchinson
An unfortunate theme in recent seasons for the Vegas Golden Knights has returned. As the Las Vegas Sun’s Danny Webster reports, goalie Adin Hill is banged up after the team’s last game Saturday, and the Golden Knights have recalled Michael Hutchinson from the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights.
Hill played the entirety of Saturday’s win against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Still, he didn’t practice today after taking a “bump” during the game, head coach Bruce Cassidy told reporters today.
If Hill can’t dress for tomorrow’s road tilt against the Chicago Blackhawks, Vegas will momentarily be down to their third- and fourth-string netminders. Starter Logan Thompson is week-to-week with a lower-body injury sustained over a week ago. Hutchinson would back up Laurent Brossoit, who’s also yet to play an NHL game this season after slipping behind Thompson and Hill on the team’s depth chart.
None of that considers Robin Lehner, who remains on long-term injured reserve with a hip injury and won’t play this season.
Hutchinson, 32, has played just seven games for the Silver Knights this season after signing a two-way contract with Vegas as an unrestricted free agent last summer. He also appeared in two games for Team Canada at the Spengler Cup tournament. A veteran of 137 NHL games and 209 AHL games, Hutchinson has just one win and a .897 save percentage in Henderson this year.
Henderson Silver Knights Receive Gemel Smith On Assignment From Tampa Bay
- In a puzzling move, the Tampa Bay Lightning today loaned forward Gemel Smith to the Henderson Silver Knights, the AHL affiliate of the Vegas Golden Knights. Tampa’s affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, announced the news this afternoon. Smith hasn’t played with the Lightning this season, but has lit up the minors with 37 points in 35 games with Syracuse thus far. It’s unclear what, if any, compensation Syracuse might receive for losing their third-leading scorer to a different organization.
More Teams Showing Interest In Patrick Kane
With Vladimir Tarasenko now off the market following his trade earlier this week, Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane is starting to generate more attention. Earlier this week, he was linked to the Stars and the Rangers (with New York likely out of the picture now following the Tarasenko deal). Three more teams have been added to that mix as Scott Powers and Mark Lazerus of The Athletic report (subscription link) that the Hurricanes, Wild, and Golden Knights have confirmed interest in the veteran.
Of course, it must also be noted that Kane might not necessarily have interest in any of those teams. The 34-year-old has a full no-move clause in his deal and if he decides that he’s willing to waive it, it’s expected that the shortlist of options he’d provide Chicago with would be quite small, not unlike what happened with Claude Giroux last season when he okayed a trade from Philadelphia.
Carolina, Minnesota, and Vegas all have a fair amount of cap space which presents an opportunity where they might not need a third team to be involved to retain an extra 25% of the $10.5MM contract, assuming Chicago retains 50% as expected. For the Hurricanes, Max Pacioretty’s season-ending Achilles injury opened up $7MM in LTIR room while the Golden Knights have plenty of room (at least for the time being) with Mark Stone and his $9.5MM eligible for LTIR; he hasn’t been placed there just yet. Meanwhile, Minnesota has banked enough cap space (per CapFriendly) that they could absorb Kane’s contract outright.
What’s notable about these suitors – including Dallas from earlier – is that all of them project to be short-term options only for Kane. With their existing commitments for next season, there’s basically no way they could afford the 16-year veteran at market value. Would Kane want to go somewhere as a strict rental and then hit the open market in July or might his preference be to land with a team that has the intention to keep him for 2023-24 and beyond? That will certainly be a question he ponders over the next couple of weeks before notifying Chicago of his intentions.
Vegas Golden Knights Linked To James Van Riemsdyk
- Another name that was brought up as being on the market is that of veteran Philadelphia Flyers forward James van Riemsdyk. The 33-year-old has scored a healthy 21 points in 34 games this season, and would in all likelihood give a team additional scoring help at a lower cost than some of the other forward options on the market, such as Meier or Bertuzzi. Marek linked van Riemsdyk to three teams: the Winnipeg Jets, Minnesota Wild, and Vegas Golden Knights.
Logan Thompson Out Week-To-Week, Vegas Recalls Laurent Brossoit
Vegas Golden Knights All-Star netminder Logan Thompson is out week-to-week with a lower-body injury sustained Thursday against the Minnesota Wild, reports Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Sun. The team announced Saturday morning that Laurent Brossoit has been recalled from the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights to stand in.
Thompson, 25, has been one of the best feel-good stories in the NHL over the past calendar year. Taking over the starting role late last season, Thompson played exceptionally well as the injury-stricken Golden Knights battled to make the playoffs but ultimately failed. It’s a different story this year, as Thompson, now the full-time starter, has the Golden Knights in the Pacific Division lead with a .914 save percentage and a 20-13-3 record in 36 games.
Thompson was credited with winning Vegas’ 5-1 win against the Wild Thursday but left the game early in the third period. Moving to his left, attempting to make a save on a flurry of plays, he appeared to strain something in his left leg and was helped off the ice.
In the interim, the starting role now falls to Adin Hill, who’s had an inconsistent first year in Vegas. He’s been on the upswing lately, though, a good sign for a Golden Knights team that can’t fall back in a tight Pacific race. Hill has a .909 save percentage and an 11-5-1 record in 20 games.
Brossoit comes up from Henderson after slipping to third on Vegas’ goalie depth chart after backing up Robin Lehner for most of last season. Injured to start the 2022-23 season, he was waived and assigned to Henderson after the strong play of Thompson and Hill. Now in his potential first NHL opportunity this season, Brossoit has two shutouts, a .909 save percentage, and an 8-11-3 record in the minors.
Mark Stone Could Return In Playoffs
- Vegas Golden Knights captain Mark Stone was listed out indefinitely after undergoing back surgery, but head coach Bruce Cassidy wouldn’t rule him out completely when asked today. Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Sun relays Cassidy’s comments that there could be an “opportunity” for Stone’s return if the Golden Knights can make the playoffs. Vegas currently sits in the third Pacific Division spot but holds a tenuous lead over the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames.
Brossoit Acknowledges Some Frustration In Not Yet Being Recalled
- Golden Knights goaltender Laurent Brossoit admitted to Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Sun that he sometimes feels frustrated that he hasn’t had a chance to get back up to Vegas. He cleared waivers back in November after being cleared to return from his hip injury and he has been down with the Silver Knights ever since. The 29-year-old has a 2.77 GAA with a .906 SV% in 22 games with Henderson and is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer so a return to the top level would certainly help his case on the open market.
Mark Stone Undergoes Back Surgery, Out Indefinitely
Vegas Golden Knights captain Mark Stone underwent back surgery on Tuesday and is out indefinitely, according to a release from the team. The team expects Stone to make a full recovery.
This is Stone’s second major back injury concern in as many seasons. He was limited to just 37 games last season with back issues, which Stone noted caused severe nerve pain. Stone underwent an offseason back surgery and came back ready to go for the 2022-23 campaign.
The Winnipeg-born winger is in the fourth season of an eight-year, $76MM contract extension he signed with Vegas in March 2019. Considering Stone’s impact on the team and franchise, Vegas’ acquisition price of Oscar Lindberg, Erik Brannstrom, and a 2020 second-round pick to get Stone from the Ottawa Senators seems tame in hindsight.
With just over two months left in the regular season, it’s a fair bet to say Stone won’t play again in the regular season. It opens the possibility for Vegas to place Stone’s $9.5MM cap hit on long-term injured reserve, which would total north of $23MM of cap relief when including the contracts of Shea Weber, Robin Lehner, and Nolan Patrick.
Vegas’ organizational depth is dwindling due to some monster trades in the past few seasons. Does general manager Kelly McCrimmon have something left in the tank to acquire a bona fide top-six piece in Stone’s absence?
With 38 points in 43 games, Stone remains Vegas’ second-leading scorer at the time of writing. His offensive production is hard enough to replace, but the added loss of his leadership creates a gargantuan hole in the Golden Knights lineup.
Since Stone exited the lineup on January 12, the team is just 1-5-2 and averages just two goals per game. They’ve lost their grip on the Pacific Division to the Seattle Kraken and risk falling even further down the standings if their scoring doesn’t heat up. If Vegas can’t manage to string some wins together in the week after the All-Star break, it could add pressure on McCrimmon to make a trade sooner rather than later.
Chandler Stephenson Named To All-Star Game, Replacing Matty Beniers
The Vegas Golden Knights will have another representative at the upcoming All-Star festivities, as Chandler Stephenson has been named the replacement for Matty Beniers. Beniers will not be able to attend because of injury.
Stephenson joins Logan Thompson (and head coach Bruce Cassidy) on the Pacific roster, and will be making his first All-Star appearance.
It’s a pretty impressive climb for a third-round pick who scored 55 total points through the first three seasons of his career (more than 200 games). After a trade brought him from the Washington Capitals to Vegas, and injuries gave him an opportunity to play with top-line players, Stephenson has never looked back.
Last season, in 79 games, he set career-highs with 21 goals and 64 points. Both of those numbers are in danger this year, as the speedy center has 11 goals and 44 points through 51 games.
Stephenson is averaging close to 20 minutes a night for the Golden Knights, is winning close to 60% of his faceoffs, and is a key part of both the powerplay and the penalty kill.
For Beniers, it is a disappointing result, given he was going to be an All-Star in his first full season. The Seattle Kraken will likely get another chance down the road, given how well he has acclimated himself to the NHL in such a short time.
Golden Knights Assign Three To The AHL
Ahead of tonight’s contest against the Islanders, the Golden Knights made a trio of roster moves, announcing (Twitter link) that they’ve assigned forwards Pavel Dorofeyev and Byron Froese along with defenseman Kaedan Korczak to AHL Henderson.
Dorofeyev has had three separate stints with Vegas this season but has seen limited NHL action despite that, getting into just three games where he was held off the scoresheet while logging just under 12 minutes per contest. He suffered an undisclosed injury three weeks ago but this assignment means that Dorofeyev has been cleared to return since injured players can’t be sent down. The 22-year-old was a top producer in the minors last season but has been a bit quieter in 2022-23, picking up six goals and six assists in 21 games with the Silver Knights.
As for Froese, he had been on his third recall of the month prior to this assignment and had been centring the fourth line during that stint. So far this season, he has a goal and an assist in seven games while winning 61.5% of his faceoffs. The 31-year-old is in the first season of a two-year, two-way deal and has been productive in Henderson with 27 points in 36 contests.
Korczak, meanwhile, has been up with Vegas on five different occasions this season, all within the last two months. Along the way, he has gotten into ten games on the back end for the Golden Knights, picking up a couple of helpers along with 25 hits while logging 17:34 per night. The 21-year-old also has eight points in 30 games in Henderson. He’s likely to continue to be one of the top recall options the next time a defender goes down or the team wants some extra depth.