Nicolas Roy Out Day-To-Day
- Edmonton Oilers forward Kailer Yamamoto has yet to skate since suffering an undisclosed injury in a 7-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on November 10, according to head coach Jay Woodcroft. Woodcroft called the young forward day-to-day, but said it was doubtful he’d play Saturday against the Vegas Golden Knights. Yamamoto has a paltry three assists through 13 games this season despite receiving top-six minutes.
- On the other side of that matchup, Vegas Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy doesn’t expect forward Nicolas Roy to travel today with the team to Edmonton. The 25-year-old is out with a lower-body injury suffered in their last game and is day-to-day. He’s been an important depth scoring piece for Vegas to start the year, notching four goals and seven assists in 18 games.
Laurent Brossoit Clears Waivers
Nov 11: Brossoit has cleared waivers and can remain with the Henderson Silver Knights.
Nov 10: The Vegas Golden Knights had a roster crunch coming, as Laurent Brossoit inched closer to a return from injury. The team had two goaltenders – Logan Thompson and Adin Hill – playing outstanding hockey, with only the former waiver-exempt. Instead of moving one of them out, they’ve decided to risk Brossoit today, placing him on waivers according to Chris Johnston of NorthStar Bets.
Brossoit, 29, is coming back from hip surgery and has played two games with the Henderson Silver Knights on a conditioning loan. His placement on waivers today indicates that he is healthy enough to be activated, and suggests that he will be headed back to Henderson if he clears.
It won’t just be the injury that makes teams hesitate to claim Brossoit. He has a $2.325MM cap hit this season in the final year of his deal and he was brutal in the conditioning games, allowing nine goals on 39 shots. For someone to invest in him now, it would mean keeping him on the NHL roster. Even last season didn’t go well, with Brossoit posting an .895 in 24 games for Vegas.
More likely he’ll end up piecing his game back together in the minor leagues and waiting for another opportunity with the Golden Knights. Thompson and Hill are anything but proven at this point, so even if they are playing well there’s no guarantee it continues. Having a veteran option like Brossoit would be ideal for a club like Vegas which has its eyes set on the Stanley Cup once again.
Laurent Brossoit Sent To AHL On Conditioning Loan
The goaltending issues that the Vegas Golden Knights were expected to face when Robin Lehner was ruled out for the season have certainly not materialized. The duo of Adin Hill and Logan Thompson have been almost perfect, posting a combined save percentage of .941 through ten games.
Hill, acquired from the San Jose Sharks for a fourth-round pick before the season began, is 4-0 and has allowed just seven goals on 123 shots. Thompson, the de facto starter, leads the league with two shutouts in his first six games.
With those two playing at such a high level, it will make for an interesting decision when Laurent Brossoit is healthy enough to play again. The veteran netminder took a step toward that goal today when he was loaned to the Henderson Silver Knights on a long-term injury conditioning stint. Brossoit is coming off hip surgery and there is no concrete timeline for his return to NHL action.
A LTIR conditioning loan is usually limited to three games or six days, though it can be extended in certain circumstances. When it is over, Brossoit does not necessarily need to be activated.
Remember, the Golden Knights are also right up against the cap, meaning activating Brossoit will be a tricky game for the team to play. They will likely have to reduce their roster to fewer than 23 players, plus figure out what to do with their three goaltenders. Brossoit himself might end up on waivers, or even traded, given the performance of Hill and Thompson so far.
That bridge doesn’t have to be crossed yet, but if he proves himself healthy enough to return, it’s coming soon.
Foley Gives Vote Of Confidence To McCrimmon And McPhee
It has been an eventful first few seasons in the NHL for the Golden Knights. Vegas reached the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural year but they haven’t made it back since while the team has made several shakeup trades plus a pair of coaching changes. Despite the heavy turnover, owner Bill Foley told Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Sun that he has full confidence in the management team of GM Kelly McCrimmon and President of Hockey Operations George McPhee:
With Robin Lehner being out for the season, expectations were a little lower heading into this year. However, the tandem of Logan Thompson and Adin Hill has fared quite well so far with the Golden Knights allowing the fewest goals in the league heading into today’s action. That has them in first in the Pacific in the early going but with only $16 in LTIR space left, they’ll be hard-pressed to add to their roster.
Phil Kessel To Tie Consecutive Games Streak
- Vegas Golden Knights forward Phil Kessel will tie the NHL consecutive games streak tonight, when he takes on his old club the Toronto Maple Leafs. The veteran forward will play his 989th straight game, matching the record set by Keith Yandle. The last time Kessel missed a game was his first year with the Maple Leafs, back in 2009-10. He is also just 43 points away from 1,000 for his career.
Laurent Brossoit Will Be Re-Evaluated On November 1st
- When the news broke that Robin Lehner would miss the entire 2022-23 season, the Vegas Golden Knights goaltending situation, and ultimately their season, was heavily doubted. Thus far, the 4-1-0 Golden Knights have received more than solid goaltending from rookie Logan Thompson and the recently acquired Adin Hill, and that is without veteran netminder Laurent Brossoit, who is still recovering from injury. A return timetable for Brossoit was unclear heading into the season, though not expected to be long-term. His return is still unclear though, says the Las Vegas Sun’s Danny Webster. Brossoit has not been cleared for any contact, but is progressing well and will be re-evaluated on November 1st, Webster reports.
Salary Cap Could Increase More Than Expected In 2023
Speaking with the media today, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said there’s a “good probability” that the remaining COVID-related escrow balance could be paid by the players this season, and remains optimistic about revenues. If the escrow balance gets paid off, the salary cap could jump more than the predicted $1MM incremental increase, two years sooner than originally expected coming out of the pandemic.
Bettman did note that it would be a close call, but if the revenue numbers hit, the cap could jump roughly $4MM to a figure of around $86.5MM for the 2023-24 season. The league’s cap growth would then mirror pre-pandemic trends, if not more.
This is gigantic news for a number of teams, especially those who have big-name free agents due for contracts by July 1 of next year. It also bodes well for teams tight to the salary cap to be able to have more roster flexibility in the offseason.
That list of big-name unrestricted free agents next summer is no joke, and a ~$4MM salary cap increase would have a massive effect on many negotiations. Ryan O’Reilly in St. Louis, David Pastrnak in Boston, Dylan Larkin in Detroit, Bo Horvat in Vancouver, and Frederik Andersen in Carolina are some notables who could re-sign with their current teams for a big payday.
It also makes life easier for teams like the Vegas Golden Knights, who are poised to get a healthy Robin Lehner back but already remain well over the currently projected $83.5MM salary cap for 2023-24.
Vegas Golden Knights Assign Daniil Miromanov To AHL
The Vegas Golden Knights have assigned defenseman Daniil Miromanov to the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights, according to their affiliate team.
Miromanov, who played in 11 games with the Golden Knights last year, missed the team’s training camp after undergoing offseason surgery. Now healthy, he’ll return to Henderson, where the 25-year-old Russian had a stellar 40-point campaign in 53 games.
A versatile player who can play both defense and forward, Miromanov is one of the team’s best call-up options, especially considering their thinned-out organizational depth. He still does not require waivers after signing a two-year contract extension this past offseason.
Vegas acquired Miromanov as an undrafted free agent in the spring of 2021, signing him to a one-year entry-level contract after he had 29 points in 58 games with HK Sochi in the KHL. Miromanov returns to Henderson as the team’s top defender
Henderson Silver Knights Make Training Camp Cuts
- The Henderson Silver Knights, the AHL affiliate of the Vegas Golden Knights, made several cuts from its training camp roster today. Forwards Patrick Guay, Daniel D’Amato, Lynden McCallum, and defenseman Connor Corcoran have all been assigned to the Savannah Ghost Pirates of the ECHL (link). Guay could be an intriguing name in this group, coming off a season in which he scored 55 goals to go with 49 assists in just 68 games with the QMJHL’s Charlottetown Islanders. The forward was a fifth-round selection by Vegas in 2022 as a 20-year-old.
Snapshots: Samuelsson, Carrier, Roos
When the Buffalo Sabres announced a gargantuan seven-year, $30MM extension for defenseman Mattias Samuelsson earlier today, it raised some eyebrows around the league – and justifiably so. Samuelsson has yet to score an NHL goal and has played just 54 NHL games, coming over the past two seasons. But as The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski notes in his column breaking down the deal, general manager Kevyn Adams thinks Samuelsson and his contract and both key parts of his approach to building a championship contender.
“We wanted to be really disciplined and smart with how we put our roster together and the reason for that is we can do things like this and make sure that we identify the people that we’re gonna move forward with long-term and we know there’s more coming,” said Adams today. Buffalo is banking on development here, but the organization believes in Samuelsson and that he has long-term top-pairing potential. How that bet pans out remains to be seen.
- After sitting out last night’s season-opening win in Los Angeles, Vegas Golden Knights forward William Carrier may be healthy for tomorrow’s home opener against Chicago, according to head coach Bruce Cassidy. Carrier has been listed as week-to-week with an upper-body injury since September 26 but has obviously returned to practice. He’ll likely draw in for Michael Amadio if he does play, as Amadio was the only Golden Knights forward to receive 10 minutes or less of ice time against Los Angeles.
- One of the more interesting names to appear on opening night rosters will be making his NHL debut tonight: Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Filip Roos. The 23-year-old Roos is a rare case: a European, undrafted free-agent on an entry-level contract playing in his NHL team’s first game of the season. Roos had six points in 50 games for Skellefteå in the SHL last season and will suit up on the third pairing alongside Alec Regula.