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
Jake Leschyshyn Returned To AHL
- The Vegas Golden Knights have returned Jake Leschyshyn to the minor leagues, just a day after he came up. The 22-year-old forward has played 20 games for the Golden Knights this season, recording four points.
Pacioretty, Janmark Not Close To Return
- The Vegas Golden Knights have been struggling of late, losing their last two and six of their last ten. They still sit in a playoff position in the Pacific Division, but things are as tight as ever, with the sixth-place Vancouver Canucks just ten points out of first place in the division. It’s good news that Robin Lehner is set to return tomorrow night, but head coach Peter DeBoer told reporters including Jesse Granger of The Athletic that both Max Pacioretty and Mattias Janmark are out tomorrow and “wouldn’t call either close” to a return. Pacioretty has played just 25 games this season–though he does have 15 goals and 27 points in those appearances.
Vegas Golden Knights Recall Rondbjerg, Assign Leschyshyn To AHL
- The Vegas Golden Knights announced that they have recalled forward Jonas Rondbjerg from the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights (Twitter link). In a corresponding move, Vegas assigned forward Jake Leschyshyn to Henderson. Leschyshyn has just one goal and three assists in 20 games this season for Vegas, but has put up a strong 12 goals and 12 assists in 31 games for Henderson this season. Rondbjerg, on the other hand, has had a remarkably similar season, tallying two goals and two assists in 16 games for Vegas, while putting up 11 goals and 12 assists in 31 games for Henderson this season. The team has also reassigned goaltender Logan Thompson to the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights.
Whitecloud Activated, Patrick And Lehner Placed On IR
- The Golden Knights have activated defenseman Zach Whitecloud from injured reserve, notes Ben Gotz of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The 25-year-old had missed the last six games due to a broken foot and has become an important part of their back end, logging more than 19 minutes a game. While Whitecloud returns, Vegas has also transferred goaltender Robin Lehner and forward Nolan Patrick to injured reserve.
West Notes: Golden Knights, Forsberg, Blackhawks
Much has been made of the Vegas Golden Knights’ salary cap management, with the team playing with fire ever since acquiring Jack Eichel. Now, with the team potentially in a bind if they don’t have enough room to activate healthy players off long-term injured reserve prior to the playoffs, The Athletic’s Jesse Granger suggests a post-Trade Deadline cap-clearing move could potentially be in play. The return dates of Alec Martinez and Mark Stone aren’t certain, and it’s possible both could be healthy before May. If that’s the case, the Golden Knights could potentially move a player after the deadline to a non-playoff team in order to become cap-compliant. There’s no rule preventing this, as the Trade Deadline is legally only relevant because players moved after that date aren’t eligible for playoff games. However, as Granger notes, this could likely significantly reduce the trade value of any player Vegas is looking to move out, considering they’d have no other option to become compliant.
Other rumblings from the Wild West:
- Bally Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland reports that he’s hearing the Nashville Predators are “actively shopping” Filip Forsberg ahead of the deadline. While the team is a likely playoff lock in the Western Conference at this point, they’re likely not in the Stanley Cup conversation, and Forsberg is a free agent at season’s end. The NHL’s leader in even-strength goals would likely become the deadline’s biggest prize, and any Forsberg deal could reap considerable rewards for Nashville’s future and help replenish a prospect pool that, while it has some nice names, isn’t the strongest. He’s carrying an extremely reasonable $6MM cap hit that most contenders can stomach with some retention.
- According to Scott Powers and Mark Lazerus at The Athletic, if the Chicago Blackhawks and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury agree on a trade, it could potentially net the team a first-round pick. While they do say a second- or third-round selection is probably more realistic, some do believe teams will pay up for last year’s Vezina winner. The team does not have their first-round pick this year after including it in the Seth Jones trade.
Toronto Maple Leafs Claim Adam Brooks
Adam Brooks is headed back to the place he has spent most of his career. CapFriendly reports that the Toronto Maple Leafs have claimed Brooks off waivers from the Vegas Golden Knights. This is the third time Brooks has been claimed so far this season. The team has also moved Timothy Liljegren to the AHL to make room, something that suggests there may be more coming for Toronto in the coming days.
Originally under contract with the Maple Leafs, Brooks ended up on waivers at the outset of the season because of a roster crunch in Toronto. He was claimed by the Montreal Canadiens, where he proceeded to play in four games over the next month. Back on waivers he went in mid-November, only to this time be claimed by the Golden Knights. That’s where he’s been for months since, though his time in Vegas hasn’t been very fruitful. Brooks has played just seven games for the Golden Knights and five more for the Henderson Silver Knights of the AHL while on a conditioning loan.
For the past several weeks, he’s been on injured reserve and his placement on waivers this time suggests he’s ready to return to action.
A fourth-round pick in 2016, Brooks has just 29 regular season NHL games under his belt to this point but has actually been rather productive in them. Despite averaging just over ten minutes a night, he has six goals and 11 points–an 82-game pace of 17 goals, 31 points. That’s certainly a valuable player to have in the organization, even if his size and strength–or lack thereof–sometimes mean he’s not a perfect fit in the bottom-six.
It will be interesting to see what kind of role he has in Toronto, given the team already has veterans like Kyle Clifford and Nick Ritchie buried in the minor leagues. One thing Brooks has going for him is his price tag; the 25-year-old forward carries a cap hit of just $725K, less than the league minimum salary. Brooks will be a Group VI unrestricted free agent this summer when his current two-year, two-way contract expires.
Vegas Golden Knights Checked In On Fleury, Georgiev
2:55pm: McCrimmon has responded directly to Seravalli’s report, telling David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal that there is “absolutely no credence” to it and that Fleury will not be returning.
1:30pm: The Vegas Golden Knights never shy away from bringing in a big-name player, even if it seems impossible due to cap implications. So why wouldn’t they be interested in the reigning Vezina Trophy winner? Well, that’s a complicated question, given their history with Marc-Andre Fleury, who was reportedly blindsided by a trade to the Chicago Blackhawks last offseason. Despite that history, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports that the Golden Knights have expressed interest in bringing Fleury back to Vegas.
The interest is because of an injury to Robin Lehner, which Seravalli reports is a torn labrum in his shoulder. Surgery is an eventual possibility and would suggest that the Golden Knights desperately need to address the goaltending situation in the coming weeks. Logan Thompson was recalled yesterday from the minor leagues when Lehner missed practice.
In addition to Fleury, the Golden Knights have apparently looked into Alexandar Georgiev from the New York Rangers, whose role is dwindling because of the outstanding play from Igor Shesterkin. The 25-year-old Georgiev is in the second season of a two-year contract he signed in 2020 and will be a restricted free agent at the end of the year. In 19 appearances (17 starts), he has recorded an .898 save percentage, the lowest of his career.
How will a Vegas team that is about to activate Jack Eichel fit in another big cap hit? Seravalli suggests that Lehner could end up on long-term injured reserve, where he would join captain Mark Stone who went there yesterday. It should be noted that Lehner’s injury and timeline have not been confirmed by the team at this point, with general manager Kelly McCrimmon explaining yesterday that his status for Wednesday’s game wasn’t yet clear.
After a rough start, Fleury has turned around his game of late and now carries a .910 save percentage on the season. Last night, he stopped 31 of 32 shots to beat the Winnipeg Jets.
Adam Brooks Placed On Waivers
The Vegas Golden Knights had to remove one more player from their NHL roster in order to activate Jack Eichel, and they’ve decided it will be Adam Brooks. The depth forward has been placed on waivers according to CapFriendly, the third time he’s ended up there this season. Previously, Brooks had been claimed by the Montreal Canadiens from the Toronto Maple Leafs, and then the Golden Knights from the Canadiens. He’s now up for grabs once again.
Brooks, 25, has played just seven games for the Golden Knights since being claimed in November, scoring his only two goals of the season. He did go to the minor leagues on a conditioning stint for a short period, but in order to be assigned there full-time, has to clear waivers.
Whether he clears this time still remains to be seen, as Brooks represents a useful fourth-line forward with a bit of powerplay upside in the right situation. Even in his short NHL career, which spans just 29 regular season games, he has scored six goals and 11 points. A superstar in junior, recording 250 points over his final two years with the Regina Pats, he’s exactly the type of player who seems to ride right on the edge between the minor leagues and NHL. The fact that he is a natural center but can also play the wing only helps his case, as does his super-low cap hit of $725K.
Unfortunately, given he has been on injured reserve since the middle of January, teams probably can’t be sure that he’s ready to contribute. That could allow him to slip through and be sent to Henderson, where he can remain useful depth for the cap-strapped Golden Knights.
Mark Stone Placed On LTIR; Jack Eichel To Make Season Debut
Speaking to reporters including Jesse Granger of The Athletic, Vegas Golden Knights general manager confirmed what had been reported in recent days. Mark Stone is headed to long-term injured reserve with a back injury. This is notable not only because the Golden Knights will be without their captain for the next while but it also opens up enough salary cap space to activate Jack Eichel to make his season debut on Wednesday against the Colorado Avalanche.
McCrimmon explained that the team’s medical staff or the numerous specialists he has met with haven’t been able to determine exactly what is causing Stone’s injury, and did not have a concrete timeline for his return. That answer will certainly draw some curious glances from around the league as the team escapes the cap crunch they were facing without trading away any assets.
Still, losing Stone is no small thing. The 29-year-old forward is among the best two-way players in the game as a two-time Selke Trophy finalist and point-per-game producer. In 28 games this season–broken up by multiple absences due to his back concerns–Stone has scored eight goals and 28 points while playing a little over 18 minutes a night. Taking him out of the lineup for an extended period of time will certainly not be an ideal situation for the Golden Knights, especially as they are in no sure position in the Pacific Division
While they are in first currently, the Calgary Flames are nipping at their heels with a better points percentage and the Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers, Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks, and Vancouver Canucks are all above .500 and within striking distance. With so much time left, it’s not even a sure thing that the Golden Knights make the playoffs, let alone secure the division crown.
One way to help your case–add a $10MM center into the lineup. Eichel hasn’t played an NHL game since March 7, 2021 but is now fully healthy and ready to resume what has been a strong career so far, at least in terms of individual production. The second-overall pick in 2015, he has recorded 355 points in 375 games and scored a career-high 36 goals in 2019-20. That put him eighth in Hart Trophy voting, meaning this is a potential MVP candidate that the Golden Knights are sliding into the lineup. Sure, there will be some rust for the 25-year-old pivot, but Vegas has also never had a center like this to build around.
If the team is to bring Stone back before the playoffs, they’ll need to find a way to shed some salary. That would presumably need to be done before the March 21 deadline, so if they don’t–expect the captain to miss the rest of the regular season. Alec Martinez, the other key player on LTIR, is getting closer but there is also no clear timeline for his return just yet. Robin Lehner, who missed practice today, is out with an upper-body injury but his status for Wednesday is not yet determined.