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Vegas Golden Knights Trade Breakdown

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The Vegas Golden Knights have already completed ten trades this offseason, wheeling and dealing around the expansion draft with a third of the NHL. While more deals will undoubtedly drop tomorrow and in the next few days, these first ten transactions have set the team up for success. We’ll take a moment to break down why each trade happened, though there may be more dominoes to fall regarding some of them.

Buffalo sends their 2017 sixth-round pick to Vegas

In the first trade of the night, Vegas acquires a late round pick in order to not select G Linus Ullmark from the Sabres. Golden Knights GM George McPhee explained on the Awards broadcast that they were down to two players, Ullmark and William Carrier and the Sabres made their decision for them with a pick. For what it’s worth, our mock draft had the same split decision over the two players with Ullmark eventually ending up as the selection.

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NHL Awards Preview

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Caught up in the excitement of the Expansion Draft, it’s easy to forget that there is also an awards show tonight. Yes, the best trophy in all of sports, the Stanley Cup, has already been presented to the Pittsburgh Penguins, as has the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP to their captain, Sidney Crosby. Crosby also already locked up the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy for the most regular season goals. Edmonton Oilers wunderkind Connor McDavid captured the Art Ross Trophy for the most regular season points as well. Braden Holtby locked up the William M. Jennings Trophy already too, as the Washington Capitals allowed the least amount of goals against in the regular season. Yet, all three of these players and many more still have a lot on the line tonight. Here are the nominees for tonight’s NHL Awards:

Hart Trophy – Most Valuable Player

Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus Blue Jackets

  • Star goalie helped to lead the Blue Jackets to their best record in franchise history, all while topping the league in save percentage (.931) and goals against average (2.06)

Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins

  • The NHL’s leading goal-scorer and back-to-back winner of the Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe Trophy

Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers

  • 20-year-old phenom led the league in points and assists and took his team from the draft lottery to the second round of the playoffs

Norris Trophy – Best Defenseman

Brent Burns, San Jose Sharks

  • Not only led all defenseman in scoring with 76 points, but finished ninth overall among some of the league’s most dynamic forwards. Can check with the best of them as well.

Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning

  • A down year for the Bolts was a career year for Hedman, who finished just four points behind Burns with 72, and led all blue liners with 56 assists

Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators

  • If this award had been voted on after the playoffs, it might have been a different result. The NHL’s best puck-mover may still pull it off behind a 71-point campaign and an improved defensive game

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Rumored Vegas Golden Knights Expansion Selections

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The Vegas Golden Knights will reveal their expansion selections at tonight’s NHL Awards show, but details have started to come in on who each team will lose. There are many rumors floating around, but these are the most reputable. As with anything, nothing is final until the actual selections are announced tonight. This page will be updated with new information as it comes in.

Here are the latest rumored selections along with their source:

Anaheim Ducks: Clayton Stoner — Bob McKenzie of TSN

Arizona Coyotes: 

Boston Bruins: Colin Miller — Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet

Buffalo Sabres: William Carrier — Frank Seravalli of TSN

Calgary Flames: Deryk Engelland — John Shannon of Sportsnet

Carolina Hurricanes:

Chicago Blackhawks: Trevor van Riemsdyk — Frank Seravalli of TSN

Colorado Avalanche:

Columbus Blue Jackets: William Karlsson — Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch

Dallas Stars: Cody Eakin — Jim Toth of TSN

Detroit Red Wings: Tomas Nosek — Craig Custance of The Athletic.

Edmonton Oilers: Griffin Reinhart — John Shannon of Sportsnet

Florida Panthers: Jon Marchessault — Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet

Los Angeles Kings: Brayden McNabb — John Shannon of Sportsnet

Minnesota Wild: Erik Haula — Michael Russo of the Star Tribune

Montreal Canadiens: Alexei Emelin — Eric Engels of Sportsnet

Nashville Predators: James Neal — Bob McKenzie of TSN

New Jersey Devils: Jon Merrill — Frank Seravalli of TSN

New York Islanders: Jean-Francois Berube — Bob McKenzie of TSN

New York Rangers: Oscar Lindberg — Larry Brooks of the New York Post and Frank Seravalli of TSN.

Ottawa Senators: Marc Methot — Pierre LeBrun of TSN

Philadelphia Flyers: Pierre-Edouard Bellemare — Craig Custance of The Athletic

Pittsburgh Penguins: Marc-Andre Fleury – Bob McKenzie of TSN

San Jose Sharks: David Schlemko — Pierre LeBrun of TSN

St. Louis Blues: David Perron — James Mirtle of The Athletic

Tampa Bay Lightning:

Toronto Maple Leafs: Brendan Leipsic — Darren Dreger of TSN

Vancouver Canucks:

Washington Capitals: Nate Schmidt — Pierre LeBrun of TSN

Winnipeg Jets:

Winnipeg Jets Could Have Side Deal To Protect Toby Enstrom

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  • Darren Dreger of TSN notes that Toby Enstrom may have been protected after all by the Winnipeg Jets, as there is likely a side-deal with Vegas to not select the veteran defender. Enstrom waived his no-movement clause in order for the Jets to protect Tyler Myers, and would probably cost less in terms of assets to protect in a deal.

Should Vegas Corner Goalie Market?

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With the recent trade of Mike Smith to Calgary, the market for starting goaltenders is dwindling even further. An interesting dynamic for the Vegas Golden Knights as they choose their team will be whether they opt to select every quality goalie out there in order to flip them to other teams. There are quite a few available – Marc-Andre Fleury of Pittsburgh, Eddie Lack (and Cam Ward) of Carolina, Calvin Pickard of Colorado, Antti Raanta of New York, Petr Mrazek of Detroit, Roberto Luongo of Florida, Jaroslav Halak of the Islanders, Michal Neuvirth of Philadelphia, Peter Budaj of Tampa Bay, and Philipp Grubauer of Washington, with a few interesting prospects also exposed.  As we’ve seen in the past few seasons, dealing a goaltender for anything remotely resembling fair value can be an enormous challenge. The salary cap has really warped the value of a solid starting goaltender in a way that has not been totally beneficial to the players.

One down season and a tender’s value goes down quite heavily. The top ten goalies in the league always seem to find a home on the rare occasion they hit unrestricted free agency, but that has been a rare occurrence. Many might point to the 2010 Stanley Cup Final when they isolate a particular moment that the highly-paid goaltender became an oddity. In that Final, Michael Leighton, third-string for Philadelphia, faced off against the very pedestrian Antti Niemi, who was then  sacrificed for cap reasons. With the whole league watching, these teams ascended to hockey’s main stage with relative no names in the crease. While that moment may have been particularly damaging, the moment for me was the fiasco that was the Luongo and Cory Schneider trade saga in Vancouver, which lasted parts of 2 seasons. Then Canucks GM Mike Gillis had a terrible time finding a suitor for Luongo before finally being forced to ship Schneider off in the 2013 offseason for a 9th round pick. This too, was terrible value, considering that Schneider was one of the best young goalies in the league and coming off a scorching season where he had a .937 save percentage. This ordeal took place less than two years after Luongo had taken the team to its first Final since 1994. Granted, Luongo’s contract was considered a bit of an albatross, but it very publicly cemented the value of goaltenders on the trade market as minimal.

Looking forward to the present day, and the last two goaltenders have been traded for rather uninspiring returns. Arizona’s Smith only fetched a 3rd rounder, and Ben Bishop only netted a 4th from Dallas. GM George McPhee could end up hosting a goaltender buffet, with few paying customers. He would be wise to gauge the interest of other teams before deciding on their selections in net. They obviously want to draft a solid starter and a few young goaltenders as future cornerstones. They need to draft 3, and it’s difficult to envision them drafting less than 4 with the enticing names available out there. But if they decide to go into 5 or 6 goaltender territory, McPhee could manufacture a logjam that could be difficult to sort out. After all, only the WInnipeg Jets are truly desperate for a starting goaltender, and that’s assuming they don’t want one of Brian Elliott, Mike Condon, or another UFA to be their partner for Connor Hellebuyck. Philadelphia could be interested in a younger asset, and there are always teams who will desperately seek a starter mid-season when a keeper inevitably goes down to injury. That said, the market simply doesn’t favor the strategy of going all-in in net.

Central Division Offers Veteran Scoring, Risky Prospects

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The Central Division has quite a bit to offer the Las Vegas Golden Knights from prospects to veteran scorers as they sift through the recently exposed rosters of every NHL team. Several team offer quite a bit of challenging option that the inaugural team can either take, trade off or just work out a deal for some picks. Once again, while some of these players may be available, trades may have already been worked out to persuade Las Vegas to look the other way on a few of them. So don’t be surprised if they don’t take them.

The Minnesota Wild have offered the most intriguing options in the draft after having exposed several interesting players. Due to their defensive depth, the team left several defensemen exposed, including 22-year-old Mathew Dumba, a promising defenseman who has already been in the NHL for three years since being the seventh-overall pick in 2012. Dumba’s 11 goals make him a key defenseman to build their franchise around, assuming the team doesn’t have a side deal set up or the Golden Knights are considering flipping him to another desperate team needing defense. Veteran forward Eric Staal was also left unprotected, leaving Las Vegas with even a tougher decisions to make. The 32-year-old veteran had one of his better season with the Wild this past year, putting up 28 goals. His price tag is even reasonable at $3.5MM for the next two years. Defenseman Marco Scandella is an afterthought here, but on any other team, would be an intriguing option for the Golden Knights.

The Nashville Predators have one obvious candidate in veteran scorer James Neal, who helped lead the team to the Stanley Cup Finals. Neal finished the season with 23 regular season goals and the 29-year-old has tallied 80 goals in the last three seasons combined. Whether the Predators have worked out a package in order to keep Neal for their run next year is unknown as of yet. If that’s the case, another interesting name could be 23-year-old winger Pontus Aberg, who has showed a lot of promise in the AHL, including a 31-goal season this past year. He still played 15 games for the Predators, but managed just one goal and had a tough time cracking their rotation. Perhaps the least surprising options go to the Chicago Blackhawks. Long-standing rumors that Chicago has exposed 25-year-old defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk with the supposed agreement they would also take on the contract of Marcus Kruger and his 3.083MM for the next two years for additional costs suggest that Las Vegas already knows what they’re getting.

The Dallas Stars might hope that the Golden Knights take 26-year-old center Cody Eakin. The veteran had an off year after putting up three goals in 60 games, but had tallied 51 goals in the three years before that. The problem with Eakin is the three years he has left at $3.85MM per season. He was originally drafted by McPhee, so maybe the GM would be willing to take his chances with him. Dan Hamhuis could be a solid option as well if the Golden Knights are looking for a 34-year-old veteran defensive-minded blueliner. The Winnipeg Jets did expose 32-year-old Toby Enstrom after he waived his no-movement clause. The veteran could be the perfect person to lead a group of young Golden Knight defenders. Enstrom, despite starting to slow down, is still considered a solid defenseman. However, Winnipeg also left 22-year-old center Marko Dano available to Las Vegas. The former first-round pick in 2013 hasn’t been able to put together a full season, but is still young enough to put it all together. He put up four goals and seven assists last season in 38 games, but missed time due to a lower body injury and never regained his playing time after that.

While the St. Louis Blues exposed Jori Lehtera with the hopes they can package the veteran along with some picks to remove his contract off their books, which still has two years at $4.7MM per season, Las Vegas might be more enamored with 23-year-old Nail Yakupov, who is the former first-overall pick in the 2012 draft. While his career hasn’t exactly gone as planned, he has still shown some glimpses of potential and Las Vegas might be willing to take a chance on him. The Colorado Avalanche surprised a few by exposing goaltender Calvin Pickard. The 25-year-old didn’t have the greatest season last year, evidenced by his 3.02 GAA, but it was behind a weak defense. However, considering the amount of goaltending depth offered from the Eastern Conference, the team might ultimately pass on him considering there are other key goalies available ranging from Petr Mrazek to Marc-Andre Fleury to Philipp Grubauer to name just a few. They may have exposed Pickard to keep 29-year-old Semyon Varlamov away from McPhee, who also drafted the goaltender in Washington back in 2006. Besides that, Colorado left little else exposed.

 

Marko Dano Signs One-Year Contract With Winnipeg Jets

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The Winnipeg Jets can mark off one item on their offseason to-do list, as the team has signed Marko Dano to a one-year contract. The contract is one-way, and worth $850K for the 2017-18 season. Getting him under contract gives the Jets more options for the expansion draft, as he could be exposed as one of their two forwards who meets the games played minimums. Marko Dano

As discussed in the Jets’ Expansion Primer, the team is in a tough spot should Toby Enstrom not waive his no-movement clause. We won’t find out if he did or not until the protection lists are released, but if he didn’t there are going to be handful of interesting players available for the Golden Knights. Dano may not be the top name, but he’s definitely one of them after flashing some of the potential that made him a first-round pick just a few years ago.

Dano was acquired by the Jets along with a first-round pick—which the team used to trade up and select Logan Stanley—for Andrew Ladd last year, and is a promising young player in his own right. The 22-year old was actually drafted by the Columbus Blue Jackets before being shipped off to Chicago as part of the Brandon Saad deal. Selected as a center, he hasn’t played much down the middle in the NHL.

Now playing on a one-way contract, Dano is expected to spend most of the year with the Jets this season as a bottom-six winger with the potential to develop into a more offensive player. His speed and defensive game is good enough to play limited minutes, but if he’s to take the next step he needs to break through offensively. Even in the AHL he’s rarely found sustained success, something he’ll look for in Winnipeg as he turns 23.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Goalie Market Far Too Crowded

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Although the expansion draft and entry draft are the immediate matters on the minds of those not involved with the Finals, there is still ample reason to speculate on the UFA class. After all, the ability for teams to start signing players is less than a month away. In a particularly weak free agent class, however, one factor sticks out quite prominently. There are 10 goaltenders who played regularly for their teams this season, who will be vying for far fewer NHL roster spots. Only two teams are truly desperate for a starter, those being the Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets.

None of the available goaltenders even cracks my top 25 free agents, which should indicate how poor some of the tenders’ seasons have been. That said, these 10 names combined have played thousands of NHL games. By my estimation, still leading the pack should be former Calgary Flame Brian Elliott. Elliott’s career stats are decent, and he’s only one season removed from a 38 win, .930 save percentage year with the Blues. However, he melted down in grand fashion this off-season en route to a sweep at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks. It may not be fair, but that will absolutely impact his perceived value around the league. His one-year contract gamble, which looked wise at the time, may cost him now. Also in the “top tier” of goaltenders available are Peter Budaj, who had a career year in Los Angeles, Mike Condon, who is one of the most valued backups league-wide, and Jonathan Bernier, who had 21 wins and a respectable .923 save percentage in the regular season before being totally usurped by John Gibson.

Then there is the “middle tier” of goaltenders who likely won’t see a ton of interest, but could easily serve backup duty, some only on a severely reduced contract. These include Ryan Miller, Chad Johnson, and Steve Mason. Ryan Miller is nearly 37 years old, and although he may still have a bit left in the tank, it’s impossible to imagine a team opting to make him their starter. Complicating matters is that Miller will likely want a multi-year agreement to bring him security. Chad Johnson will likely find work, but it could be a long while waiting. Teams will more than likely scour the field for the bigger names first, and only circle back to him as a security backup. Steve Mason is an interesting reclamation project, especially when you consider that his stats weren’t totally horrendous (.908 SV%, 2.66 GAA). However, his career numbers just aren’t that solid, and the absolute fury he invoked from the Flyers fanbase didn’t boost his confidence or stock. Mason will need to come to terms with the fact that he is no longer a number one goalie, nor will he be paid as one – he earned $4.1 MM on his last contract and he’ll see nowhere near that this time around.

Rounding out the “bottom-most” group is Ondrej Pavelec, Jhonas Enroth, and Curtis McElhinney. Out of these, McElhinney seems the only with a solid hope of finding a gig. He only played in 21 games this past year between Columbus and Toronto, but performed decently. His .917 save percentage, well up from his .905 career, might be just enough to negotiate a contract, perhaps in the event of an injury. Pavelec has been nothing short of a disaster in Winnipeg, with his only good statistical year being 2014-15. He played just 8 games last season, with a .888 SV%. He may be forced to look overseas for employment. Enroth hasn’t fared any better – he’s only played 17 games in the last two seasons, not even tallying a win in 2016-17.

Essentially, none of these goalies will be highly sought after. Condon could realistically see a starting role next season, as could Budaj, which would have been unthinkable in the not-so-distant past. Teams have many options when it comes to goaltending, but none of them are particularly awe-inspiring. The prices on contracts will likely be diminished substantially due to the abundance of available players, and agents could see this situation extend deep into the summer months.

 

Expansion Primer: Winnipeg Jets

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Over the next few weeks we will be breaking down each team’s situation as it pertains to the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft. Which players are eligible, and which will likely warrant protection or may be on the block. Each team is required to submit their protection lists by 4pm CDT on June 17th. The full rules on eligibility can be found here, and CapFriendly has provided a handy expansion tool to make your own lists.

Eligible Players (Non-UFA)

Forwards:

Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little, Mathieu Perreault, Shawn Matthias, Adam Lowry, Joel Armia, Ivan Telegin, Quinton Howden, Marko Dano, Scott Kosmachuk, Andrew Copp, Ryan Olsen, J.C. Lipon

Defensemen:

Dustin Byfuglien (NMC), Toby Enstrom (NMC), Tyler Myers, Jacob Trouba, Mark Stuart, Julian Melchiori, Ben Chiarot

Goaltenders:

Michael Hutchinson, Connor Hellebuyck

Notable Exemptions

Patrik Laine, Nikolaj Ehlers, Kyle Connor, Jack Roslovic, Tucker Poolman, Logan Stanley, Josh Morrissey, Michael Spacek, Jansen Harkins

Key Decisions

Adam LowryThe biggest factor in the Jets expansion protection is something we’ve written about before; whether or not Enstrom will waive his no-movement clause. If he does, it gives the team several options while if he doesn’t, the Jets will be almost forced to protect eight skaters instead of the 7-3-1 method.

Up front Scheifele, Wheeler and Little are locks as the core of the forward group, but after that it gets a little tricky. Perreault, Lowry, Armia, Dano and Copp all have their own strengths and weaknesses, and could deserve protection depending on how the team decides on their future. Perreault had another solid season with 45 points in 65 games but has had trouble staying healthy and is on the books until he’s 33.

The other four are all 24 or under and have shown flashes of big potential. Armia and Dano are former first-round picks, while Lowry and Copp are both capable young centers, something Vegas will be hard-pressed to find in the draft. Even if the team protects seven forwards, there will be an interesting option or two available up front. Toby Enstrom

Defense is where the problems originate, since Enstrom’s NMC puts several players at risk. Even if Myers’ health issues are starting to wear on Winnipeg fans, watching him walk out the door for nothing after trading Evander Kane and Zach Bogosian to acquire him (and the rest of the package) would be painful. Trouba obviously deserves protection, leaving Melchiori and Chiarot as outside options for the Golden Knights.

In net Hellebuyck is clearly the future in Winnipeg, even if he is supplanted in the short-term by a free agent acquisition. Hutchinson has shown he has some ability as an NHL backup, but would be way down the menu for Vegas and unlikely to be selected anyway.

The Golden Knights will get a window in which to negotiate with free agents, and for the Jets that doesn’t seem to be an issue. Other than possibly bringing Pavelec on board, there aren’t any UFAs that are worth forfeiting what should be a good selection from Winnipeg.

Projected Protection List

F Mark Scheifele
F Blake Wheeler
F Bryan Little
F Adam Lowry

D Dustin Byfuglien (NMC)
D Toby Enstrom (NMC)
D Tyler Myers
D Jacob Trouba

G Connor Hellebuyck

If the Jets can’t get Enstrom to waive it, the protection list should look something like this. It would make their group one of the most talented options Vegas has in the draft, and a tough but rewarding selection for them. Because of that, watch closely for the team to figure out a deal with the Golden Knights to pick a certain player.

Of note, Ivan Telegin appears on the eligible list despite him never playing an NHL game and only 34 AHL contests. He’s played in the KHL for the past three seasons, but since those were after he had already signed an Standard Player Contract (SPC) in the NHL—his entry-level deal in 2011—he’s considered to have several years of professional service and is therefore eligible.

The Jets are in one of the worst situations in the league at the moment for the draft, though it is mostly because of the solid depth they’ve built at every position. For a team vying for the playoffs next season, losing one of the above listed players wouldn’t be crippling especially as they have youngsters like Roslovic and Poolman set to fight for spots.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Mike Smith Potentially Available

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Arizona goaltender Mike Smith could well be available, after he was heavily shielded from discussions at the trade deadline. According to Nick Kypreos, Arizona is circling back to the discussions after re-evaluating their team. Management believes Smith is in “win-now” mode, and with the team opting to go with a total youth movement, getting assets for Smith could be quite enticing. If the team were to unload Smith for prospects or picks, it would make the Coyotes’ ability to compete far less likely next season. The team is in a particularly difficult position because of their unique ownership struggles over the years. Fans always want to see a competitive squad on the ice, and with the possible retirement of Shane Doan looming, trading their next most recognizable player would be a tough sell.

Smith has a career save percentage of .916, with a solid two seasons behind him. These past two years were a welcome improvement over his terrible 2014-15 outing, in which he led the league in losses and goals against. No season has been as spectacular as his first in the desert, 2011-12, when he even entered the Vezina conversation with a .930 save percentage and 38 wins before leading the team to the Western Conference Finals. Smith has been known for his ultra-competitive attitude and incredible athleticism, but been criticized for his inconsistency. Arizona coach Dave Tippett has often come to his defense, even in the lean years, giving him the spotlight and credit on numerous occasions.

The market for Smith could be quite limited, and as mentioned previously, he is probably worth more to the franchise in fan engagement alone than the assets he might return. The only two teams who still absolutely need a #1 goaltender are the Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets, with the possibility that Philadelphia could have interest. The last time Philadelphia opted to go with a Tippett-led goaltender, Ilya Bryzgalov, the transition was the opposite of smooth. Winnipeg is renowned for its reluctance to engage in trades, as GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has often balked at transactions and taken a conservative approach to team-building. Calgary is indeed desperate for a veteran tender, and the fit there would likely be the most conceivable, if difficult due to intra-divisional competition. If Calgary were willing to move a substantial piece to land Smith, however, it stands to question whether they are truly on the cusp of contending. The market simply isn’t there for Mike Smith at the moment, though during a new season, injuries and poor performances always leave teams scrambling for help in the crease.

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