The NHL Trade Deadline is at Noon Pacific time today.
This article will be dedicated to all pertinent news surrounding the Golden Knights and this year’s deadline. It will be updated throughout the day.
- Vegas has traded Evgenii Dadonov and a 2024 2nd Round Pick for the contracts of John Moore and Ryan Kesler. (Source: Golden Knights)
- Both Moore and Kesler are injured and out for the season.
- The Golden Knights are reportedly in advanced talks for Rickard Rakell. (Source: @emilymkaplan)
- Rakell was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins. (Source: @FriedgeHNIC)
- Vegas has been exploring moving out a contract (@TheFourthPeriod)
- Linked to the last bullet point? (Source: @thegoldenmuzzy)
- Then Minnesota Wild, VGK’s opponent tonight, have acquired Marc-Andre Fleury from the Chicago Blackhawks for a 2nd round pick that could become a 1st. (Source: @frank_seravalli)
- He is expected to back-up for the Wild tonight. (Source: @sarah__mclellan)
- Derrick Pouliot was claimed off waivers by Seattle. (Source: @FriedgeHNIC)
- GM Kelly McCrimmon will hold a press conference at 2:30 PM today whether the Golden Knights make a move or not. (Source: Golden Knights)
VGK fan in Summerlin
Godsakes stop trying to acquire players that won’t make a difference by mortgaging the future. Stop the desperation. Won’t matter anyways unless you have excellent goaltending you can’t go far in the playoffs anyways.
Shedding salary of course makes sense in order to bring Stone back, which is likely the best way to even try to win enough games to make the playoffs, which is looking fairly doubtful at this point.
Howard
A great part of “excellent goaltending” is having a good defense, in which VGK has really faltered in this year.
THE hockey GOD
Howard gets it
Richie-Rich
McNabb and Martinez will help the D. Coghlan played well in the last game, but he’s inconsistent. Hague is another inconsistent defenseman. Theodore has not played well this year at all either.
I have always like Thompson. I think he has all the tools necessary to win, except he doesn’t have enough experience to be the #1. Brossoit is a career backup, so he isn’t the answer. Lehner likely is best option, but he has a lot of issues in his game even when he’s healthy.
Dadanov is gone? He just started to come around! He too has been spotty.
Maybe Stone is ready to come back soon? I hope so. I would like to see him and Eichel on line 1 with Marchy.
Rob Rice
Circumventing the salary cap the way Tampa Bay did last year is a blueprint for success rhat needs to be closed, otherwise why have a cap at all
Daryl
Yep, you are 100% correct… The other part of great goaltending is having your goalte ders play well, which overall they have not done
Blitz
I mean did VGK even try to offer Mikael Hakkarainen back for Fleury? How about an injured average tender Lehner, an overpriced backup Brossoit, and a barely-goal scorer goal scorer Dadonov? What, no such luck? CHI is going to settle for a lousy 2nd (possible 1st) round pick?
VGKFANGIRL
VGK is not taking Fleury back lol. That’s just not happening.
Rob Rice
Vegas made a HUGE mistake trading MAF in the first place. Proven winner, great guy. Your starting “injured” goaltender has many issue on and off the ice
Blitz
David Schoen is saying the *rumor* is dadonov to the ducks. I assume this would be for Rakell. Straight up that would be great, but I wonder what else that will cost?
Daryl
Rakell is off to the Pens. Looks like Dadanov is gone for Cap space
ulf
Rakell to Pittsburgh, per Elliot Friedman.
Jim
so, the Vgk f.o just sit on their hands and do nothing
so, they will just let Reilly Smith walk away for nothing?
McCrappen is a joke.
Blitz
I am watching the VGK Trade Deadline Special live right now. They just said there is still some trade stuff going on with VGK and that there is still 33 trades in the league office queue. So it may not be over yet. As for Smith, he could still resign w/ VGK instead of walk, but he could walk yes.
Pistol Pete
You really don’t think they have not thought Smith through? You must be kidding. I’d rather have this FO making decisions than you or me, that is for sure. To guess, it’s a cap challenge to resign Smith now and they don’t want to trade him because he’s a potential piece in the postseason. “Getting something for him” now is not necessarily the overriding factor. I’m sure if YOU were in the FO you’d be able to figure it out.
Chris
Looks like VGK has done exactly what I think I hoped– stood pat. They did not overpay for a new face to try to make a run in a year when they appear to not have the horses; they did not sell at bargain basement prices any of the assets that they have and fold their tenants.
knights fan in minny
did i see that right 63 is gone
Blitz
That’s what they are saying. Dad to ANA. It’s not finalized yet, as of right now, but it is being reported by the VGK announcers.
Daryl
Was t he bought with the money saved from trading MAF???? What did VGK get again from that trade?
Blitz
Clearly the value wasn’t cap, it was truly Mikael Hakkarainen.
Jim
more likely that Dadanov will go to Ducks along with young prospects for a used bag of pucks. cap dump
Jim
wonder if Kesler’s contract is also in the deal? that would clear over 10 mill (63+Kesler)
Blitz
That is not true. You could take on Kesler’s contract as long as he stayed on LTIR (retired or whatever), but it doesn’t magically give you more cap space. You would get Dadonov’s cap space and nothing more. The only reason to take Kesler’s contract is so ANA doesn’t have to pay him physical money (not cap). That is the incentive for them. For us it is to get out of Dadonov’s cap space.
Jim
haha. what did I tell you. they sent 63 and a second round pick to Anaheim for Kesler’s contract and the oft-injured washed up old dman John Moore
a total cap dump by the incompetent fool of a GM.
JockEnvy
Players on LTIR rumored to be coming back before the playoffs. The team needed cap space to make that happen. We’re battling for a spot. Or guaranteed. McCrimmon, surprisingly, did what he was supposed to do here.
Richie-Rich
Let’s not forget, McIdiot put himself into this corner. Now he has to take the stool softeners in order to shit the cap that is stuck in his rectum.
Gerald
It’s all said and good , but hockey is Maxwell paying business and if you cannot produce what your salary represents then it’s out the door for you, plain and simple, I was saying that about the flour ,and look what’s happening to him, going from one team until he gets tired of traveling and guits
Daryl
Since VGK has simply dumped Cap room with no pickup, that tells me players are about to come off LITR
Blitz
Yeah you would think. If one of RL or Marty or Patches is on LTIR then Stone can come back. I don’t remember the numbers but I thought we were 7 or maybe 9 million over cap. So Dadonov (5 mil) can’t be the only one out or gone. Then next year is even more cutting. Chop chop!
There is some irony that the hottest player in our only winning streak in forever is now gone. Too little too late.
Rob Rice
If Vegas truly wants to cap dump, the answer is right in front of them
Send #9 and his unearned, bloated contract to the Siberian Sword fighters for a bags of d#cks and a used Zamboni
Daryl
MAF is off to the Wild… Yes I know I’m bring up MAF which I said I wouldn’t do, but this move does affect VGK
THE hockey GOD
2021-22 BUF 29 6 8 14 -12
year team gms G A pts plus/minus
knights fan in minny
the reactions are pretty mixed here in minny i like it to bad he wont play tonight suprised we let go are young back up
Blitz
Its official. They get Dadonov and a 2nd round pick. We get defenseman John Moore and the contract of Ryan Kesler.
THE hockey GOD
so VGK gets nobody, but SAL CAP relief.
They are now short a veteran player, who takes boris badanov’s place on roster tonight ?
Blitz
I don’t quite know how to look at this trade. John Moore is appearing on vgk non-roster list PLUS there is 1.6 million in buried penalty, which I think is cap. Is he not a playable player at the moment? Did we just give up a 2nd and eat shitloads of contract money (not cap) just to offload Dadonov? If that is the case add another line item to the awful shit the FO has done since firing Turk. I don’t know Moore or his status so maybe it just isn’t fully flushed out on capfriendly.
THE hockey GOD
John Moore was traded to the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday.
Moore was sent to the Ducks as part of a trade for Hampus Lindholm. He has not played in a game since January 12th of this year. Moore has one assist in seven games played with the Bruins this season.
THE hockey GOD
look at as a trade to help pay a portion of salary of the ten million dollar man
Blitz
Yeah so we just traded a 2nd rounder for 3.3 million in cap relief and down to 2.2 million if Moore plays this year or next. Actually i think it is less. And of course money out of Foley’s pocket for the other contract. I am sure that is prorated so it isn’t terrible.
At least we have a draft pick in like 2024-2025.
THE hockey GOD
The Anaheim Ducks have traded forward Ryan Kesler to the Vegas Golden Knights.
Kesler and John Moore are heading to Vegas for Evgenii Dadonov and a conditional 2024 second round pick. Kesler carries a $6.875 million cap hit that the Golden Knights will be allowed to use as extra long-term injured reserve cap relief after having to end his career due to a hip injury.
Pistol Pete
Seems like a shrewd move, right? Frees up $11.875m in cap, enough to bring every injured player back in the lineup?
Blitz
No, not even close. It’s frees just over 3 million. Kesler means nothing to the cap. Just money out of Foleys wallet.
Pistol Pete
I admit I do not understand the ins and outs of the cap. What does this mean then?
“Kesler carries a $6.875 million cap hit that the Golden Knights will be allowed to use as extra long-term injured reserve cap relief after having to end his career due to a hip injury.”
Daryl
Kesler’s Cap hot means nothing to VGK. From my understanding, he does t help or hurt VGK. It’s not added Cap space, he just doesn’t add to the Cap. It’s almost like a wash trade
Pistol Pete
Blitz I think something is missing in your assumptions. All I’m hearing is really significant cap relief. You may be right. On the other hand we wish you would not make claims you are not sure of. My apology in advance if you are correct.
Daryl
My comment was based on what was being said on a couple of the sports sites. The only Cap relief was that of Dadonov
Pistol Pete
Blitz this was your response when I stated the $11.875m in freed cap (I neglected to deduct Moore’s contract):
“No, not even close. It’s frees just over 3 million. Kesler means nothing to the cap. Just money out of Foleys wallet.”
It’s my understanding your “just over 3 million” does not include Dadonov’s $5m. The net from Kesler and Moore is $3.375m plus Dadonov is $8.375m. I may still be confused but that is $5m more than what you stated.
Clearing $8.375m cap is meaningful.
THE hockey GOD
The Vegas Golden Knights will start Logan Thompson in goal on Monday night against the Minnesota Wild.
Thompson will be looking for his third straight win and is coming off an incredible 38-save effort over the LA Kings. The 25-year-old netminder was given a boost of confidence after Vegas didn’t add another goaltender before the trade deadline and he should definitely be added in all formats down the stretch.
Pistol Pete
A confidence booster indeed. Hopefully it shows tonight.
Daryl
He made several nice saves thus far
knights fan in minny
what happened to whitecloud
Daryl
Covid protocol
Pistol Pete
Whoops. Howden and the four HSK guys just gave up a goal.
Daryl
Yeah that wasn’t good… Wild looking pretty good and ND was a nice pickup for them
JockEnvy
For the clowns that don’t want to blame McCrimmon for this mess, look at the trades that transpired today.
MAF to the Wild for a conditional 2nd rounder (can become a 1st)
Dadonov to ANA for washed up trash (cap dump)
MAF was traded for nothing to gain some cap space. The space was used to get Dadonov and Brossoit. Now Dadonov is dumped and Brossoit is playing second fiddle to an AHL goalie.
Just outstanding work by the GM.
Pistol Pete
All except he built the best roster the team ever had and but have been plagued by maasive injuries all season.
Sure in hindsight you might keep Fleury or correctly correlate Dadonov’s slide from his production at FLA to OTT as permanent career decline, but no organization can operate without making decisions that don’t pan out.
I could say something derogatory about armchair FO’s but I’ll refrain. Fans want to win and are unhappy and fast to criticize when they don’t. I get that, in fact I do it myself sometimes.
JockEnvy
Teams swing and miss. That is part of the game and it happens all the time. What you don’t do is trade the heart of the franchise to free up the cap space to acquire an over 30 declining forward with a $5 million cap hit that was slotted in on the third line from day one.
And playing Armchair GM is why these sites have comment sections. It’s part of what being an actual hockey fan is all about. The best part about being an Armchair GM? Watching the real GM progressively put this team in a worse spot each season and now in a position to miss the playoffs and getting to talk whatever talk we want knowing it doesn’t actually matter.
Pistol Pete
Jock Envy, whether or not to have moved on from Fleury is a complex question imo. Most significant he was older and appeared to be in decline. I don’t think Lehner has worked out. Maybe spending $5m on a third line slot was not a good move. What I think is a little funny is the injuries and how their impact on the team’s W/L ends up being fodder for us armchair GM’s. What if the injuries were less and we are headed for the post season with Patch/Eichel/Stone and the Misfits plus Martinez? There would be fewer of us claiming the GM is progressively putting us in a worse spot each season, right?
JockEnvy
But that’s the problem. Without the injuries, this team doesn’t exist the way it does right now. By using the LTIR, they did what the Lightning did with Kucherov. If no one got hurt, we would’ve been over the cap and wouldn’t have been able to make a play for Eichel with the players we gave up. It’s a massive game of “what if” but it’s not just this season that makes me go after McCrimmon. This team was built on chemistry in year one. Now in year 5, we spend every season pining over the newest shiny toy. First it was Stone. Then Petro. Now Eichel. They let key role players go. They trade away draft picks that turn into stars. All in the name of Foley and his “Cup in 5 years promise”. You need stars but you need young and controllable players as well to give you flexibility. McCrimmon and McPhee are going in the opposite direction.
Richie-Rich
I called it last year when they brought in Brossoit. There was no need to. This team would have been fine with Lehner/Thompson.
Howard
Man, this Kelly Mcfartnshtink never ceases to amaze with his buffoonery. How this man has a job as an NHL GM is beyond my understanding.
Pistol Pete
Do you have any background in managing a hockey team or playing the game?
Daryl
Sorry PP, but that line doesn’t work. None of us have a background as a NHL player, as do most of the analysts, so what you are saying is that none of us should have an opinion ???
JockEnvy
Your opinion doesn’t match his opinion so it’s wrong
Pistol Pete
I mean I do think some of the criticism coming as it does from us who have never been in an NHL locker room or lived the day to day workings of an NHL organization is not real world. No I definitely do not think my opinion is the best but I do get a little defensive when posters mercilessly bash the management of team that has been this successful.
Duckboy
PP is a FO forum plant!
Richie-Rich
The ultimate Fuck You to VGK and Kelly McIdiot would be for Fleury to hoist a cup with the Minnesota Wild while we sit here with Robin Walrus Lehner as our goaltender.
At this point, I can say it –
Bringing in Lehner & Brossoit was a mistake. This team would have been fine with Fleury and Thompson. That’s how I have always felt. It’s my opinion, and I don’t give a shit about how you “feel” about it or the stats you can cherry pick and throw.
Daryl
I’d be OK if the Wild won it all if only they got rid of Dumba first
Howard
I have extensive management experience at high levels and you don’t manage a team by burning bridges and lacking discipline by making rash hasty decisions without metrics or thought. Your comment is laughable suggesting ‘great roster construction’ here. How much over the cap would they be if everyone was healthy?
Here’s what I get that you apparently do not;
Signing MAF to $7M per when NO ONE else was even bidding close to that. In management we call that “bidding against yourself.” << live that and learn it.
Signing RL to 5 years for $5M per when the guy has only had 3 good and healthy seasons when NO ONE ELSE WOULD GIVE HIM TERM is also, ready now? BIDDING AGAINST YOURSELF."
Kicking a successful head coach to the curb in favor of a guy with a well-know rep of getting his teams often injured and ruining them is also BAD MANAGEMENT.
Lacking communications where you lock a guy out of the building on his wedding weekend = BAD COMMUNICATION = BAD MANAGEMENT.
Signing an aging Dman when you had a bevy of good dmen for nearly $9M is hamstringing yourself – ALSO IS POOR MANAGEMENT.
Trading for a declining one way forward in Dadanov and paying him $5M per is BAD MANAGEMENT.
Constantly having to person cap gymnastics shows an inability to think ahead, and shows compulsive thinking.
Paying Karlsson nearly $6M per for a guy who NEVER PROVED himself as a top 6 forward except for maybe 2 year is also BAD MANAGEMENT.
McMoron seems to have a lot of communication issues with a lot of people (what again happened with Perron?) He constantly is involved in controversy in addition; FO burned bridges with fans over tick allotments.
All of these add up to an organization that is in, and will severely decline. Afterwards, I'll hear from fans like you bitching and whining how bad the team is, finishing last or near last for years to come, playing to a half empty/full arena.
I can care less if you ever played or not before. Ken is smarter than most former players and in fact, the best executives ARE NOT FORMER PLAYERS or coaches because those guys tend to get stuck in the same shit box that a lot of bad GM's (SJS comes to mind) get stuck in.
JockEnvy
This is the most amazing post I’ve ever read. I genuinely appreciate this and love seeing someone that actually knows their sh*t.
Pistol Pete
Maybe I missed your positive posts but based on your last two substantive ones (including your last) you never have anything good to say about the management of an organization that has delivered such an unpredecented amount of success in their short history. You seem unfairly critical or maybe just blowing off hot air because you’re decent at doing it.
“I have extensive management experience at high levels and you don’t manage a team by burning bridges and lacking discipline by making rash hasty decisions without metrics or thought. Your comment is laughable suggesting ‘great roster construction’ here. How much over the cap would they be if everyone was healthy?”
I believe you. You are obviously a very bright guy which is part of what is so disconcerting in that you can give zero credit where some is due. The roster construction IS good under McCrimmon and was started by McPhee. They are over the cap because of Eichel who is without a doubt the most key player they could have added. If you were them and with your expert management acumen there is no way you do that deal knowing you eventually have to move a couple pieces and that it could be worth it?
“Signing MAF to $7M per when NO ONE else was even bidding close to that. In management we call that “bidding against yourself.” << live that and learn it."
If you know for a fact nobody was bidding close to it, valid point.
"Signing RL to 5 years for $5M per when the guy has only had 3 good and healthy seasons when NO ONE ELSE WOULD GIVE HIM TERM is also, ready now? BIDDING AGAINST YOURSELF.""
We have a good deal agreement on this. Not 100% but significant.
"Kicking a successful head coach to the curb in favor of a guy with a well-know rep of getting his teams often injured and ruining them is also BAD MANAGEMENT."
This is a reach on your part. Gallant's seasons two and three were massive struggles, and that's with some key additions and missing only Perron basically. Whatever worked in season one had stopped and wasn't coming back.
"Lacking communications where you lock a guy out of the building on his wedding weekend = BAD COMMUNICATION = BAD MANAGEMENT."
I'm in the dark here–Fleury that was? It's hard for me to imagine any organization no matter how well run where details don't slip through the cracks from time to time.
"Signing an aging Dman when you had a bevy of good dmen for nearly $9M is hamstringing yourself – ALSO IS POOR MANAGEMENT."
I don't think all that many industry experts would agree on that. Definitelhy some risk with it though.
"Trading for a declining one way forward in Dadanov and paying him $5M per is BAD MANAGEMENT."
Definitely a bit of a risky call, however would YOU be able to know for sure a guy who scored 81 goals over three seasons and had one flat next season on a different team was washed up?
"Constantly having to person cap gymnastics shows an inability to think ahead, and shows compulsive thinking."
That's a bit of a thin criticism especially because cap gymnastics plague about every agressive team in the league. Building contending rosters requires being agressive. VGK has always been agressive. Why do youb think they were successful their first four seasone?
"Paying Karlsson nearly $6M per for a guy who NEVER PROVED himself as a top 6 forward except for maybe 2 year is also BAD MANAGEMENT."
Much easier to say in hindsight. I'm sure you realize that was before McCrimmon?
"McMoron seems to have a lot of communication issues with a lot of people (what again happened with Perron?) He constantly is involved in controversy in addition; FO burned bridges with fans over tick allotments."
Is McMoron McPhee? McPhee was the GM during Perron.
"All of these add up to an organization that is in, and will severely decline. Afterwards, I'll hear from fans like you bitching and whining how bad the team is, finishing last or near last for years to come, playing to a half empty/full arena."
Now that's just unfair and unreasonable. You have gone about making most of your points in a fairly clever fashion but that one is a little thin. I'm sure you threw this post together quickly. I really am impressed!
"I can care less if you ever played or not before. Ken is smarter than most former players and in fact, the best executives ARE NOT FORMER PLAYERS or coaches because those guys tend to get stuck in the same shit box that a lot of bad GM's (SJS comes to mind) get stuck in."
I'll give you that.
Pistol Pete
aggressive has (2) g’s btw lol
Duckboy
How much does the FO pay you to post ?
Howard
Here’s the point you and a lot of so-called NHL experts miss continually;
When you spend like mad to try to BUY a Cup, you mortgage your FUTURE. Let’s review recent Cup winners;
Tampa – 2 time defending champs = PAID THEIR DUES over many years and DID NOT try to BUY CUPS. Their talent is mostly homegrown, they paid their dues = short term pain, long TERM GAIN.
Pens – the same.
Caps – the same.
BlackHawks – the same.
Kings – mostly the same
Now, the main point – the biggest issue in this world today are people SACRIFICING long term gains in favor of short term glory. This is how CHINA now dominates global economics, America and Americans got lazy, ALWAYS WANTING SHORT TERM GAIN over long term gain.
China plays the long game, we play the short term game and can’t stand any pain.
This translates across the board in all fields of life. Whether a country or a sports team – sacrificing the long term success for short term glory almost always results in DISASTER.
Granted, VGK is only a sports team, but this org represents everything that is wrong with the world at large today. This is why I’m negative on VGK. This won’t end well and with current management, I fear team will suck for years to come. We have seen this time and time again. Just look at SJS — that GM could not resist all those ‘shiny toys’ and their once successful org will now suck for years to come.
If VGK fans want a cup, do it the right way as the teams I mentioned built from within, there was NO REASON for team to KEEP BUYING THE SHINY NEW TOYS – top heavy teams DO NOT WIN CUPS.
Isn’t that you and all the fans want? If so, then this front office HAS TO GO, PERIOD.
Depth wins Cups.
Richie-Rich
PP just has a different point of view on the FO and the coaching. It’s a more positive point of view. We all have opinions and the points that we make AS FANS all have some validity!
PP and I disagree overall, but he makes valid points:
-Injuries indeed have had an impact on the VGK, and despite the fact that a large number of starters are out, they are still in the playoff hunt. That’s a credit to the depth of this club.
You can credit McPhee & McCrimmon for the depth and DeBoer for at least keeping the VGK in the hunt for a playoff spot.
The above points are valid, but at the same time the team has quite a bit older and with that age comes more injuries. Therefore, McCrimmon and McPhee have to own that as well. Maybe we added too many pieces to fast? That’s my point, and I think it’s valid. The amount of roster churn on this club alone wiped out the chemistry needed for a team to make a cup run.
The two things that I cannot ever wrap my mind around is the firing of Gallant and bringing in Deboer, and the Lehner acquisition. These two moves were major blunders in my opinion. The VGK defense already was too thin. Shipping Nate Schmidt & Nick Holden out watered it down to where it is today.
I have to also admit that Eichel is much better than advertised, although he has yet to produce points at his form clip. I think that will change if Stone can come back, and that better be soon or this season is lost.
Thompson is playing fantastic, 3 solid performances in goal in a row. I never thought Lehner was a good fit for this team, and so I could care less if he comes back or not. The goaltending has been mediocre at best and at this point I don’t think it matters much who is in the crease. I like Thompson because the only drawback is experience. His athleticism is evident, his skill sets are evident. The experience will come. I think he will be fine as long as we can get McNabb and Martinez back – SOON.
Richie-Rich
Spot on analysis. The root cause of the problem is McCrimmon and his knee jerking approach to management. He also has zero personal skills (i.e. he’s a fucking jerk).
At the time, Smith, Karlsson and Marchy all were deserving of the contracts they received. In hindsight, maybe not. But let’s lay the blame on DeBoer and his lack of any offensive strategy. He’s fucking clueless unless the puck is in the d-zone.
If I had to rate the dumbest move by McCrimmon it would be the firing of Gallant. When he did that he ripped the heart and soul out of the year 1 team.
You look at the current standings at things look pretty grim. VGK is going to have to go on a big winning streak, and even then they could be on the outside looking in.
DeBoer and Lehner haven’t been able to find a home during their careers and there is a reason why that is. McIdiot’s claim to fame, his legacy is a JUNIOR FUCKING HOCKEY SAVANT. That’s where he belongs.
Pistol Pete
Attn: Howard:
See my response posted on the next thread (VGK vs. MIN game). Cup winning teams are often top heavy—skill and salary. Name one that was not stacked in the top six. Your point is grow the talent…fine but they still end up milking the cap for what their agent can get.
What your approach to the VGK does not credit is the remarkable first season and credit due Foley, Craven, McPhee and the others. It surprises me you don’t understand that given the success of the first season and the inevitable sophomore slump to follow, that in order to build on the initial success, there was no time to grow strictly from within. Buying had to be done to keep the team contending near term. That was important to us fans. I’m surprised this is not a given for you under the unique situation Foley created. If you would rather be a fan waiting up there in Seattle so be it. Anyways, I’m glad Foley did not choose your conservative approach. We’d be here in season five watching paint dry. Boring.
Duckboy
This is a great post and hits on some key points.
Coming from a talent based industry that has gone through 2 key leadership changes the one thing each time new leadership started was not churn or fire to the entire staff. Tweaks were made to add leadership in key areas and augment talent. This resulted in multiple award winning product releases.
It was not to burn through people like these clowns have done. Not to hire a coach that doesn’t suit your core talent and approach.
The knights had a rare thing in season 1 in any professional world which was legit chemistry as a high performing team. Every season has taken this apart to the point where now the core players left are shells of themselves.
All of their moves have been expensive and not worked out.
When u look at the results almost worse every year. We lose to Minnesota last year and these guys would have been fired by now.
Btw of the Dudanov trade falls through due to their incompetence they should be fired on the spot.
Pistol Pete
Again and like a number of others here, you are not addressing the challenges Gallant created in season 2 and the part of season 3 up to when he was canned. I have said before that it was a mistake in retrospect to not re-sign Perron. Letting Neal go was fine. If you research the rosters you’ll find Gallant had almost his original roster plus additions. The chemistry, analytics and whatever intangibles just were not showing under Gallant’s leadership. He needed to go. Don’t get why that is not a no-brainer, it’s so freakin’ obvious, and to prove it the record is better under DeBoer.
Duckboy
Pdb record is better? @ vgk
I know PDB has a longer losing streak. Reg season Pt % .650 to .601 for gallant, so that’s close.
Playoff % .564 to .593 for gallant (this will either not change or only get worse this season btw)
Whatever your issues with gallant were, imagine we had real future prospects as opposed to the deals we have made to lock ourselves into huge contracts giving up talent?
Champ Window is open next year maybe year after
Window Could have been opened longer with some good depth talent as opposed to this s show it has been over the past 2.5 years.
I hope we turn it around make the playoffs and win or get a better team together next year.
This is what I see happening with fo and coach
if the team isn’t in 1st at thanksgiving next year it will be house cleaning time
New fo
New coach
They have had plenty of kicks at the can
Daryl
Agreed….
Pistol Pete
Blitz this was your response when I stated the $11.875m in freed cap (I neglected to deduct Moore’s contract):
“No, not even close. It’s frees just over 3 million. Kesler means nothing to the cap. Just money out of Foleys wallet.”
It’s my understanding your “just over 3 million” does not include Dadonov’s $5m. The net from Kesler and Moore is $3.375m plus Dadonov is $8.375m. I may still be confused but that is $5m more than what you stated.
$8.375m cap is meaningful.
Daryl
Kesler’s Cap dies t change where pour Cap us… We can’t use his additional Cap space. We can use Dadonov Cap minus whatever Moore Cap is and that is how much is freed up
Blitz
@Pete, the complete net gain from the trade today is about 3.3 million. We lose Dad’s 5 million dollar contract, but we gained Moore 1.6 million dollar (buried penalty). So 5m – 1.625m = 3.375m. The part you are not understanding is Kesler is medically retired. His salary doesn’t count against the cap at all because he is on LTIR. The reason he is in the trade is so ANA can stop paying his wages and VGK can start paying his wages until his contract is up, but again it has nothing to do with the cap.
So Dadonov and Moore are the only ones affecting the cap in this trade. Furthermore, if Moore actually comes back this year or next it will actually bring the trade down another 1.1 mil because Moore’s salary is 2.75mil and the 1.6mil buried penalty would go away.
You may be confused because for some reason people think picking up a contract for a guy on LTIR magically give you extra cap. That is 100% false. Your cap is all the non-LTIR players salary, plus stuff like dead cap, buy out, and buried penalty.
Daryl
The while 3trade itself I now on hold as apparently Dadonov has a10 team NTC and ANA was on that list
Pistol Pete
Blitz, thanks for clearing that up! It is confusing especially when you see teams buying the LTIR player.
Pistol Pete
We need the Avs to lose. Thompson turned in another good game 33/35 = .943 but had no scoring to support him. Eichel lands another 5 shots. I would imagine that bad hand makes it all the harder for them to go in. We really need Stone and Patch back to finish the regular season. At least the smart move made today makes it possible,
Pistol Pete
I meant the Oilers to lose. Stupid.
Pistol Pete
I’d give the b2b to Thompson. He earned it tonight. Would be another good test for him. Sounds like Lehner is coming back fairly soon. If Thompson continues to perform well how will they manage the backup role if Lehner returns?
Contact Tracer
Vezina WINNER and 3 time Stanley Cup WINNER Marc Andre Fleury beats VGK wearing 2 different sweaters in the same season …. PRICELESS
Pistol Pete
The warm words of a true fan!