The first domino in the Golden Knights offseason was the trade of Paul Stastny to the Winnipeg Jets. It was widely regarded as a salary dump as Vegas got out from under Stastny’s $6.5 million contract to help pave the way for the signing of Alex Pietrangelo.
In that trade though the Golden Knights acquired a player, 25-year-old Swedish defenseman Carl Dahlstrom.
There’s an argument to be made that Dahlstrom became a Golden Knight, or really a Silver Knight, because of his $900,000 one-way contract. (That means he gets paid $900k whether he’s in the NHL or AHL, a cost many NHL franchises aren’t looking to incur on AHL players.) But, what if he’s more than that.
Dahlstrom was a 2nd round pick (51st overall) of the Chicago Blackhawks back in 2013. From 2014-16 he was one of the more reliable defense-first defensemen in the entire SHL. Then, when he came to North America, he’s bounced between the AHL and the NHL.
Standing 6’4″ tall and weighing 231 pounds, Dahlstrom is the largest skater on the Golden Knights (only Lehner is bigger at 240 pounds). His skating is certainly above average for a player of his size and he’s been reliable enough in his own end during his 64 game career. Primarily a player that starts his shifts in the defensive zone, Dahlstrom’s Corsi has been above 50% in two of his three seasons in the NHL.
The Golden Knights are going to be up against the cap for as long as Marc-Andre Fleury remains on the roster. So, they’ll always be looking for affordable, usable options to fill rosters spots, especially early on. Dahlstrom joins a group of less than $1 million per year defensemen including Zach Whitecloud, Nic Hague, Dylan Coghlan, Jake Bischoff, Brayden Pachal, and Jimmy Schuldt.
It’s probably unlikely he can wrestle a spot away from Whitecloud, but if he can be at least close to Nick Holden, the difference in salary could be his ticket to playing for the Golden Knights.
In the end, it’s probably safe to say Dahlstrom will spend a majority of his time in Henderson horsing around with the Silver Knights, but even despite the lack of interest he garnered following the trade, he’s going to be given a shot and the front office will be cheering for him to run with it.
Mikegron32
This was a good article Ken. Still managed to land a goalie salary body blow , and the horsing around with the HSK line was very solid.
PDB can work some magic with the right defenseman. I think he played a significant factor in Zach Whitecloud’s impressive play at the end of the year. Maybe he can do the same for Dahlstrom aka Big D
Ken Boehlke
Sometimes the jab is more effective than the upper cut.
Daryl
PDB had nothing to do with the how Whitecloud played. That is quite a HUGE stretch. Now, if Dahlstrom ends up playing for VGK, then their defense is in worse shape than I initially thought. Not only because I don’t think he isn’t very good for an NHL player, but also because he is a defensive first blue liner and nobody wants that in the NHL anymore. The NHL cares about scoring goals and nothing more. Just about every rule change the past 10 years has been about improving scoring.
As for Lehner, is there another team in the NHL who’s goalie is the biggest player on the team???
Daryl
*** b/c I don’t think he is very good…
Tim
If they feel Dahlstrom is better then Hague or Coghlan he’ll play if not he won’t. Supposedly Hague and Coghlan are more offensive minded which like you said Daryl fans want to see. The guy I’m most interested in seeing is Jack Dugan he’s 22 years old 6’2″ and lite up the college ranks could he push for a spot?
Daryl
I agree… .can’t wait to see what Dugan can do