The contract stalemate that kept RFA Nic Hague out of the entire Training Camp and all seven preseason games has come to an end today as he and the Golden Knights agreed to a three-year contract worth $2,294,150 per season.
Hague becomes the sixth highest-paid defenseman on the team and will remain an RFA under Golden Knights control when this contract expires following the 2024-25 season.
Nic loves being a Golden Knight and we love having him. It was slower than all of us would have liked but the good news is he’s now under contract. -Kelly McCrimmon
Hague is expected to join the team in Los Angeles tomorrow but will not play in the season opening game.
The Golden Knights have inked Phil Kessel to a one-year contract worth $1.5 million.
The forward who is set to turn 35 before the season is coming off a season with the Coyotes in which he scored six goals and added 44 assists.
Kessel is eight games away from setting the NHL’s all-time record for consecutive games played at 990. He would accomplish this feat on October 25th when the Golden Knights travel to San Jose.
The Golden Knights have agreed to send forward Evgenii Dadonov to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for the contract of injured defenseman Shea Weber.
Weber fought through multiple injuries in 2020-21 leading him to miss the entirety of the 2021-22 season. He is not expected to ever be healthy enough to play again.
Thus, Weber’s salary of $7.85 million which was acquired by the Golden Knights will be placed on long-term injured reserve. (This means a few things for VGK of which we will explain in an upcoming article.) The contract runs through 2025-26, or the next four seasons.
In exchange, the Golden Knights clear $5 million of (more useable) cap space by shedding Evgenii Dadonov.
According to multiple reports, first reported by Kevin Weekes of ESPN, the Golden Knights are set to make Bruce Cassidy the team’s newest head coach. The team has confirmed.
Cassidy, who was fired from the same position with the Boston Bruins eight days ago, will become the Golden Knights’ third head coach as they head into their sixth season in the NHL.
Cassidy boasted a .672 winning percentage in his six years with the Bruins with a record of 245-108-46. He led his team to the playoffs in all six of his seasons in Boston and reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2018-19, ultimately falling in seven games to the St. Louis Blues. His overall record in the playoffs is 36-37 and his series record is 6-5.
In 2002, Cassidy was given his first chance as a head coach by George McPhee and the Washington Capitals. He lasted just 110 games and was let go after an 8-18-1-1 start in his second year.
The Golden Knights are very pleased to have Bruce come in to coach our team. His success in Boston over six years is extremely impressive. His teams have had a clear identity, having been among the very best in the NHL in terms of goals for, goals against, goal differential and special teams. This is the right coach for our team at this time. -Kelly McCrimmon in press release
I am excited to join an organization that shares my commitment to winning and can’t wait to get to work with the talent that has been assembled in Vegas. It’s been impressive to watch the city embrace the Golden Knights from afar, and my family and I look forward to becoming a part of that. -Bruce Cassidy in press release
The Golden Knights announced today Pete DeBoer has been relieved of his duties as head coach of the team.
After lengthy discussions over the last two weeks, we believe that a new coach will put us in the best position to succeed next season. -Kelly McCrimmon in press release
DeBoer led the Golden Knights to a regular season record of 98-50-12 in his two and a half seasons behind the bench. He won four playoff series and compiled a record of 22-17 in the postseason.
GM Kelly McCrimmon is expected to meet with the media to discuss the decision at 1 PM today.
However, he was placed in an unwinnable situation. He kept a battered team afloat (1st place on Feb 14) for much longer than expected and was handed a cap-strapped nightmare the entire year; a roster void of depth and continuity. Which was completely beyond his control.
DeBoer has taken the fall for a collection of missteps by everyone. From players to coaches to management to ownership, most were not good enough in 2021-22.
Injuries can fairly excuse why the Golden Knights missed the playoffs, but they cannot excuse the fact a presumed Cup contender turned out to be fool's gold.
We have our scapegoat, but I'm not certain we yet have the true solution.
The NHL released a statement confirming that the trade of Evgenii Dadonov to the Anaheim Ducks has been cancelled.
The National Hockey League announced today that it has invalidated Monday’s trade of Player Evgenii Dadonov from Vegas to Anaheim. The trade could not be concluded because Dadonov’s contract includes a limited no-trade clause, which has not been complied with. -NHL
The Vegas Golden Knights recognize the league’s decision and welcome Evgenii back to our club. #VegasBorn
I will remain steadfast in saying the likelihood that VGK are primarily at fault for this situation is still low. (This does not mean they are blameless. They aren't.)
There's no denying, however, how awful it looks for them and they won't be escaping it now or any time soon.
Vegas has acquired Eichel and a 3rd round pick in exchange for Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs, a 1st round pick and a 2nd round pick.
The 1st round pick is top-10 protected, meaning if the Golden Knights select outside of the top-10 in 2022, the selection will go to Buffalo, if Vegas selects inside of the top-10, they will keep the 2022 pick and send a 2023 1st to the Sabres.
Eichel is currently injured and unavailable to play with a neck injury that will require surgery. He will undergo an artificial disc replacement surgery in the coming days and is expected to be able to return to play in about 3-5 months.
The Golden Knights have extended the contract of defenseman Zach Whitecloud. The new contract is six years, $16.5 million for an average annual value of $2.75 million. Whitecloud is now tied to the Golden Knights through the end of the 2027-28 NHL season.
The Golden Knights have traded Marc-Andre Fleury to the Chicago Blackhawks for prospect Mikael Hakkarainen.
Fleury’s agent, Allan Walsh, quickly tweeted a response to the trade.
While Marc-Andre Fleury still hasn’t heard from anybody with the Vegas Golden Knights, he has apparently been traded to Chicago. Marc-Andre will be taking time to discuss his situation with his family and seriously evaluate his hockey future at this time.
The Golden Knights did not retain any salary in the trade.
Hakkarainen has spent each of the last two seasons playing in both the AHL and the ECHL. He has not registered an AHL point in his 14 appearances. Kelly McCrimmon confirmed that Hakkarainen will remain with Chicago and likely play for the Rockford Ice Hogs.
Thanks to last night’s guest tweeter Kevin Iole @KevinI for filling in while Ken continues his World Cup trip in Qatar. Great insight and passion as always Kevin.
Just thinking: Move 28 to 1st line LW, 30 to 3rd line C then we have 9, 71, 20 and 10 with great C depth. Then put 8 with 20/21, guys with speed and skill and maybe get 8 a spark. Just a thought. Any comments?
