The deadline to cut the roster down to 23 was today at 2PM PST, however, as you will notice by some of the names omitted, one in particular, it’s safe to assume this will not be the 23 players boarding the plane to Dallas. So, here’s what was submitted to the league today.
Forwards
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare
William Carrier
Cody Eakin
Erik Haula
William Karlsson
Brendan Leipsic
Oscar Lindberg
Jonathan Marchessault
Tomas Nosek
David Perron
Reilly Smith
Defensemen
Deryk Engelland
Jason Garrison
Brad Hunt
Brayden McNabb
Jon Merrill
Colin Miller
Griffin Reinhart
Luca Sbisa
Nate Schmidt
Clayton Stoner * (IR)
Goalies
Marc-Andre Fleury
Calvin Pickard
Malcolm Subban
Before you go throwing a fit, yes, Vadim Shipachyov is not on the roster… right now. Shipachyov is one of three players who remained in Golden Knights training camp with waiver exempt status. Therefore, he is officially being assigned to Chicago without any risk of the Golden Knights surrendering him to another team.
However, we can confidently say (like, beyond a shadow of a doubt) a move or moves are coming in the next two days that will free up a roster spot. This will allow George McPhee and the Golden Knights to bring Shipachyov “back” from the AHL before the game on Friday in Dallas.
The same case can be made for Alex Tuch and/or Shea Theodore. Both are waiver exempt, so moving them to the AHL (temporarily, maybe) does not put the Golden Knights at risk of losing a player to waivers. The expected move which will free up a roster spot for Shipachyov may open up an extra spot or two for Theodore and/or Tuch. Or, of course, Theodore and/or Tuch may start in the AHL due to the sheer numbers of NHL contracts the Golden Knights carry, as we’ve been hinting was possible since the Expansion Draft.
The other glaring factor with the roster as it stands is with the positional breakdown. This roster has 11 forwards, nine defensemen, and three goalies. This is absolutely NOT the breakdown the Golden Knights will bring to Dallas. McPhee has mentioned multiple times before that he expects to roster eight defensemen, which would likely mean 13 forwards and two goalies. The numbers could shift to 12/8/3 if he opts to keep three goalies, but that is also unlikely.
So, the deadline has passed, we have our final 23, but the waiting game continues as this 23 is far from final. Shippy will be “back”, and a trade (or at least some sort of move) is coming.
MORE: As we continue to unpack this, people have been asking what exactly we at SinBin.vegas expect to happen. The answer is simple, we do not know, however our guess is that there will be a trade of at least one defenseman and possibly a goalie on Wednesday or Thursday. Assuming another waiver claim is not made by the Golden Knights, or a forward is added via trade, Tuch will likely be on the opening night roster… until Neal returns.
This does not mean we are fully sticking to the prediction that Theodore will start the season in Chicago. The ability to make the roster compliant on Tuesday and not have a game until Friday gives the Golden Knights a bit more flexibility with waivers. Rather than waive a player now at the deadline, McPhee can now wait until 24 teams have already played their first game. (Vegas does not play until Friday, day three of the NHL regular season) Waiver claims are very rare after a team has played a game, which means McPhee has a better chance of squeezing Reinhart, Sbisa, Hunt, or someone else through waivers without losing him for nothing. Thus allowing him to “recall” Theodore from the AHL.
RJ
Man, I get what McPhee is doing, but everything always feels like it is by the seat of our pants. I’m giving McPhee the benefit of the doubt, so I’m assuming we are going to move 1-2 Dmen and Pickard tomorrow,
This roster reveal is something a lot of fans have been looking forward to for months. Instead of “Here is your inaugural Vegas Golden Knights” we have “Here is a technically compliant list of roster players so we can buy ourselves more time to move assets for a long term late round pick”.
Even worse, if McPhee can’t find a trade partner, we send players through waivers blah blah anyway. It just feels like we are constantly failing to get out of our own way wit this stuff.
Like I said, I get it, I trust McPhee to execute the 3/6 promise, but jeez.
Julian
If they trade Pickard there stupid.I know it’s preseason but Flurey looked not great especially in the Avalanche game.Forget everything about who’s going and coming they didn’t score not 1 PP at home in preseason.I don’t care if you have Crosby and McDavid on your team that can’t happen.Anyways I’m a Flyers fan first but Knights I will back always.My house is a Knights gift shop and my kids are hooked.
Stevie
High-quality reporting Ken. All moves and possibilities well explained. And McPhee seems as helpful as Nixon was.
JAY T
McPhee reminds me of a crazy scientist, Doc Emmett Brown in Back to the Future. We’re just all hoping he knows what he’s doing and doesn’t blow something up!
Mabye he’s got a DeLorean and already knows the right moves that win us a Cup in 2025 lol
Thomas A. Donnelly
The mirror