GOLDEN KNIGHTS SIGN ROBIN LEHNER TO 5-YEAR $25M DEAL

Well, looks like MAF is going to be gone. So many great memories, we can’t keep both of them. This season is going to be compacted, we need a top backup, any idea who ? Is that how you see it Ken ?

The agreement was made in June but just signed. Dave Pagnotta of The Fourth Period (TFP) first reported the 5×5 agreement on Sept 11th. They don’t report mere rumors. I highly recommend them as a follow.

Signing Lehner was a given like it or not we have to move on. Supposedly Colorado has interest in Taylor Hall on a short term deal and also has interest in Fleury. Colorado will be a tough out next year and adding players just makes them that much better. To me just another reason to bring up the kids to get the experience. The next 3 days will be interesting to watch the dominoes fall. It’s a fun time of the year.

What I’m about to say you all think I’m crazy but here’s my take on the goalie situation. As we found out in the playoffs it’s all about the goalie you may not have the best team but have the best goalie. With that logic I’d keep Lehner and Fleury reason being the following. Oscar Dansk isn’t the answer either is Dell and so on. What we need to do is win the Pacific division and have the best record in the Western Conference. Why you ask well here’s why. With two good goalies I believe we win the West which sets us up not to meet Colorado until the Western finals. Don’t kid yourself Colorado will be a dominant force then we have a punchers chance to beat them. Teams give Erik Karlsson, John Tavares, etc. 11 million and what has it got them zip. I would definitely invest 12 million in two goalies that just about assures me the best record in the West. See playing and coaching all my life that’s where my heads at. I really don’t give a shit what the conventional wisdom is it’s all about winning. We could dump Marchie and Stantsy bring up the kids and never miss a beat. As I’ve said before Marchie and his 1 goal in 19 games is replaceable. Stantsy at 36 and 6.5 million is definitely replaceable. You have to have a strategy to win and a dog goalie for 30 games isn’t my idea of strategy. Like in baseball pitching controls the game as in hockey the goalie controls the game. How hard is that to figure out. And last but not least Fleury wants to stay in Vegas with Lehner so tell me that’s not made in heaven.

Was Kelly’s presser televised? Can we see it on YouTube later?

At this point, if Vegas can land Hank Lundqvist for league minimum or maybe as much as $1.5-2mil, they can trade Fleury with 0-$2mil retained salary they’d be way ahead financially and still have about the same quality in goal, plus another hof’er with lots of playoff experience on the roster. Also, his history with Lehner should eliminate any personnel conflicts. And if DeBoer’s strategy is what it appears to be – driving offense with defense – then maybe they should pursue Pietrangelo (or Krug who is better suited for that and cheaper). You’d have to trade Stastny and then hope Glass fills the role at 2C adequately. He should be fine between Stone & Patch. The way Vegas plays – breakouts strong side with short passes – makes it easy for an average center to be effective at the position, eliminating the typical need for elite Top 2 centers.

I don’t think Lehner should be playing 60 games if Vegas is serious about winning the cup.

Need to keep him fresh for the cup

As an organization the VGK made 2 statements about how they built the team. 1) They wanted to be able to compete for a Stanley Cup in 3 years. 2) They were an organization that wanted to acquire players that were not only talented, but good character guys to represent the team in the best way possible.

Let’s take the first things first. The team surprised everyone by going to the finals in their very first year, exceeding almost every expectation. Competitive? You bet. Unfortunately those overachieving players blew up the organizations 3 year plan and everyone now expects a deep run in the playoffs, and a shot at the finals every year to be a regular thing. In the process general managers and team presidents do what they do, namely tinker with the team in order to make it better. Hoping all the while to not screw up team chemistry. Not an exact science by the way, and the 2nd year team was not the finals team, nor is the 3rd year team the finals team. Close, but no cigar.

To the second point, character players. In a town like Las Vegas, I’ve been around since the early 70’s, almost anyone living here knows the kind of “trouble” waiting for anyone with money to burn in a 24 hour casino town. I would suggest an excellent job was done based on how many of the guys have been in trouble….to my knowledge exactly zero. Let’s see how that works with the Raiders…but I digress. The VGK organization obviously has character expectations that have been met on the player side of the equation. Have the players found that to be equal from the side of management? I would suggest in this 3rd year the expectations of an organization being character driven has taken a bit of damage. My examples would be quite simple: A winning coach, and by all measures apparently likable, gets fired mid season by a team that has decided to, in true Vegas style, go all in on winning the cup. His replacement is Pete DeBoer, the recently fired coach of the #1 rival team in San Jose, and definitely not a fan favorite choice. But hey, we’re in it to win it, so we’re taking the breaks off this train and plowing full speed ahead. And winning cures everything, especially in Vegas.

General managers and team presidents (maybe a coach too) do what they do, so trades and acquisitions are made. Here’s that team chemistry thing getting tinkered with again. Kind of a big deal in this case when a new goalie is acquired and in every press conference MAF is always called the starter with a new and very talented “backup.” At no time has the organization ever come forward with a more accurate description of the Lehner acquisition, and MAF has never been called “the backup.” Not even during the entire playoff bubble experience. I don’t recall, even to this very day, MAF not being called the starter and we all know that is definitely not the case now. My point being: If you’re an organization claiming to build a team on character then maybe the players on that team should expect a little character from management. Be honest and tell the players where they stand. McPhee, McCrimmon and DeBoer have had every opportunity when asked about the goalie situation to be honest and publicly say to everyone what’s happening. The players may have been playing in a bubble, but they and the fans don’t live in one. It’s been pretty obvious what’s taken place, and MAF deserved better. I would even suggest Lehner deserved better than to be put in the middle of a situation not of his making, so not really fair to him either. He’s simply doing what he’s told and playing.

MAF was having a down season. No argument. He was also playing no doubt with a heavy heart due to the death of his father. And then his head coach and goalie coach get fired. He’s a season and a half from having a career season and playing in the finals, and now everything is different. And to this day he’s still being called the face of the franchise, and this is how he gets treated by the organization that took him first to build their team. MAF wants to stay, but clearly the organization in it’s desire to go all in on the cup has created something that lands clearly in the halls of upper management, and Bill Foley. We’ll know in a the next few weeks how this will play out, and I predict it won’t be pretty. Every player on the team will know exactly how their character matters and managements not so much. And that team chemistry thing will very likely rear it’s ugly head in the coming season once everyone knows how much it means to be “the face of the franchise.”

Good luck to everyone riding a train without brakes. But hey, winning solves everything. Maybe next year, as the saying goes. I’m personally going to always be a Gerard Gallant fan, and you can bet I’ll be pulling for MAF to have a great finish to his career wherever he lands, and I’d bet he won’t be considering himself a VGK when he goals into the HOF.