The biggest domino in the Golden Knights offseason appears set to drop.
William Karlsson will sign an 8-year deal worth $5.9 million AAV to remain a Golden Knight. Deal is expected to be signed in the next two days. #VegasBorn @TheAthleticNHL
— Jesse Granger (@JesseGranger_) June 23, 2019
It appears to be a terrific deal for both sides as everyone gets exactly what they wanted heading into this offseason.
For the Golden Knights, they keep their top line center, lock him into a long-term deal, and don’t break the bank in doing so. And, the Golden Knights get it done in a timely fashion, which allows them to start working on the rest of their offseason needs.
For Karlsson, it has always appeared the most important thing to him is staying in Vegas. He probably could have made more money if he had signed a one-year or bridge deal, but that would have likely resulted in him ending up with another team (maybe even being traded this offseason).
Instead, he’ll be taking home a guaranteed $47 million and staying with the team that helped him go from a relative unknown to a fan-favorite and Vegas superstar.
With the deal expected to be signed in the next few days, we’ll have much more on this in the coming days.
Wlliam Grigsby
It is a terrific deal but they were already OVER the salary cap when it was expected to be $83M, now they WAY over it! Are they trading Stastny or Pach? They need to make room…
Mark
Karlsson is no dummy. He saves millions in taxes by playing in Nevada. Let the other saps play in New York, California or New Jersey or
the Canadian teams as hand over millions to the worthless politicians who rob their citizens blind. Karlsson’s agent had to tell him to sign here. Honestly, let’s compare the mansions our guys live in compared to the dummy’s who play in New York or New Jersey or Toronto. A 2 million dollar
condo in Manhattan or an estate in Summerlin? IMOP, if I was a young talented player, my dream is to play in Florida, Texas or Nevada. If it’s about the Benjamin’s, those are the teams to be on. Otherwise, your a sucker, busting your ass everygame to feed worthless politicians and their Marxists policies. Wild Bill, great call.
Summerlin Andy B
My brother from another mother.;)
Another good thing about Nevada, the new Commerce tax rule, that if you make less than $4 million you don’t have to worry about filing every year, anymore.
Good for me,, maybe not so for William;)…
Mark
Thanks for the reply. I talked to a player for the Knights about this and he’s Canadian and he said the guys love playing here for the break on the taxes. Neal was a dummy signing with Ottawa. Karlsson is from a high taxed country were citizens are robbed 65 percent of their income. What agent would ever advise a player to sign with a team in a dark blue state or a Canadian team? What fool agent would do that? I think we have an edge, we could be a dynasty, unless our lard ass Governor starts imposing a state income tax, or other ways to rob us. Hopefully, it doesn’t happen.
Summerlin Andy B
Sweet iKEA meatballs!
vgk2019
Now that Wild Bill has taken a reasonable contract AAV that helps the cap situation, and if Gusev gets $3M or less AAV on his deal, the Knights might be able to get in under the cap if they dump Miller, Holden, and the Clarkson contract.
They would probably have to give up a sweetener draft pick in the Clarkson contract deal, as Toronto had to give up a 1st round pick to unload Marleau, who still can play, unlike Clarkson. They would possibly have to trade Miller for a high draft pick, and then send that pick to a team willing to eat the Clarkson contract for 1 year.
vgk2019
adding it all up, and cutting to the bone, they will still be a couple mill over the cap, even if they do what I said above.
that means that someone else is gonna get traded also, in addition to the 3 mentioned above
Mike StG
Eakin is logical choice w/3.8mil cap hit and 1 year left on contract. Re-sign Bellemare for 4C and go with same solid L4 as last year. Haula plays 3C (2.2mil) with Gusev & Tuch – in other words, lotsa goals from L3!
vgk2019
yes, but Bellemare would have to take a pay cut and sign for about $1M, as they would need every bit of the $2.8M difference to get in just under the cap.
instead they could use Cody Glass (863k) to replace Eakin
Mike G
So what happens if they can’t get the offer for the guys they need to move? I don’t understand how you can sign a contract for money you don’t have??
I do think it’s a great deal for both sides, especially getting it done early before things started to get ugly in the negotiations
vgk2019
under the CBA rules, a team can exceed the cap by 10% during the summer. iow, about $8 mill
but they have to be in compliance on opening day, and LTIR does not start until day 2. Thus, Clarkson’s contract must be moved
Mike StG
I’m confident that McPhee & GMKM had enough foresight to know how they planned on addressing cap issues. They both have 20+ years experience and are thoughtful managers. My expectation is they sign Gusev (who they brought in last year AFTER the Stone deal). If they have to give up a 1st or prospect it will be well worth it when you look at the Top 9 they assembled. They’re set up for a deep Cup run with that group.
vgk2019
right now, including Karlsson, but not Gusev, they have 11 forwards using about $54 mill in cap space.
the goalies will add about $8M
and the D right now has 6 signed at $21M, including Miller and Holden
plus Clarkson at $5.1 M
54 + 8 + 21 + 5= 88
that is NOT YET counting Gusev, or Engelland, which would push them over 90…..or anyone else
thus, you can be certain that trades will be made BEFORE they register the Karlsson contract. expect news in the next couple of days.
the cap is 81.5
dumping Miller, Holden and Clarkson saves $11.1 mill, but that still will not quite be enough without another move.
vgk2019
let me correct that last sentence…….you would need to add the cap hits of the replacements for Miller and Holden, so you would only save about $9 mill, not 11.
so, another trade is obviously needed
Mike StG
They can list Clarkson LTIR offseason (per Cap Friendly) taking that up to $94mil, but it’s semantics. As you said, they will still need to be at or below cap eventually.
Mike G
So it seems to me by announcing that contract BEFORE moving anybody takes away all of your bargaining power??
Ken Boehlke
I don’t agree. Everyone knew they were going to eventually come to this. If anything it strengthens their power because they got him on the cheap.
Mike StG
I agree with Ken. I think the general opinion was a Karlsson deal would be in the 7-9mil range, so this puts Vegas in a better than expected position. Uncertainty still exists but the largest signing (by far) is done. Other teams don’t know McPhee’s intentions on who else might be moved, or signed for that matter. Wouldn’t be surprised if deals are already in motion for trades and that it’s only a matter of maximizing value at this point.
Bent Hermit
They will probably trade Eakin if they think Glass is ready to make the team. If they sign Gusev to a 2 or 3 year deal I wouldn’t be surprised if they traded Huala. Having Glass as a center 1 of the 3, Huala, Tuch and Gusev would not be dressing for the game. It make sense to trade Huala because the other 2 would need the ice time to develop for the future years.
Bent Hermit
Having Glass center 3L also saves a lot in cap space. The previous years they were trying to not have to put players on waivers so if a player was waiver exempt they got sent down. They don’t have that problem this year. This year it’s a benefit to have a cheap ELC on the team for the cap.