On Sunday here on SinBin.vegas, Steve Carp suggested the Golden Knights make a run at Mark Stone. Other big names like Artemi Panarin, Matt Duchene, Wayne Simmonds, Mats Zuccarello and many others have also been linked to the Golden Knights.
While Jason and I are certainly not opposed to a splash move, we both have the same concern (which you know is rare if you listen to our podcast).
Is this team good enough to risk selling multiple high-end assets to make a run this year? Or, phrased differently, will adding a star player be the difference between the Golden Knights regaining their dominance?
Carp was offering Colin Miller, a 1st, and a prospect like Ivan Morozov for Stone. The package to get Panarin would be even higher. Heck, even guys like Kevin Hayes appear to be primed to fetch significant returns.
The return for (Hayes) should be far more substantial, though we have argued for months that the typical 24-31 draft pick plus a B-level prospect or two doesn’t move the needle dramatically enough. –Larry Brooks, NY Post
I believe the Golden Knights are a very good hockey team stuck in a rough patch. However, I also understand the consistency issues and seriously question if they can flip the switch and keep it turned on for an entire playoff run.
This Golden Knights team is good enough to win the Western Conference. They can beat San Jose, Calgary, Winnipeg, and/or Nashville in a seven-game series. But, they’ve got to play much better than they have, and it has to come from the guys currently on the roster. It’s in there, we know it is because we’ve seen it, they just have to bring it back out.
That’s why adding a major piece scares both Jason and I. If the current roster doesn’t figure out their issues, adding Connor McDavid or Sidney Crosby wouldn’t even be enough to fuel a run to the Cup. But, if they do get it together, they may not even need to add much of anything. So, is it really wise to throw caution to the wind and swing for the fences?
Instead, there’s a much smaller move we’d like to advocate for. A move that if it were to happen could certainly make them better while not breaking the bank along the way.
That move is acquiring New Jersey Devils winger Marcus Johansson. With New Jersey, the 28-year-old Swede has totaled 39 points in 75 games, which has been considered underperforming. He has 118 career goals, 29 power play goals, and averages 0.57 points per game. Johansson racked up 58 points and 24 goals in 2016-17 before being traded to New Jersey. He also posted four straight years of 40+ points and received Lady Byng and Selke votes along the way. He’s a power play threat with a strong career shooting percentage (13.8%).
