Trade Deadline Archives

On February 15, 2023

(Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen)

The Golden Knights have a little more than two weeks to make any final adjustments to the roster they hope brings them back to the playoffs and on another long run.

If you’re looking at your team, if there’s someplace you can make that tweak and you can do it, you do it. If you don’t, you’re getting complacent because there are always ways you can improve your team. –George McPhee on Bob McCown Podcast

The former GM and current President of Hockey Operations have proven his belief in this concept over the first five seasons in Vegas. The Golden Knights have been active at every trade deadline, typically buying one of the most significant pieces on the market.

This year however, they sit in a bit of a different spot than they’ve ever been before, which will make life a little more difficult on McPhee and GM Kelly McCrimmon come March 3rd.

(A trade) would have to make perfect sense because we’re looking at Stone and Thompson and what are the timelines, is it becoming clearer when we can get them back? So we’re trying to buy time to figure that out. LTI becomes a factor. If Mark’s coming back, we may not do anything because we were a pretty good team when everybody was in (the lineup). The injuries complicate things, but that’s life. –McPhee on Bob McCown Podcast

While the optimism around a potential Stone return in the regular season is fantastic, any chance of it happening certainly muddies the water for the upcoming deadline.

Vegas Has Safer Options Than Hall Of Fame Playmaker

On February 13, 2023

(Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen)

Now that the trade season is underway the Golden Knights find themselves in a position to buy at the deadline. On Thursday, one of Vegas’ potential targets Vladimir Tarasenko came off the board in a deal with the New York Rangers. With 18 days remaining before the March 3rd deadline, the local team will move on and begin planning for the next marquee name. Could it be Sharks winger Timo Meier, Blues captain Ryan O’Reilly, Flyers wing James Van Riemsdyk or three-time Stanley Cup winner Patrick Kane? A move for any would dramatically help Vegas’ inconsistent offense. But there should be a ‘buyer’s beware’ mentality when discussing a deal for Kane. Sometimes, it’s best to look elsewhere.

It’s all health related. There’s an undercurrent of buzz around Patrick Kane, teams of interest, that worry about his health. We know that he missed some time not that long ago with that hip issue. Those things don’t magically disappear. I think that’s been something lingering with Patrick Kane perhaps in other seasons. What’s his health going to be like? If he aggravates that between now and March 3rd, are we 100% sure that he’s on the trade market? –Darren Dreger on TSN 1050 Toronto

If the Golden Knights were to acquire Patrick Kane, it’ll be a sign The Creator is once again all in. The Golden Knights owner loves superstars. However, in Kane’s case, it could be wiser to pass on the limping playmaker. It’s tough for many to gauge what the cost for Kane would be, or if he’s even a trade option. There’s no doubt the three-time champ would improve the Golden Knights’ chances at winning their first Stanley Cup. The question is, how much will his new team get out of Kane? He’s missed time this season and Sportsnet speculated Kane may need surgery in the near future.

There’s been a rumor that Pat Kane has been dealing with something. Some kind of nagging injury for some period of time. At some point he’s going to need a clean-up. I don’t know exactly what the procedure would be. –Elliotte Friedman on 32 Thoughts Podcast

National Media Expect Golden Knights To Be “Big Players” At The Deadline

On February 8, 2023

(Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen)

Blockbuster trades are exciting and Vegas is always rumored to be an interested party. It’s looking like that’ll be the case once again on March 3rd.

I don’t want to connect names to the Golden Knights but you lose a piece like Mark Stone for an indefinite period, we don’t know what that means. There’s so much uncertainty. I know that Vegas felt they would likely add a forward before the Mark Stone situation. I can’t imagine Kelly McCrimmon, George McPhee and Bill Foley, who’s as hungry as an owner as there is in NHL, not going to swing for the fences one more time. -Darren Dreger on TSN 690 Montreal

While many expect the Golden Knights to be in the mix, there’s no indication which direction the front office will go. With the devastating news of Mark Stone’s indefinite absence, which impact winger is Vegas targeting? Who are the in-demand players are the front office willing to risk picks and prospects for?

So who is that? I think it’s all of the above. Vegas is being real careful. I think for sure Vegas could be a big player here. -Dreger on TSN 690 Montreal

Dadonov‘s Back But League To Address Voided Trade At GM Meetings

On March 25, 2022

(Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen)

He’s not the most popular player but last night even the most critical Golden Knights fans had to feel happy for Evgenii Dadonov. In his first game “back” the 33-year-old forward scored Vegas’ third goal of the game and is now tied for the second most on the team.

Dadonov began a flurry of three total Golden Knights power play goals. The crowd roared when #63 backhanded a loose rebound into the net and his teammates wrapped him in a tight group hug on the ice.

I felt that support from the stands. Probably pumped me up even more. I always loved playing here… Great experience playing here in front of this crowd. Still think it’s the best fans in the league. -Dadonov

In the end the trade was voided and Dadonov is back in line with the rest of his Vegas teammates. However, this messy deadline incident will not go away. Player protection clarity will be a future topic of conversation with league officials. The NHL never wants this to never happen again.

I think there’s going to be some fallout. They are going to be talking about this at the GM meetings. A no-trade list is submitted solely between a player agent and the club. The league does not keep track of no trade list, the NHLPA doesn’t. Which by the way, is crazy. –Pierre LeBrun on TSN

Clearly, there were miscommunications from several parties and it wasn’t the league’s finest moment. On a spotlight day like the NHL trade deadline the eventually voided Dadonov deal led headlines. The league would rather make player protection awareness a more streamlined and transparent process.

2022 Trade Deadline Roundup

On March 21, 2022

In News

(Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen)

The NHL Trade Deadline is at Noon Pacific time today.

This article will be dedicated to all pertinent news surrounding the Golden Knights and this year’s deadline. It will be updated throughout the day.

Vegas has traded Evgenii Dadonov and a 2024 2nd Round Pick for the contracts of John Moore and Ryan Kesler. (Source: Golden Knights)
- Both Moore and Kesler are injured and out for the season.
The Golden Knights are reportedly in advanced talks for Rickard Rakell. (Source: @emilymkaplan)
- Rakell was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins. (Source: @FriedgeHNIC)
Vegas has been exploring moving out a contract (@TheFourthPeriod)
- Linked to the last bullet point? (Source: @thegoldenmuzzy)
Then Minnesota Wild, VGK’s opponent tonight, have acquired Marc-Andre Fleury from the Chicago Blackhawks for a 2nd round pick that could become a 1st. (Source: @frank_seravalli)
- He is expected to back-up for the Wild tonight. (Source: @sarah__mclellan)
Derrick Pouliot was claimed off waivers by Seattle. (Source: @FriedgeHNIC)
GM Kelly McCrimmon will hold a press conference at 2:30 PM today whether the Golden Knights make a move or not. (Source: Golden Knights)

A Realistic Approach Is Required For VGK At Trade Deadline

On March 12, 2022

(Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen)

Cup or Bust.

That’s how the Golden Knights approached the offseason. That’s how the Golden Knights entered the season. And that’s how the Golden Knights looked at the opportunity to trade for Jack Eichel. But that’s not how the Golden Knights should be looking at the upcoming trade deadline.

Riding a three-game losing streak, a 4-8-1 record since Mark Stone was placed on LTIR, and a 10-12-4 run since the calendar flipped to 2022, it’s time for a true reality check on where this season is headed.

The Golden Knights started last night’s game missing eight players from their regular lineup and then saw Max Pacioretty exit in the 2nd period with what is his fourth separate injury absence this season. Vegas does not have a single player who has played in every one of the team’s first 60 games and they have only rostered the same lineup in consecutive games on six occasions this year.

Health is obviously the greatest concern for this team and no matter how optimistic a person wants to be, it seems inevitable that the 2021-22 Golden Knights are never going to be operating at full strength.

So, that brings us to the players that are on the ice. Quite frankly, they look nothing like a Stanley Cup contender. Heck, they don’t even look like a team that belongs in the playoffs. Injured or not, if you have legitimate Stanley Cup aspirations, you can’t spend two months getting waxed by legitimate playoff teams while playing 1-goal games, that you’re often on the wrong side of, against teams vying for lottery balls.

Each and every season the Golden Knights have been in existence, they’ve been buyers at the trade deadline. The past four seasons, they’ve traded away a total of eight picks in the first three rounds to acquire the likes of Tomas Tatar, Mark Stone, Alec Martinez, Robin Lehner, Nick Cousins, and Mattias Janmark. This year, they continued their buying streak giving up another 1st, a 1st round prospect in Peyton Krebs, and Alex Tuch for Jack Eichel.

So, in total, just during the season, Vegas has sent out:

3 Active Roster Players (Tuch, Subban, Lindberg)
2 1st Round Prospects (Krebs, Brannstrom)
2 1st Round Picks
5 2nd Round Picks
2 3rd Round Picks

Now as the deadline approaches, they very well may buy again. But they shouldn’t, and in fact, if anything, they should sell. A cold, hard, realistic approach is required at this trade deadline.

Iole: Front Office Focus Can’t Be Solely On Winning Now

On February 6, 2022

In Game Analysis

This season, diehard VGK fan and legendary combat sports columnist Kevin Iole will be delivering columns a few times a month on Sundays. Kevin’s back today to take a look at a position of depth, one that’s been notoriously thin in years past.

Over the next 40 or so days, George McPhee and Kelly McCrimmon will spend most of their waking hours trying to figure how to ship out a highly paid player or three without destroying the Golden Knights’ chances of winning the Stanley Cup.

If Jack Eichel plays in the regular season, that means there are significant pieces of this team that won’t be part of a potential Cup run.

That’s life in a salary cap world.

But they’re also going to need to keep an eye on the future, because they know as well as anyone it is unsustainable trying to make a franchise a consistent Cup contender via trades and via agency.

It’s imperative that they mine the draft and land some impact players. Contrary to popular opinion, there are impact players chosen in nearly every draft after the first round and in a lot of cases, after the first three rounds.

(Photo Credit: Ken Boehlke, SinBin.vegas)

Two of the three Golden Knights’ representatives at the 2022 All-Star Game fit that criteria. Jonathan Marchessault was undrafted, while Mark Stone was picked in the sixth round in 2010 by Ottawa.

Stone was chosen higher than Dallas’ Joe Pavelski, though, who was a seventh-round pick by San Jose way back in 2003. Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov and Anaheim’s Troy Terry were products of the fifth round of the 2015 draft. And Kaprizov’s Wild teammate, goalkeeper Cam Talbot, went undrafted.

If you go back, nearly every draft has impact players taken late.

The point of this is that if the Golden Knights are to remain an annual Cup contender, they’re going to have to replenish the system through the draft and hit on some players late. It’s the only way to compete when you’re paying top talents like Eichel, Stone, and Alex Pietrangelo.

Western Teams Getting Ready To Beef Up For Vegas

On January 8, 2022

It’s possible several big names will be dealt on or before the NHL’s trade deadline day this year. One team we expect to be sitting this one out is the Golden Knights, unless they are sellers, but that’s for another day. The local club already made their deadline deal in November by trading for center Jack Eichel. When you consider they’ll also be getting Max Pacioretty and Alec Martinez back from injury, you could argue Vegas already won the deadline.

So, while the trade deadline may be boring for VGK fans it could be very busy for other fanbases. Specifically, teams that’ll have to face Vegas in the postseason. Some of those teams have lofty goals as well but most likely they’re not getting to the finals without going through Vegas first.

Edmonton

The Oilers are in trouble. The club isn’t scoring and they’re rapidly dropping in the standings. Even before Connor McDavid tested positive for COVID, the Oilers went on a miserable stretch scoring six goals in five games with a goal differential of -14. Currently, they’re on a five-game dip and are having a hard time digging out of it. Scoring is one problem up in Edmonton but it’s not their biggest.

It’s a brutal mistake. What are you going to do? Call it what it is. We’re playing well, and it’s a brutal mistake. Our goaltending wasn’t very good, and we didn’t get enough pucks to the net to get back in the game. -Dave Tippett, Oilers coach

With McDavid and Leon Draisital, the goals will eventually come but stopping them is a bigger concern. Tippett’s frustrations came out poorly, pointing his finger directly at goalie Mikko Koskinen. Which wasn’t taken well.

It’s not nice for anybody to be thrown under the bus. But this is how it goes in this business. When the team loses, it’s either coach or goalie who gets sacrificed. I have to be better, but at the same time we scored seven goals in my last six losses. I can’t score goals. It’s not only about goaltending when it comes to winning and losing. -Koskinen, Oilers goaltender

It’s understandable why Koskinen was iritated by his coach’s comments and good for him for responding but he should’ve kept it shorter. Now there a speculations that the goaltender has lost Edmonton’s locker room. So on top of his bloated 3.19 goals allowed average he’s creating friction. Bottom line is the Oilers are in the market for a goaltender. And surprise, surprise the biggest name on the market is tonight’s opponents netminder.

Fleury — who has a 10-team no-trade list — might be the biggest netminder name out there if available and none of the above teams has as great a need, or as much urgency to address it, as the Oilers. If Fleury was open to going to Edmonton, finding the right price could be tricky. He’s a rental and, presumably, the Hawks would need to retain cap space on his $7 million tag, so that could add an asset. With the other needs in Edmonton’s lineup, paying up for a rental at any position may not be the chosen course. But if you want someone who you could feel good about making a difference now, Fleury is it. -Rory Boylen, Sportsnet

Elliott Friedman also wrote about Fleury being an option, if the right deal was in place. The former face of the Golden Knights knows the division and has won in the West. Since 2017, the first year Blackhawk is 43-21-7 against the Pacific division and an overall record of 83-16-9 against Western Conference clubs. Fleury’s presence alone would immediately improve the problems in net for the Oilers.

Golden Knights Used To Heating Up Around Trade Deadline

On April 16, 2021