Vegas Golden Knights Unlikely To Participate In Trade Deadline Activity

Vegas Golden Knights won’t be able to make trades at this year’s deadline as previously anticipated.

Just as soon as we thought the new franchise would be in business before next Wednesday’s trade deadline, they’re not. The Vegas Golden Knights General Manager George McPhee will have to wait a little longer to make transactions. That is because Owner Bill Foley told the media that paperwork is holding up the process.

“We won’t make it before the trade deadline” Foley told KXNT Radio at the 24-hour open house. “If you saw the stack of documents, you’d say its not a pretty picture.”

McPhee would’ve been able to make trades not for players but expansion draft considerations. Let’s say if the team wanted to pick Player X at the expansion draft. That team could come forward with an offer of  a draft pick not to pick Player X. So the deal would basically read a draft pick for a promise not to pick Player X at the expansion draft. This could be largely beneficial for McPhee’s process building through the Entry Draft as teams are starting to get worried about protecting their players.

“Other teams want to do more than what we want to do. They want to lockup some of their players for the playoff run and after the playoff run. George is going to make good deals. If we give up the right to draft a good player, we’re going to get something good for it.”– Owner Bill Foley to KXNT Radio Las Vegas

Foley went on to say that McPhee is already hard at work with trade talk for the expansion draft. Once the team truly becomes “official”, the new franchise can begin signing  undrafted college or CHL free agents. McPhee will be in attendance the big GM meetings held March 6th through the 8th in Boca Raton Florida.

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While it is encouraging that George McPhee is working the phones at will, it’s rather unfortunate that the only thing holding up McPhee is Foley’s paperwork. Perhaps maybe this could be a blessing in disguise. McPhee may need more time evaluating players around the league before considering a trade. When it comes time for teams to start dealing with the Golden Knights, the 30 NHL General Mangers know that the ball is in McPhee’s court and there’s nothing they can do about it.