Vegas Golden Knights Can’t Deal at Deadline, and That’s Okay
By Kyle Silagyi
The Vegas Golden Knights likely won’t be players at this year’s trade deadline, and that’s a good thing.
Next Wednesday’s NHL trade deadline has the potential to be one of the more interesting deadlines in recent memory.
The St. Louis Blues seem to have their heart set on trading elite defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk before the deadline. The Colorado Avalanche could potentially trade captain Gabriel Landeskog or center Matt Duchene before Wednesday afternoon. Anything can happen at the NHL trade deadline, making it one of the most exciting days on the NHL’s calendar.
On a day in which anything can happen, there is one thing that we know for certain won’t be occurring. The NHL’s newest franchise, the Vegas Golden Knights, won’t be making any trades at this year’s deadline.
During the team’s 24-hour open house that occurred this past week, Golden Knights’ majority owner Bill Foley confirmed that his final payment won’t be finalized before March 1. As a result, general manager George McPhee will be unable to make trades before the March 1st deadline.
This news was likely disappointing to some fans. It would have been exciting to see the Golden Knights make their first move in franchise history a full eight months before taking the ice, but this milestone will have to wait until the summer.
Although the news is disappointing to some, it shouldn’t be. In fact, it should be reassuring.
By not making any trades now, the Golden Knights leave their options open for the expansion draft. Had the Golden Knights been able to make trades before this year’s deadline, they would not have been able to acquire players. Instead, they could have acquired draft picks in exchange for promising not to take a certain player in the expansion draft.
For example, had Foley’s final payment been in before March 1, Anaheim Ducks’ General Manager Bob Murray could have offered George McPhee a third round draft pick in exchange for McPhee’s promise to not select forward Jakob Silfverberg in the expansion draft. While this is a completely hypothetical scenario, there’s no doubt that teams would have considered taking advantage of this trading situation, as it would have allowed them to protect more than the allotted number of players.
However, Foley’s final payment won’t be in before March 1. As a result, McPhee will be unable to (officially) make these types of trades. While this may seem unfortunate now, it may ultimately be a blessing in disguise.
The inability to make trades at this year’s deadline leaves options open for Golden Knights’ management at the expansion draft. With no prior promises going into the draft, Vegas can select any unprotected player they feel will help the team succeed.
Like every other scenario, the Vegas Golden Knights’ current situation has its negatives as well as its positives. Had the team been able to make trades before March 1’s deadline, they could have stockpiled draft picks for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft. For a team that is literally starting from scratch, having a large number of talented prospects would have been nothing but beneficial.
While having a strong prospect pool would be valuable, it’s not going to help the Golden Knights win out of the gate. Bill Foley has made it clear that he wants his team to compete for the Stanley Cup within its first few years of existence. Having a large number of draft picks from the latter rounds could help with this, but not as much as drafting the best players available in the expansion draft would.
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Ultimately, the Vegas Golden Knights want to become a winner. Although trading away the ability to pick certain players in the expansion draft in exchange for draft picks would have been a headline grabber, it would have likely prevented the Golden Knights from selecting players that could help them win out of the gate. Without any obligations going into the expansion draft, McPhee and company will be able to build the best team available – which is what fans should want.