Vegas Golden Knights Quickly Identifying Core Players

When it comes to their roster, the Vegas Golden Knights have a long-term plan in place.

The Vegas Golden Knights season is officially underway, and it hasn’t started as strong as their inaugural season. The team has gotten off to a roller coaster start as they sit in 12th place in the Western Conference.  However, the good news is the team sits just three points out of first place in the Pacific division.

Vegas Golden Knights general manager George McPhee ironed out deals with Erik Haula and Jonathan Marchessault during the team’s first season last year. While the Golden Knights have been off to a somewhat inconsistent start in their second year, McPhee has been hard at work locking up the rest of his roster.

In just days apart of each other, McPhee and the Golden Knights made it official and signed both Alex Tuch and Nate Schmidt. Tuch’s deal is worth 33.25 million dollars over seven years with his cap hit is 4.75 million per season. Schmidt’s contract comes in at 35.7 million dollars with a six-year term and a cap hit of 5.9 million. Both deals kick into gear starting in 2019-2020.

Dating back to last season and this offseason, the Golden Knights have handed out extensions to several players. Schmidt and Tuch join Marchessault,  Max Pacioretty, Reilly Smith, Colin Miller, Brayden McNabb, Shea Theodore, and Marc-Andre Fleury as all players that are signed through at least the 2021-2022 season. Not a bad core for Las Vegas hockey at all.

McPhee rolled the dice on a few younger and unproven players such as Tuch and Theodore. Neither Tuch or Theodore are slam dunks to be top tier NHL talent. Although, players that are comparable to the ability of Tuch and Theodore go on to succeed and have successful hockey careers and make the contracts worth it in the end.

The proven NHL talent in that group of players for Vegas such as Pacioretty, Smith, and Marchessault need to continue their production throughout the rest of their new deals. Maintaining their offensive abilities should not be an issue for the first three to four years. However, the latter half of their new contracts might be a challenge both players will reach the wrong side of 30 years of age.

Players like Miller and McNabb are much safer bets to keep up their current pace for a cheaper cost and longer term. One defenseman may be offensive minded, and the other is defensive oriented, but their contracts are very fair for what both players bring to the ice on a nightly basis.

As for the next player to get the next big contract on the Golden Knights, it’s a no-brainer. William Karlsson is next up on the list of players who would slide right into that group of core players. The Marsta, Sweden native, is nearly at a point per game pace to start the 2018-19 campaign. Eight points in nine games and he certainly haven’t dropped off from last season. If he keeps up the current pace, he will be due for the largest contract in Golden Knights history.

All in all, some players need to prove themselves more than others on the Vegas Golden Knights. But the plan is clear for George McPhee and company to keep this group together as long as possible. And it sure looks like a group that could definitely make a run at Stanley Cups for years to come if all players reach their full potential.