Vegas Golden Knights look to the future with Jake Bischoff signing

Rejoice! We have some actual hockey news to digest after the Vegas Golden Knights signed defenseman Jake Bischoff to a three-year contract.

The Vegas Golden Knights announced that the new deal will carry through the 2020-21 season and is worth an average annual value of $716,667.

Bischoff will earn $700,000 in the first two years of his new deal and then $750,000 in the third and final year of the contract, per CapFriendly.

This is the latest in a string of shrewd but minor moves by the Vegas front office who have made depth a huge priority this offseason.

It shouldn’t be the last deal done either with veteran blueliner Deryk Engelland reportedly on the cusp of signing a new one-year contract, while rookie defenseman Jimmy Schuldt also needs to be paid.

Throw in the fact that the Golden Knights still need to thrash out a deal to re-sign Russian stud Nikita Gusev, then there is still work to be done for the front office tandem of General Manager Kelly McCrimmon and President of Hockey Operations George McPhee.

Going back to today’s news, though, and by re-signing Bischoff the Golden Knights ensured that they have locked down one of their slew of high-end defensive prospects.

Acquired from the New York Islanders in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, the 6’1″, 194 lb blueliner skated in 60 regular season games for the Chicago Wolves in 2018-19, the AHL affiliate of the Knights.

Bischoff tallied two goals and 11 assists for 13 points, in addition to racking up 20 penalty minutes and achieving a plus/minus rating of +11.

The 24-year-old was also a consistent presence in the Wolves’ run to the Calder Cup Finals last year, registering five points (five assists) in 22 postseason contests.

Bischoff’s return gives the Knights another body on the blueline following the loss of Colin Miller after he was traded to the Buffalo Sabres in order to clear cap space.

It also provides much-needed depth and the Golden Knights have done an exceptional job when it comes to drafting or acquiring talented defensemen.

Furthermore, McPhee has already stated that five rookie blueliners will get the chance to win the last remaining roster spot on the blueline for next year, and Bischoff will be among that pack.

He will have to compete for the chance to make the leap to the NHL with Nic Hague, Zach Whitecloud, Jimmy Schuldt and Dylan Coghlan, with Jesse Granger of The Athletic telling us last week that he believes Schuldt is the current frontrunner.

However, there could be another spot up for grabs if Nick Holden gets traded or bought out as a way of creating more cap space to sign Gusev to a new contract.

Even if Bischoff doesn’t win an NHL job straight out of training camp, there could be opportunities throughout 2019-20 should injuries hamper the Knights’ blueline.

So, as a result, training camp should be treated as the big stage on which Bischoff can showcase his talents and prove he has what it takes to succeed in the NHL both mentally and physically.

And, even if Bischoff doesn’t get a chance in the majors this year, he’ll be able to hone his craft further in the AHL before pushing for a roster spot in 2020-21.

He has yet to play a NHL game in his young career but he has featured in six preseason games in total for Vegas, registering three goals and two assists for five points. He should get plenty of chance to impress further in this year’s preseason schedule too.

Bischoff doesn’t have much upside when it comes to his offensive production but he could become a key shutdown defenseman for the Golden Knights, which is an invaluable commodity in today’s offense-driven NHL.

It will be fascinating to see how Bischoff, along with the likes of Hague and Whitecloud, fare during training camp and this level of competition among rookies can only be seen as a positive for the Golden Knights.

As already mentioned, the Knights possess a glut of high-end blueliners and they will be the long-term future of this team, so developing and nurturing them is key.

Bischoff will get to learn and study from the likes of Shea Theodore, Nate Schmidt and Deryk Engelland in training camp, and he could be a good option to pair alongside the latter on the third-line.

Jake Bischoff has a high ceiling and he now has the chance to win a roster spot on a Stanley Cup contender and start to build what will hopefully be a long and successful career in the NHL.