Vegas Golden Knights do a deal with the Devil as Nikita Gusev is traded

The Nikita Gusev saga is finally over after the Vegas Golden Knights announced today that they have traded the forward to the New Jersey Devils for two draft picks.

After months of speculation and a boatload of guesswork from fans and media alike, the Vegas Golden Knights have accepted their fate and sent Gusev to New Jersey for a third round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft and a second round selection in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.

And the Devils moved quickly to sign the Russian stud to a two-year contract with an average annual value of $4,500,000. On a side note, New Jersey look set to be a dominant force in the NHL in 2019-20 following the moves they have made this offseason. Add Gusev to a roster that also acquired Jack Hughes, P.K. Subban and Wayne Simmonds this summer. Man, they are going to be good next year.

The Golden Knights acquired Gusev’s rights during the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft from the Tampa Bay Lightning – who took him with the 202nd overall pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft – before signing him to a one-year entry level contract in April 2019.

We’ve known for a while thanks to our good friend Jesse Granger at The Athletic that Gusev’s camp and the Golden Knights were not quite compatible when it came to contract talks, with Gusev wanting a two-year deal worth $4 million per year and Vegas only able to offer a two-year contract with an average annual value of $2 million due to their cap constraints.

Ultimately, Gusev got his wish but just with a different team and he will get to showcase his talents in New Jersey. The 27-year-old led the KHL last year in points with 82 (17 goals, 65 assists) in 62 regular season games, and was invited to the KHL All-Star Game as a result of his exploits.

In addition to the above, Gusev also lit it up on the international stage, wowing NHL fans with his dominant performances for Team Russia at the IIHF World Championships. The left wing forged a deadly understanding with Tampa Bay Lightning star Nikita Kucherov on his way to recording four goals and 12 assists for 16 points.

As we’ve mentioned in other articles too, Gusev will go down as one of the most productive and potent scorers in KHL history having tallied 147 goals and 253 assists for 400 points in 458 games, which equates to 0.873 points per game. Based on other KHL stars who made the transition to the NHL, The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn worked out that Gusev’s offensive production in North America would replicate around 80 percent of his production in Russia. So, in simple terms, that would translate to roughly 57 points (21 goals, 36 assists) in the NHL.

That is one hell of a player the Devils are getting and, if Gusev can unlock his potential and replicate even half of his points production from Russia in the NHL, then New Jersey will have a formidable offensive weapon on their roster.

For the Golden Knights there is no getting away from the bitter disappointment of having to trade away a player of Gusev’s quality. Granted, he is as yet an unproven commodity in North America and there is no guarantee that he’s destined to become a success in the NHL, but the high-end potential is clearly there for all to see and now Vegas fans will have to watch Gusev fulfil that elsewhere.

But needs must when you live in a salary cap world and the Golden Knights were backed into a corner. They have only just got themselves back under the salary cap ceiling of $81.5 million following an offseason that saw franchise center William Karlsson locked down to an eight-year, $47,200,000 contract, which was the franchise’s main priority heading into the summer.

The Knights, in order to thrash out a new contract with Gusev, would probably have had to trade away Cody Eakin, Nick Holden and even Ryan Reaves in order to free up the cap space to both meet Gusev’s demands and remain under the salary cap. In the end, giving up all that depth was too steep a price to pay and Vegas President of Hockey Operations George McPhee said as much during an interview with nhl.com/goldenknights:

“We did our best to accommodate Nikita and his salary request but were unable to do so. He is a good person, a good player and we wish him well in New Jersey. When you have a roster comprised of players who are deserving of a certain salary range you are not always able to make room for everyone. This is the reality of having a good team in the salary cap world.”

McPhee is absolutely spot on. As good a player as Gusev may well turn out to be, and he’ll always be associated as a ‘what if’ question with the Knights as a result of this trade now, Vegas have worked far too hard since entering the league in 2017 to give up the house for just one player.

They have assembled a hugely talented roster that is loaded with firepower, skill and a lot of depth and the likes of Eakin and Reaves perform key roles in the bottom six for this team, as well as being able to provide valuable secondary scoring, so to potentially give up both for a player who is not yet battle-tested in the NHL seems a bit of a reach when you really sit down and think about it.

Also, the Golden Knights have drafted extremely well and they now have two more high picks to add to the armoury with the third round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft and the second round selection in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. These picks could also be packaged up and used to acquire a proven NHL star at the Trade Deadline should the Knights be in a position to embark on a deep postseason run, so the two picks inherited as part of the Gusev trade could well prove to be far more valuable down the road.

There is also the Cody Glass factor at play here. The stud forward looks every inch a potential elite NHL center in the making and the gaping hole on the roster left by Gusev could now be filled by Glass, who is ready to make the leap to the majors and make an impact just like everywhere else he has played.

It is easy to look at the Golden Knights’ offseason through a negative prism now, but it is important to keep a sense of perspective. Vegas’ biggest priority this offseason was always to lock William Karlsson down to a long-term deal, which they managed to do via a team-friendly contract. Sadly, as already mentioned, sometimes you have to make sacrifices when you live with the reality of having a salary cap in place.

“After this trade, we now own nine picks in the first three rounds of the next two drafts. These picks will help boost our organizational depth and add to our pool of prospects. Although we were not able to make this work I am really happy with where we are at with our roster.”

Echoing the sentiments of McPhee above, those quotes are also from his interview with the official website of the Golden Knights, this franchise is still very much a Stanley Cup contender and that doesn’t change, even without Gusev on the roster.

They boast one of the most formidable top six units in the NHL, a one-two punch that packs enough firepower to sink a small fleet of battleships, they are stacked with depth, they have a solid blueline with a rising star in Shea Theodore and they have a future Hall of Fame goalie in Marc-Andre Fleury who is still at the peak of his powers.

And now the Golden Knights also have in their possession a treasure chest of draft picks they can use to bolster the farm system further, in addition to packaging up a handful should they need to make a trade or two to strength their roster at next year’s Trade Deadline in preparation for a potential deep postseason run.

Nikita Gusev may be gone but the trade with the New Jersey Devils was a necessary evil due to the salary cap. The Vegas Golden Knights are now $1,025,001 under the $81.5 million cap ceiling and they now have the freedom to focus on the talented roster they’ve got and move on from this particular saga.